A CHEERLEADING club has been celebrating after seeing its membership rise.

The membership at Cheer Valley, based at Darwen Vale High School, has more than doubled in two years which means teams will now be able to compete in more competitions than ever before.

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After having two children, head coach Sarah Holden has been back and forth to her post since 2014 which saw membership levels stall, she said.

But on her return this week, Mrs Holden said it was ‘brilliant’ to see the mats fuller than they had been in years.

She said: “It’s like having a whole new family.

“It has been a bit disjointed in the past couple of years because I’ve been away on maternity leave so I had to train up a few girls to take on the sessions.

“They have done a brilliant job, they have introduced new people to the sport but as with most sports, people follow a coach and because of me going back and forth we just haven’t really been pushing the club as much.

“But it has been so brilliant to see so many faces, we have around 130 members now and when I left it was about 50.

“In a town like Darwen that’s quite small it’s surprising that we have grown like this but we do attract people from all over from places like Preston, Haslingden, Manchester and Burnley.

“We will be able to compete in so much more now we have so many members. I have high hopes for the season.”

The first competition for Cheer Valley will be at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens in December where youth teams and the senior crew will compete in the British Cheerleading Association Northern Classics.

This will be followed by a trip to Nottingham in March and Liverpool in June.

The club is also looking to raise money for a sprung track which will enable them to replicate the surface they will compete on in upcoming contests.

Around £4,000 is needed to purchase the track which will be raised through organised events.

Mrs Holden said: “I hope that with more people interested than ever we can easily do that.”

The club runs on Monday and Thursday at Darwen Vale High School for anyone aged over five. For more information contact Ms Holden on 07581 008907.