Information on Loughborough

New boxing club opens in Sileby thanks to neighbourhood beat team

Posted on 18/06/2009

police,constabulary,leicestershire police New boxing club opens in Sileby thanks to neighbourhood beat team

A new boxing club has opened in Sileby thanks to the support and involvement of the local neighbourhood beat team. 

PC Gordon Doudie and PCSO Sian Mapp became the neighbourhood beat officers for Sileby, Seagrave and Cossington in September 2008.  They quickly identified that residents in the village thought anti-social behaviour was a problem and that the young people felt they had nowhere to go and nothing to do. 

The officers decided to establish what facilities the young people would like and the overwhelming majority of them said they wanted a boxing club.  The idea proved popular with villagers as well who had fond memories of a previous boxing club that had once been run in the village.  

In October 2008, Gordon and Sian started to look for qualified boxing coaches and found three people affiliated to the Amateur Boxing Association who were willing to give up their time to run a club in the evenings.  In January 2009 a formal committee was formed with the task of finding a suitable venue and, after a few false starts, they found a building on Barrow Road Business Park on Barrow Road in Sileby at the end of March.  Their planning application for change of use was agreed in May and the keys were handed over on June 1st.  The committee then had the task of decorating the building, buying equipment and doing general maintenance.  The Sileby Boxing Academy (SBA) opened its doors on Monday June 15th. 

The club is open between 6pm and 9pm every evening from Monday to Friday.  It is open to anyone aged 10 and above and the membership fee is £5 for the year and then juniors will pay £2 a session and adults £3.  More than £4000 of funding was secured from the police and Charnwood Borough Council to set up the club and bids are in to other organisations for a further £6000 to keep the club running for its first year.

PCSO Sian Mapp said; “It is so exciting to see the club up and running after all our hard work.  It is a much needed facility in the village and is already proving very popular with local teenagers.  Boxing is a great way of teaching discipline and respect and self defence and the club has strict rules about behaviour.  We have also seen a new Youth Club open in the village so there is no excuse now for young people hanging around in the street, there is lots for them to do. 

“We are always on the look out for funds so if any businesses in the area can help us out that would be great; we want to make sure the club runs for years to come giving the teenagers of the area something positive to do in a safe and well managed environment.” 

Inspector Duncan Southall, the Commander of Charnwood local policing unit, said; “This is a great example of the neighbourhood beat team working closely with, and for, the community of Sileby.” 

Head Coach, Dave Lambert, said; “I have been involved in amateur boxing for 35 years and it is a great way of getting communities together and the Academy is a great facility for Sileby.  We are honoured to get the chance to do it and offer young people the chance to do something constructive, help them train and learn the discipline of the sport as well as teaching them to respect themselves and others.  People can come along and train or just use the gym facilities to help them keep fit.  We are hoping to get some kids to take part in competitions and we want to build a strong club for the future.”