DANCING with Kylie Minogue and Hear'Say might seem like a dream come true for most males.

But for gymnast Craig Heap it is a means to an end.

The 28-year-old Burnley lad can pick up the occasional £400 for doing a backflip with the popstars which is vital money as he launches a desperate bid to try and find the finance which will help him star in the Commonwealth Games next year.

Craig could be an East Lancs hero with eight medals up for grabs in gymastics but if he doesn't get funding by the end of January he is going to wave goodbye to his Manchester dreams.

"It's obviously not a bad job, dancing with Kylie and Hear'Say but at the end of the day I am not about that," said the British number one.

"I'm am a serious gymnast who has to do this to get a pittance just to keep my gymnastic career going.

"After doing it, I get up in the morning and my back and ankle hurts from tumbling on a hard floor.

"I haven't been a gymnast for 18 years to do a back flip with pop stars.

"I'm just a nobody with them, a dancer, and I want to be recognised in my own right. I could become one of the most successful male gymnasts in Britain,and I think I can if I get to the Commonwealth Games. But the lack of finance could stop me."

It does seem like the same old story with Craig and he says he is getting tired of the battle.

He was ready to give up the sport before the Sydney Olympics - especially when he was forced to sell his Peugeot 205 to fund his bid to get there.

But then a fairy godmother arrived in the shape of Brierfield firm Smith and Nephew who sponsored him £11,000 - and he never looked back.

He was the only British male gymnast in Australia and, in making the final cut of 36, did the best a British gymnast has done for 12 years.

"I get £329 a month from Sport England for funding. They do pay the fees when I live in Lilleshall which I have done the last eight years but the £329 is basically all I have to live on.

"That's is to try and run a car, pay any bills, buy clothes or gymnastic gear.

"You need to be in the top ten in the world to get the best funding but it is hard to be in the top ten as around 45 countries compete in gymnastics.

"If there was a sport where just ten countries compete then even if they finished tenth, they would get the better funding.

"It is frustrating. And I can't work because I need to train. We train six hours a day for six days a week. There is no time.

"That's why what Smith and Nephew did was fantastic. I could concentrate on my training - I didnt have to miss it to dance with pop stars and so on! And I didnt have to worry about bills.

"They have since been taken over and they don't know if they can sponsor me again.

"But their funding certainly paid off in Sydney."

That experience was fantastic for Craig. He made the final cut of 36 - a great achievement considering the great gymnastic countries involved, especially Russia - and got a personal best.

"Making the last 36 was like winning a gold medal for me and I was on TV as the BBC screened four of my disciplines.

"Coming home I couldn't wait for the Commonwealth Games but, after the year I have had, I don't want to struggle any more.

The six disciplines Craig competes in are the vault, the high bar, the pommel, the parallel bars, the floor and the rings and he could win a medal in each of the individual disciplines, in the all-round event and in the team event.

Britain, with Craig, did win a team event gold in Kuala Lumpur in the last Commonwealth Games.

"That was brilliant and we want to do that again, he said and he stands a realistic chance of winning more.

After the first round in Sydney I was the top Commonwealth competitor and in the second round, there was just an Australian in front of me which gives me a good chance of perhaps getting three or four gold medals if everything goes to plan.

Craig is keener than ever to make the short trip to Manchester because he has been in agony this year. He has had five operations.

"They are just wear and tear. I have had one on my shoulder, one on my leg and three on my elbow. It has been quite traumatic.

"You do wonder what you are putting your body through. There have been days when I have had four painkillers just to get me through training and if I had had to take 100 to get me to the Olympics I would have done.

"Dreaming of success in Sydney got me through that and I know I have sacrificed a lot of my life for this and it is a sacrifice I am glad I have made.

"But now Im fed up. I'm 28, have no career outside of gymnastics and no money to fall back on.

"I want to bow out in style with the Commonwealth Games and to get any medals would be a dream come true.

"But I don't want to spend the next seven months scrimping and saving, relying on other people's charity like my parents and my coach.

"Or feeling sick about how I am going to pay my coach or pay for treatment. I have even thought about giving up my coach in the run up to the Commonwealth Games to save me money and coach myself. But then I might be denying myself the chance to give Manchester my best shot. It is like a vicious circle which all boils down to cash. The ability is there."

What makes Craig even more frustrated is his friend and former gymnastic team-mate Paul Bowler.

The two went for trials to get into the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 but neither made it that time.

Paul decided he had had enough and joined the circus called Le Cirque Soleil. Now he has a Porsche, a five-bedroom house, a swimming pool and a speedboat and he is based in Las Vegas.

"I must be absolutely mental!

"I got asked to join but I didnt go into gymnastics to work in a circus. I had a great experience in Sydney and if I go the Commonwealth Games and win medals, there will be no regrets that I didn't go into it.

"I went into gymnastics and have built up a good reputation over the years.

I want to win medals at the big events and to become one of the most successful gymnasts in Britain.

"And this is my final chance to shine.

"People say 'why do it' but it is like saying to Steve Redgrave why go for another gold medal when you have got four?

"I want to be there but if I don't get financial help for the next seven months I won't go. I can't carry on like this. It will be a huge shame for me, but I do also think it will be a shame for the sport and the country."

Anyone who would like to help Craig can contact: 07971 850244