Boxing academy fighting back after Covid-19

A boxing academy which gives focus to challenging young people is fighting on thanks to a helping hand from West Northamptonshire Council.

The Weedon Boxing Academy based in the village’s historic Royal Ordnance Depot has a 20-year-long track record of providing young men and women a safe place to train and learn the discipline around boxing.

At the height of the Covid lock-down they received a £1,000 grant from Covid Recovery Grant which paid for much needed equipment.

Parent Damien said his son Freddie has ADHD and was finding it tough at school. Damien said: “He had quite low self-esteem. He's always been quite small for his age, but we brought him here and he really hit it off.

"He started coming three, four times a week, it’s been two years this month and he's a different child.

"School described him as more of a leader now, whereas before, he’d sort of take a step back from things."

Cllr David Smith explained why he chose to support the Academy: "The club has gone through a bit of a challenging time, like many sports clubs and other voluntary organisations with COVID when they were closed for so long and we've been able to bring forward a grant to provide some much-needed equipment into a really well-used and fantastic community facility."

Cllr Smith also paid tribute to Aaron Hill, head coach and Academy founder. He said: “The work that Aaron's doing here is just fantastic.

"He's here four days a week and often then it's weekends away for boxing tournaments.

"So, what a fantastic role model that we've got in Aaron. And in fact, he was a nominee for the West Northamptonshire's International Men's Day ‘Role Model of the Year’, which he was a finalist in only last month."

Cllr Smith added: “This is a rural facility that serves a wide area, it gives some challenging young people a safe place to stay healthy and learn to be disciplined.

"It really is a mine of potential which digs down deep to find the very best of the people who come here."

Aaron said: “Most kids nowadays, they've all got challenging backgrounds and I think they've all got a harder task than what we had when we were younger.

"And the public's too quick to put a label on them nowadays. So, what I hope is to provide is a safe space, somewhere they can come when it gets dark at night and know that they're in a safe space to get fitter, healthier and with a bit of luck, learn some boxing."

Weedon Boxing Academy takes places in Unit 7, Royal Ordnance Depot, Weedon, NN7 4Ps every weekday evening (except Thursday) from 6:45pm till 8:30pm. All walks of life are welcome from 10 years and above and in 2023 they will start a Parent-Toddler session for parents to train with their toddlers from 5-10 years.

Each WNC ward member was allocated £2,500 of a £232,500 Councillor Covid Support Fund. Any voluntary or community group that believes they are working on a project which benefits their community’s recovery from Covid and would like to see if a grant would be available to them, should contact their local WNC Ward Member.

When an appropriate funding round opens, community and voluntary groups in West Northants can apply for a Community Funding Grant. To find out more visit the WNC Community Grants page.

Watch a video of these interviews along with some of the young boxers sparring during a training night on the Council's Youtube channel.