Boxing club to keep youth off the streets

A new gym and amateur boxing club which aims to keep youngsters off the streets will open this weekend in a former warehouse in Cannock.

Paul Fellows, of Cannock, has converted an empty space at Walford Works, which has sat empty since 2009. The gym, in Longford Road, will become an official boxing club, but Mr Fellows says it will not be for profit with all the money raised being reinvested in the site. He aims to drive down obesity levels and improve discipline in youngsters.

He said: "It is a club for everyone, we will be inviting people to come and keep fit and it aims to get kids off the street as there is not anything else like this around, but also lots of people will be doing it for the boxing.

"We want people to be competing for the club and winning some competitions and championships."

Mr Fellows, who lives in Turquoise Grove, has spend around £10,000 creating the new centre.

The 41-year-old says he wants to keep the membership prices down to make the gym appealing to the people he is aiming to inspire.

He said: "I don't want to charge too high a price and alienate the people I am trying to attract. I want to make this available to everybody and keep costs to an absolute minimum. I will be funding the project myself to get it up and running and from then the club will be self-supporting with all the monies staying within the club for the benefit of the community as a whole."

Mr Fellows says he has been an amateur boxer and professional trainer for 25 years.

Mr Fellows said he hoped the hype surrounding the London Olympics would drum up more interest in the gym.

"Women's boxing featured for the first time ever at this year's Olympics, so hopefully there will be some interest generated there," he said.

The official opening will be this Saturday and Mr Fellows is trying to secure some big names from the sport to attend. The club's main hours of operation would be between 5.30pm and 7.45pm Monday to Friday.