SUPPORT CIRCUS MANIACS! Circus Maniacs is putting in a bid to Bristol City Council to run Robin Cousins Sports Centre as a centre for circus and local community use! Circus Maniacs School of Circus Arts has been running for over 10 years now and is in real need of securing an new operational base. The hall/studio itself is inadequate for our developing operational needs on many levels, and it has no integral heating system. We constantly have to turn down opportunities we are being offered, and cannot plan for the future; this is a source of constant frustration for us. Against strong community opposition, Bristol City Council recently closed down both the Robin Cousins Sports Centre and the Swimming Baths in Shirehampton, due to the fact that they had become a budgetary burden to keep open. The council have recently invested in new high quality sports facilities in Henbury, but the residents of Shirehampton and surrounding communities are now deprived of their community leisure facilities, a particularly poignant issue effecting the young people in this area who have very little to do. Circus Maniacs wants to take over the running of the Robin Cousins Sports Centre offering an engaging community program that includes Circus, related sports, arts, education, youth & health education, international cultural inks. We also want to include activities for those with special needs, early years and also the local elderly population. We want to continue to develop our work with other educational & community providers to maximize the facilities, projects and usage of the centre; creating a place for organizations to visit