Corey Walkes is flying high – and his friends and family are hoping that one day we will be reading much more about him. Readers will remember the thirteen-year-old Writhlington School student's recent successes and it seems that one day, the sky could really be the limit!

Corey, who lives in Radstock with his family, is an Elite Trampoline Gymnast, competing both nationally for Quayside Trampoline and Gymnastics Club in Bridgwater, where he is coached by International Performance and Head Coach, Sue Bramble, and internationally for Great Britain, as part of the British Trampoline Gymnastics squad. Taking part in trampolining and gymnastics since he was seven-years-old, Corey has now been officially announced as part of the Great Britain team to compete at the World Age Group Championships 2014 in Daytona Beach, Florida, next month.

Corey's mother, Pippa, explains: "After taking up the sport, Corey quickly worked his way through the regional grading system. He joined High Flyers Trampoline Club, based in Cheddar in August 2012, after coming fourth at the National Finals. Corey started training under the expert guidance of Sue Bramble, gaining his first international experience at the Aalsmeer Flower Cup, held in Holland.

"He was then invited to attend national trials at Lilleshall National Sports Centre, in Telford, and selected to join the British Gymnasts Junior High Performance Trampoline Squad, whilst continuing to train with Sue and at Bath University Sports Village.

"After successfully competing at both national trials, Corey was selected tocompete at his first international competition for Great Britain in November 2013, at the 22nd World Age Group Trampoline Championships, held in Bulgaria, where he was placed an amazing seventh in the world in his age group."

Since January, Corey now trains at Quayside Trampoline and Gymnastics Club at a new purpose-built facility in Bridgwater, where he is training alongside Senior World Champion, Laura Gallagher. He was reselected for the British Gymnastics Junior High Performance Trampoline Squad, joining the 13–14-year-olds.

All of this effort requires a huge amount of dedication and began with the family trampoline. Corey is the youngest of five children and when he began to do flips and tricks in the back garden, his parents bought him lessons so he could learn to do them safely. His mother now drives him the seventy-mile round trip, sometimes six days a week, so that he can train in Bridgwater, estimating ongoing monthly costs of £500 and long days for Corey, which often see him completing his homework in the car on the way back from training, getting home at 9 p.m. with further conditioning to do before he goes to bed.

But he has so far had some amazing experiences. In March this year, Corey attended selection trials for a place on the GB team to compete at the Junior European Championships. He excelled and came second and first on the respective days and in April, he competed as the youngest member of not only the GB Junior Team, but the entire European Championships, held in Guimeres, Portugal, placing him seventeenth out of sixty in the Under-18s age group, with the team narrowly missing out on a Bronze Team Medal by just 0.4 points.

As "One of the country's most promising young athletes", Corey is now a Sports Aid Athlete and a Silver Olympic Passport Holder. He has had an incredible few weeks, after being selected to compete as part of the Boys' 13/14 GBR Team at the beginning of last month in Portugal, winning both the individual and Team Gold Medals in his age group, with a personal best performance and winning another Gold in Liverpool at the British Championships 2014, taking the title of 'Trampoline Elite Level Men's Under-15 British Champion 2014' with another Personal Best score of 54.165.

Competing as a Junior Gymnast for Great Britain is completely self-funded and Corey's next trip to Florida to compete at the 23rd World Age Group Trampoline Championships will cost his family £2,500. They have already managed to fundraise just over £1,000 so far, with Sports Aid providing him with a small amount of funding. Local companies have pledged their support and Radstock Town Council are following his story.Readers can help support a future local star by visiting: http://www.virginmoney.com/coreywalkes2014">www.virginmoney.com/coreywalkes2014

Corey said, "I am honoured to have been selected for the World Age Group Championships again this year and competing in America for the first time is going to be an amazing experience!

"Any support, no matter how small, would be much appreciated to help me compete for Great Britain. I hope to make you all proud to have helped me!"