Grangetown Amateur Boxing Club opens major new gym extension to get more people active

Future Regeneration of Grangetown has secured funding for Grangetown Amateur Boxing Club (GABC) to invest in a major gym extension aimed at getting more people active in an area where life expectancy can be up to 12 years lower than in areas just a few miles away.

The new-look facility has widened the boxing offer and added new facilities, including indoor bikes, rowing machines and weights, transforming it into a full community gym as well as a boxing club.

Lynn Pallister, Community Enterprise Manager at Future Regeneration of Grangetown (FROG), which runs the club, said: “The extension will make a real difference to the community. We can offer so much more to people right across Grangetown, not just a more extensive offer for our boxers, but also families, women and girls, older residents and anyone else who wants to get active on their doorstep. We’re already seeing more people getting involved, and the new facility is going to be brilliant for people’s health and confidence for years to come.”

GABC grew out of the FROG community hub, which opened in 2019 in a former pub and social club building, in response to plans to demolish the area’s last remaining shops and leave the site derelict. FROG bought the building and secured further funding, led by the National Lottery’s Reaching Communities and Power to Change programmes, to develop it into a £1.6 million hub with a play village, café, event space and five retail units.

The boxing club followed soon after, launched at the request of local young people who asked Lynn if a boxing club could be set up. With support from Sport England, the club opened and quickly became a fixture in the community, running sessions three nights a week for boxers of all ages and abilities and another session for carded boxers who enter competitions. Its success has been driven by the dedication of coaches who have given their time and energy to build the club from the ground up, creating a welcoming environment that has kept members coming back and demand steadily growing.

As demand grew, so did the need for more space, and co-creation was central to how the extension took shape. Lynn added: “The extension was shaped by coaches, and those already using the boxing club and other local groups were asked what they needed to help them be more active. That’s what shaped decisions about what the space should include and what it should be able to offer.”

Half the funding for the new extension came from Sport England and You’ve Got This, the South Tees place-based partnership empowering people to be active, and the other half from Enovert Community Trust, with the build carried out by local contractor Warsetts.

The extra space now means boxing training can continue on its usual nights, while the wider gym is already in use from as early as 5.30 am, with sessions for older people, local football and netball teams, boxercise classes and general fitness groups, alongside the club’s regular boxing coaching for young people working towards competition.

Mark Fishpool, Programme Director at You’ve Got This, said: “The extension is the latest step in a long-standing relationship with Lynn and the wider FROG team. We’ve backed this partnership from the start, right through from the original boxing club to this new extension. What’s fantastic is that this wasn’t planned for the community; it was planned with them, and that’s exactly the kind of local leadership we want to see right across South Tees. The more people we get moving and staying active, the more we can start to close the health inequalities gap this area faces, and that’s ultimately what this is all about.”

Sessions remain low-cost with boxing and keep-fit classes, the latter run separately by WhatFit at subsidised rates. Other activities, such as those with men’s mental health groups and Recovery Connections, are also subsidised, so cost is never a barrier.
Lynn Pallister added: “It’s an amazing, affordable space that is accessible to all, where people feel comfortable, confident and proud to be.”

Coaches feel the club gives young people structure, discipline and positive role models to look up to, and that being active outside school also supports their wider development and wellbeing.

Looking ahead, FROG plans to keep widening access to the gym, including working with more local groups to help them move from support sessions in the hub into regular activity in the gym. The club’s coaches also hope the extra space will help produce more competitive boxers and champions in the years ahead.