Clayton Amateur Boxing Club
Today, we dropped by Accrington Stanley to see Karen and give her this lovely bunch of flowers as a Thank You for hosting our Black Tie Boxing Event in the 1968 Lounge.
💐 Flowers from the Victoria Flower Shop, Whalley Road, Accrington #ShopLocal
Clayton Amateur Boxing Club raised over £8,500 at an extra special fundraising event for the club, which took place in Accrington Stanley’s world class hospitality venue, the 1968 Lounge, on Friday 6th October.
VIP guest for the event was new boxing star and youngest ever finalist on BBC’s The Apprentice, Camilla Ainsworth.
Camila helped raise funds for Clayton ABC, who have provided a safe space for hundreds of children and young people. Some are trying to turn their lives around, others from challenging backgrounds and many are just looking for a place to go in the face of cuts to youth services.
Compered by BBC Radio Lancashire’s Stephen Lowe, the black tie event saw a fantastic line-up of boxing with a large number of Clayton ABC’s boxers on show, as they took on an English Select.
The event also included a delicious two-course dinner, a DJ and live music, a raffle and various auctions.
Raffle prizes up for grabs featured a signed Accrington Stanley football, a bottle of champagne and a signed Accrington Stanley shirt, while the noisy auction included a football boot signed by former England and Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton donated by Rob Williamson, a meal for two at the Crafty Fox donated by #AmazingAccrington, and two VIP tickets to see S Club perform at the AO Arena, donated by LS Studio.
There was also a signed framed picture auction featuring legends from sport, music and film including Eric Cantona, Paul Scholes, Sir Alex Ferguson, Pele, Steven Gerrard, Roger Moore, Liam & Noel Gallagher, Tyson Fury & Deontay Wilder, Manny Pacquaio and Usain Bolt.
John Brindle, Head Coach and volunteer at Clayton Amateur Boxing Club, said: “This event means absolutely everything. Without these nights and without raising this cash, we can’t do what we want to do. We take these kids all over the country week in, week out, as well as abroad, and it costs an absolute fortune to do it, and without events like this, we simply wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Camilla Ainsworth, special VIP guest for the event, commented: “It has been an absolute honour to be at this event. I am so happy that so much money has been raised for such a worthy cause and I would just like to say thank you for having me.”
Sara Britcliffe, MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, said: “Clayton ABC are a brilliant club in our community. They provide friendship, fitness and support, so it has been great here to be here raising funds for such a great community club. Well done to John and the team for such an amazing event.”
Cllr Terry Hurn, Mayor of Hyndburn, commented: “It has been wonderful to be here tonight, raising all this money for a very special cause in Clayton ABC, which looks after the youngsters particularly in our area.”
Murray Dawson, Chair of #AmazingAccrington and Managing Director of Scott Dawson Advertising, said: “We are proud to have supported this amazing fundraising event for Clayton ABC including printing the programmes and advertising the event, donating items for the auction and inviting #AmazingAccrington business leaders to attend.
“It is fantastic to see Clayton ABC doing well and a great amount of money has been raised for them, as well as for Accrington Stanley Women.”
You can learn more about Clayton Amateur Boxing Club and get all the information you need about the event on their website: http://www.claytonamateurboxingclub.co.uk/
Clayton Amateur Boxing Club has been awarded £4000 to support the great work they do with the youth of Clayton. The money which was raised at the Mayoral Ball was presented to the club by the Mayor of Hyndburn, Cllr June Harrison.
Volunteer John Brindle, who is head coach and match maker at Clayton Amateur Boxing Club said:
“We’re very pleased and grateful for this money from the Mayor. We’re moving into new premises in the near future and the money will go towards refurbishing the equipment there.”
Clayton Amateur Boxing Club is a very deserving recipient. It’s a not for profit organisation run by volunteers who care deeply about the young people in the area.
Mr Brindle highlights that:
“Discipline is paramount in Boxing and it can cure a multitude of ills, like obesity, behavioural problems, and mental health issues.”
The money comes at a great time for the club. They have been fund raising for several years to move into upgraded facilities. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved, and a further £50,000 from Sports England, they’ve achieved that goal and the club will soon be moving to the Civic Hall in Clayton. These latest funds will go towards refurbishing their new home and purchasing new equipment.
