A CROWDFUNDING campaign is underway to honour a Wilsden-born gymnast.

An online fundraising page aims to coin-in £350 to provide a blue plaque in tribute to Carrie Pickles.

The move comes on the 90th anniversary of the Amsterdam Olympics where Carrie won a bronze medal as part of the British ladies' gymnastics team, which competed in drill, apparatus and vault.

She was also a county and national champion and went on to coach British ladies for the 1948 Olympics in London and the following Games in Helsinki.

And Carrie had a huge influence on people across the district.

"Perhaps her greatest legacy is the number of children and their mothers who attended her gym clubs at Saltaire and Bingley and dance and keep-fit classes in surrounding villages," said Wilsden parish councillor, Jane Callaghan.

"These were people who for the most part had no aspiration to win Olympic medals – although she coached those too, including her own daughters – but who simply enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment that came from Carrie's belief that they could achieve something more than they had thought possible.

"We are proud to honour Carrie's memory and are asking people please to help us by donating towards the blue plaque to mark the place of her birth in Wilsden."

Carrie was born at the village's Cragg House in 1904, the second of six children to Sarah and Frank Pickles, who ran a grocery business.

She took-up gymnastics at a young age and joined the Bradford Gym Club.

After leaving school she trained as a shorthand typist, but continued to pursue her gymnastic career alongside.

She moved to Scotland in 1983 to live with her eldest daughter, but died the following year.

To donate to the plaque appeal, visit crowdfunder.co.uk/blue-plaque-for-carrie-pickles-gymnast-wilsden.

Alternatively, cheques – made payable to Wilsden Parish Council – can be sent to the Village Hall, Townfield, Wilsden BD15 0HT.