Charley and Chloe's Special Evening

Louis and Charley (left) and Chloe

PDDCS Members and multiple medal winning gymnasts, Charley Stokes and Chloe Peacock had the time of their lives on Thursday as they helped Louis Smith turn on the Christmas lights at Peterborough's Serpentine Green shopping centre.

Louis, making a rare public appearance in the city, is currently among the favourites to win BBC TV's Strictly Come Dancing after becoming a household name when he narrowly missed out on Olympic gold on the pommel horse.

In one of the most memorable moments of the Olympics, Louis played a key role in the team event when, in the presence of Prince William, the team thought they'd got silver only for the judges to reconsider and demote the team to bronze. Despite the controversy, it remains an awe inspiring sporting achievement.

The size of the crowd reflected Louis' popularity in his home town as hundreds waited for his arrival, while in the management suite of the shopping centre, Louis met exclusively with a beaming Chloe and Charley and three other local gymnasts.

Amid a frenzied atmosphere and thousands of camera flashes, Louis took to the stage with Chloe and Charley and turned on the lights. Louis was then faced with surging crowds as he attempted to shake as many hands as possible. A live TV interview, broadcast on ITV1 in the Anglia region was also conducted from the stage as our thrilled members looked on.

Louis and BSL communicator Caroline Richardson

Charley and Chloe were nominated for the chance to meet Louis on the shopping centre's Facebook page for their gymnastic achievements, but both Charley and Chloe have inspired others with their determination to succeed at their sport while also overcoming the barriers that hearing loss can present. Chloe has also faced multiple hospital visits and Charley forced to move from the family home following a devastating fire in February.

Chloe also has achieved the status of becoming a squad level gymnast and has been competing for a number of years.

PDDCS arranged with Serpentine Green to have a sign language communicator on stage to make the event accessible to the many deaf people who were there to see Charley and Chloe's big moment. A big thanks to Serpentine Green for being accommodating and to Caroline Richardson for volunteering to provide the communication for the event.

It was an amazing evening that Chloe and Charley will remember for a long time to come. Well done and we're all proud of you!

More stories and pictures:
Serpentine Green's Facebook Photo Gallery
Heart FM's photo gallery
ITV Live interview
Peterborough Today's coverage