"Boxing changes lives." Sparkbrook club helping young people avoid crime
Birmingham City Boxing Club has just received £5,000 of funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner
A historic boxing club in Birmingham is being transformed by World, European and Olympic champion boxers, who once trained there.
Brothers Kal, Gamal and Galal Yafai, who grew up across the road from the Birmingham City Boxing Club, in Sparkbrook, are beginning work on the transformation after receiving funding from Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Simon Foster.
The £5,000 from the PCC’s My Community fund will be used to repair the flooring and buy new gloves and equipment for the gym, which is an important hub for young people in the area.
21-year-old Ishaaq Roberts has been coming to the gym for three months and says the atmosphere is very welcoming, but a few improvements would go a long way.
“The flooring definitely needs to be done, when you are skipping and shadow boxing it’s hard to move around, and even sometimes when you’re hitting the bag you trip up a little bit. Definitely the hole in the ceiling, I didn’t even notice the hole in the ceiling but you don’t want the rain and snow coming in.” he said.
“These things do matter as well. I’m someone who has got a mental health problem so training is a relief for me, and the environment you’re in does matter. It will help quite a lot I think. This is like a second home for a lot of us.”
European champion Gamal, the middle brother of the city's famous Yafai fighting family, trains with the members five times a week.
He says the gym has a great history and was previously run by community stalwart Frank O’Sullivan MBE for 69 years, but the building has seen very little investment over the years.
He added: “It’s sad to say, but a lot of the boys that come here are from broken homes. This is a deprived area and for some, the community here is like a family for them. That’s how we treat them, so we want to bring the club into a new era and refurbish it.
"We will be spending more on the gym, but this first lump sum from the PCC is kickstarting the process.”
Former WBA World champion Kal Yafai, who retired from the sport in 2023, said:
“There’s a lot to do. The floor is uneven, there are lights that don’t work, holes in the ceiling and treadmills that need replacing.
"It 100% matters that we improve the space because it shows the lads that come here that we care about them, and we know what this place means to them.”
Birmingham City Boxing Club is just one of the community projects in the region to receive a share of £330,000 from the My Community Fund, which runs every year - awarding up to £5,000 for each project.
It’s designed to support those who want to invest in their neighbourhoods, making them a safer place to live, learn and work. The money is made up from proceeds of crime that police have seized from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster, said:
“Kal, Galal and Gamal Yafai have hugely successful sporting careers that have taken them all over the world, but they have always prioritised their home city.
“They are deeply connected to Birmingham and want to make a positive difference to young people growing up here, and I’m pleased to be supporting them in this project.
“Preventing and tackling youth violence and keeping our young people safe is a top priority.
“Empowering people who know what investment their local area needs, is exactly what the My Community Fund is about, and we know that diversionary activity, like amateur boxing gyms, can help reduce youth violence and improve young people’s mental health.”