President of British Gymnastics Paul Garber believes the sport in this country has never been in better health.

Following Louis Smith's bronze at Beijing - the first British male to medal at an Olympics in 80 years - gymnastics is experiencing higher participation than ever before.

Smith's success and the prospect of the London Games in 2012 have proved to be two major catalysts as memberships levels at club's up and down the country have soared.

At a national level Great Britain's junior team have just recorded excellent results at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival and the biggest competitions in the world will be coming to the UK in the next few years.

"The health of the sport has never been better," said Garber, who lives in Capel and is married to Margaret Myler who runs Leatherhead & Dorking Gymnastics Club.

"By the end of 2008 we had already reached our membership targets for September 2009.

"The junior boys have just returned with team gold and a great return of medals in the other disciplines. This team, as well as Louis Smith, will form the basis of our men's squad for 2012 and we have very high expectations for the London Olympics."

But there is plenty of action before that.

"We've worked hard at bringing the best gymnastics to this country," said Garber, who has been in his post since 2007 after serving 10 years as vice-president. "We are hosting the World Championships at the 02 arena in October.

"We've got the European Championships the year after that, the World Trampolining Championships in 2011, then the Games in 2012.

"We have the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow in 2014 and have bids in place for the World Championships in 2013 and 2015."

Garber also revealed the sport is proving hugely popular at a local level.

"There are 22,000 participants in the South East and around 120 clubs," revealed Garber. "There is then a huge amount of children who actively take part in their schools.

"At Leatherhead alone Margaret has something like 1,500 youngsters going through her doors every week."

And popularity is only likely to increase in the next few years as British Gymnastics have recently signed a major deal with Sainsburys to encourage more youngsters to take part.

"The biggest challenge we face is finding the funding to provide the facilities for the growing numbers," admitted Garber.

"That is a common problem for many sports, but is particularly problematic in gymnastics.

"There can be no short cuts, safety is a must and you really need purpose built equipment."

Despite these financial problems Garber remains hugely optimistic about the future of the sport and would encourage any youngsters to get involved and give it a try.

As well as being extremely good for health and fitness he believes the concentration levels required to succeed can help individuals grow mentally.

"The main selling point is that gymnastics can act as a passport to every other sport," he said. "It teaches you health, well being and fitness. Children can branch out into a range of different disciplines and different sports with the skills they learn.

"But you also often find that those who excel at gymnastics will also have a good educational record because of the concentration levels it takes to learn the different techniques.

"It can be very tough to get to the highest level but that shouldn't stop anyone getting involved. There are huge benefits and anyone who wants to go on and compete will be encouraged to do so within their own level."