Mayor of Hyndburn, Cllr June Harrison commented:
“Organisations like Clayton Amateur Boxing Club perform a vital role in our community by giving young people an alternative way to spend their evenings. This boxing club and its heroic volunteers like John Brindle are extremely positive role models.”
Clayton Amateur Boxing Club operates an open-door policy. Mr Brindle commented:
“Everyone is welcome. It doesn’t matter who you are, male or female, there’s no age limit, we don’t care what your religion is or where you come from”.
Clayton Amateur Boxing Club operates activities and training sessions every weekday evening, see their website for details of how to get involved www.claytonamateurboxingclub.co.uk
The amateur boxing club for youngsters is on its way to hitting a £20,000 fundraising target, after the English versus Irish Charity Boxing event, featuring boxers who had travelled all the way from Tipperary, attracted lots of guests who gave generously to spur the club further onto its fundraising target.
Mayor, Cllr Tim O’Kane said; “It was a fantastic evening, we enjoyed a great meal and music from Accrington Pipe band drummers, who were one of the highlights of the night and of course saw some quality boxing displays from lots of talented amateur boxers. Generous guests dug deep to help the club raise over £4000 towards their total of £20,000 towards buying equipment and refurbishing a new property which they have applied to secure in the area.”
John Brindle, head coach of Clayton Amateur Boxing Club, has more than 70 young people signed up to his classes each week. John said; “We’re working hard towards our fundraising goal and it’s great that the Mayor has made it one of his official charities. The Charity Boxing event was a brilliant night and everyone had a great time. I want to say a big thanks to the boxers from here and over the water who took part. It takes a lot of training to get ready for an event like this and they certainly put on a great show. Thanks also to our coaches Martin Morley and Laura Lowe for their continued support. Also thanks to everyone who came along and helped raise so much money towards our fundraising target, we really appreciate it.”
Council Leader, Councillor Miles Parkinson, who helped organise the event, said: “Well done to everyone involved for putting on such a successful night, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. A massive thanks to the sponsors, including main event sponsors Whatmore UK and sign sponsors Warrantywise, who also donated £500 to get the justgiving page off to a good start.
Cllr Parkinson added; “Also a big thank you goes to everyone from Scott Dawson Advertising, for their hard work on the night, putting together the programme and promoting the event and the club. Also thanks to fellow Councillor Eammon Higgins of the Accrington Pals café who funded the Irish teams accommodation expenses. We wish the club every success, they have great aspirations to provide a community resource within Clayton Le Moors, well done to all involved, especially John for his dedication.”
If you would like to make a donation, visit the club’s fundraising page at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ClaytonBoxing
Lawrence, CEO of Warranty Wise, presented a £500 cheque to John Brindle, head coach of the Clayton Amateur Boxing Club in Accrington.
The sizeable sum will be added to a £1,470 grant which was recently been approved by Miles Parkinson, County Councillor for Clayton-le-Moors and Rishton.
Boxing coach John, an Occupational Therapist’s Assistant who works with vulnerable adults by day and an amateur boxing coach by night, has more than 70 kids signed up to his classes each week.
He is well known for volunteering to help youngsters in the area, many of whom are striving to change their lives for the better.
The cash will go towards buying equipment and refurbishing a new property which they have applied to secure in the area.
In addition to the donation, local lad Lawrence, who has helped grow his family business to become one of Britain’s biggest warranty companies, has paid for a brand new sign for the club.
John says: “We really appreciate Lawrence for donating £500 and getting our fundraising target off to a great start. We have been after a sign for six years and this is far better than we had hoped for. It gives the club an identity to be proud of.”
Lawrence, who was joined by Mayor Tim O’Kane and his consort, Mrs Melanie Storey at the cheque presentation, adds: “The Whittaker family of businesses has been in Accrington since 1987 and we are proud to be able to help this great amateur boxing club.
“The world really needs more people like John to give their time to help the youngsters target their energy into sport.”
County Councillor Miles Parkinson adds: “After talking to John about future aspirations it became apparent that he and the club required new equipment.
“I was pleased to support this through the Lancashire local members grant which I awarded to the club. We are now working closely with the club, Mercer House 1842 and Lancashire County Council for the asset transfer of the former Youth Centre on Moor Street.
