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Amateur boxing does matter. It’s the notable exception to other sports in the UK. Unlike other sports, in boxing almost three quarters of affiliated clubs are located in the most deprived parts of England, with 25% in the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods nationally.
As an intervention they make a huge difference in young people’s lives often at exactly the age when they need it. @anthonyfjoshua is a prime example of someone who used boxing to turn his life around.
But there are so many others who change their lives through the discipline they learn at a boxing club and through the support they receive there. @TheBugzyMalone for instance on what boxing did for him: https://www.boxingnewsonline.net/champion-effect-why-bugzy-malone-is-helping-collyhurst-moston/
Here are just a few more examples of what clubs do for their communities. @CarneyCommunity supports young people who have experienced trauma, they reduce offending, it’s shown to work and is hugely important: https://www.boxingnewsonline.net/the-importance-of-carneys-community/
Tamworth for instance runs a programme to counter extremism, and many boxing clubs essentially run programmes to help young people get themselves out of gangs: https://www.boxingnewsonline.net/using-the-ethos-of-boxing-to-counteract-extremism/
In these tough times, @mosssidefirebox has just been getting meals to those who need them, even when clubs themselves have been having a hard enough time, having to shut their doors and trying to get through lockdown: https://www.boxingnewsonline.net/if-kids-are-hungry-if-people-need-food-if-we-can-do-something-about-it-we-will-the-impact-of-moss-side-fire-through-lockdown-and-beyond/
The list could go on and on, and investing in communities now saves money in the long run, reducing problems before they even start. Amateur boxing clubs should have government support.
There’s a petition for a Sports Recovery Fund for participation sports and community clubs, inc. boxing worth signing here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/553619
And @luke11campbell has recently started a petition for boxing: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/561180
