Billingham Boxing Academy keeping young people on right path

Concerns over anti-social behaviour and knife crime among young people, which campaigners argue are linked, remain high in communities across the region.

But while some may fear boxing could encourage street violence, professional coaches argue the opposite is true and fights only take place in the ring under controlled conditions.

They argue the gym environment promotes positive mental and physical health with fellow boxers giving young people an even stronger camaraderie than they get from a gang.

Coach Jayne Wallace with young members of Billingham Boxing Academy (Image: Contributor)Jayne Wallace, a coach and director of Billingham Boxing Academy, said: “Some of the kids we work with have been involved in anti-social behaviour and were going down the wrong path.

“We work with the youth justice department and they ask if we will accommodate kids they are really struggling with.

“They come in and we give them some jobs to do to give them a bit of responsibility and then do some training with them.

“That has been really positive. They really get into it because they want to be part of something.

“They come in on an evening and that can be five nights a week they are off the streets so it does reduce any chance of them getting involved in anything untoward.”

Young boxers can travel the country with the club to take part in contests and, as Jayne says, it ‘keeps them busy and stops them getting in with the wrong crowd.’.    

Young fighters from Billingham Boxing Academy in action (Image: Contributor)

Jayne said: “Boxing teaches them the discipline that they need in their lives.

“You sometimes see spectators at boxing shows thinking they are the Jack the Lad, like you do at football, but you will never see boxers getting involved in uproar or arguments.

“They have got nothing to prove because they are getting in that ring and boxing in safe conditions where it is refereed. They are already proving what they are made of.

“When young kids get that they realise they do not need to go out and start trouble or street fights

“They have gained the respect of other boxers in the gym and it changes their mindset completely.”

The boxing club works closely with Theresa Cave from Redcar who founded the Chris Cave Foundation after her son was stabbed to death in 2003.

Theresa Cave (Image: Northern Echo)Jayne said channelling the energy of young people into boxing is a good way of changing the mentality of those most at risk of carrying a knife or using one on someone else.

Theresa, whose son Tom, 23, trains at the club, is a supporting the North East Knife Crime Taskforce, a public forum formed as part of the Northern Echo’s anti-knife crime campaign.

Our graph below shows how knife crime has risen across the North East in recent years

She said: “Boxing is a really good avenue to get people away from knife crime.

“They learn discipline and how to be friends with people and not be enemies.

“The club does a lot of good work in the community. It is about belonging and there is a family of friends there so it is like being part of a brotherhood rather than a gang. They all look after each other and encourage each other.”

In November the club received £2,350 funding from Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner to pay for a free, amateur boxing event young people in Billingham and surrounding areas as well boxers, aged 11-25, who already attend the club.

Mr Turner said: “Boxing is a shining example of the benefits for young people of getting involved in sport.

“Not only does it focus their energies on a positive activity but being part of a club helps to develop a sense of purpose and community.

“If you feel part of something, you are far less likely to want to destroy it – or ruin your own chances of taking part – by getting involved in antisocial behaviour and crime.”

Initiatives such as Gloves Up, Knives Down are helping to persuade young people to take up the sport instead of roaming residential areas armed with a blade which carries potentially lethal as well as legal consequences.

Clockwise from top left, Connor Brown, Chris Cave, Tomasz Oleszak and Jack Woodley were victims of fatal stabbings (Image: Contributor)Jayne said: “Knife crime is something we speak about regularly at the gym.

“When kids come in to us they start training so hard they want to get to national championships and to achieve something.

“They know that as soon as they carry that knife that it can be turned on them and they know it is just not worth it.

“It is a deterrent and make them thinks twice. It is something we are constantly hammering home.”

Recommended reading:

• First meeting of North East Knife Crime Taskforce in Durham
• Calls for knife crime to be on school curriculum 
• Pioneering interactive VR film could help North East kids learn danger of knife crime

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Anyone interested in finding out more about Billingham Boxing Academy can make contact through the club’s website or on Facebook.

Sessions at the gym in the West Precinct in Billingham are held Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8pm or Tuesday and Thursday from 7.30pm as well as at 10am on Saturday.

Children from the age of eight can join and Jayne said the club’s caring ethos means everyone will be made to feel welcome and looked after.

Jayne Wallace offers advice to a youngster during a bout for Billingham Boxing Academy (Image: England Boxing)She said: “Some of the kids who come in are not from the best backgrounds and as coaches we are also like councillors and social workers rolled into one.

“We become part of their extended family and it never leaves you so even when they are no longer training they still come in and we look out for them.

“It is about more than just the boxing and it always will be.”