“It would be a perfect new venue and coincidentally, it is where John started running ‘fitness for boxing training’ some years ago.
“Of course we are in the early stages of these discussions with Lancashire County Council but all our passions is for this to hopefully succeed with the aspirations of the club to provide this resource within Clayton Le Moors well done to all involved especially John for his dedication.”
If you would like to make a donation, visit the club’s fundraising page at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ClaytonBoxing
Boxing coach John Brindle was at home when a police officer knocked on his front door with a troubled-looking teenager in tow. “Can you do anything for this lad, John?” the officer asked, “he’s getting in to a lot of trouble with us lately.”
“The lad was having a breakdown really,” recalls John. “It was horrible seeing him in that situation. When he calmed down a bit I said to him, ‘Look I don’t know if you know this, but I’m the head coach of a local boxing club’. He sort of snapped out of it and stopped crying. He’s started coming along to the gym every night now, training with us and coming to matches at the weekend. It’s great to see such a transformation in a short time. It tugged on the old heart strings I can tell you!”
John, an Occupational Therapist’s Assistant who works with vulnerable adults by day and an amateur boxing coach by night, is well known in Clayton for helping youngsters to turn their lives around.
With more than 70 kids signed up to his boxing classes each week – they are the latest of hundreds who have passed through John’s gym doors.
“The kids come in here from a range of backgrounds,” John says. “Some are really shy, wouldn’t say boo to a goose, or they’re a jack the lad. Whichever way they are if they stick at it with us, we can sort them out. Fitness, mental health, challenges and discipline are the key.”
Many of the so-called ‘tear-away teens’, are inspired by the club’s camaraderie and training, and have gone on to find rewarding careers in the armed forces.
“Lots of the kids have gone into the services. Most of them go into the paras,” adds John.
“I remember this one kid was so shy, I’d look around the gym and think, I’m sure we’re missing one here. He couldn’t even look me in the eye or say hello, I’d just see a small pair of feet under a punch bag! “This kid came from a challenging background, was drinking and all that. Now he’s in the Royal Marines, and he still comes back and coaches for us when he’s on leave. It’s brilliant to see – makes it all worthwhile.”
Another former club member and success story is Ellis Nuttall who was 14 when she began boxing with the club. Ellis went on to win a national title aged 18 and has now opened a boxing club of her own, in Wigan.
Not all youngsters at Clayton Amateur Boxing Club are from troubled backgrounds. Take 12-year-old Bradley Hargreaves whose mum and dad Rachel and Mark sensed their son could head down the wrong path and took him to John.
“We weren’t happy with the children Bradley was hanging around with,” says mum Rachel. “We noticed he was retreating into himself a lot. Not really communicating with me or his dad.” Mark adds: “We heard that Bradley was in the park one night with his mates, supposedly playing football, but some of them were drinking and smoking. We fetched him from the park and brought him down here to John -and he’s never looked back. How Bradley has changed as a person is unreal.” Rachel nods in agreement: “It’s like he’s skipped forward a few years – mentally and physically.
“What John and the team here do here for kids is remarkable really.” Mark adds: “They do it for virtually nothing as well – £5 for three sessions a week.”
Fellow coach Martin Morley, self-employed joiner and building contractor by day, explained why the club – currently housed in an old garage near Mercer Park – is desperate for funding.
“The place we are in now is an old garage which has no heating and a leaky roof. We need a better place to encourage more members to join. We’re treading water in terms of progression and
struggling to get funding without a proper venue.”
Martin, whose son Kai boxes with the club, became involved after former coach John Burke was forced to retire through ill health. Along with Laura Law, the three coaches are holding training
sessions five days a week.
Civic leaders and celebrities help John fight for funding!
TV resale king Jesse McClure joined the Clayton club kids to make a short film which will be screened at the Mayor’s Charity Boxing Match on Friday February 18th. The black tie event will raise money for Mayor Tim O’Kane’s four chosen charities; Clayton Amateur Boxing Club, North West Air Ambulance, Riding for the Disabled and Rough Lee Nursing Home.
John Brindle is organising a spectacular boxing display which will see Irish Select v English Select battling it out in the ring.
To book tickets email Miles Parkinson at miles_parkinson@yahoo.com or call him on 01254 301 687.