UK’s First Female-Led Boxing Club Organizes Fundraising Weekend for New Facility

The United Kingdom’s inaugural boxing club operated by women is hosting a series of fundraising activities over a weekend to renovate its new location. The Northern Powerhouse Boxing Academy aims to secure £300,000 for the necessary work on the ground floor of the Hebden Bridge Trades Club, a space that has remained vacant since it was affected by flooding in 2015. The planned fundraising events include a marathon relay race connecting the former club building in Todmorden with its new site in Hebden Bridge, a 6.2-mile (10km) swimming challenge, a bake sale combined with a pub quiz, and a 5,000-burpee challenge. Josie McNamara, the general manager, stated that the renovation project would not only make the building resistant to future floods but also enable its use for broader community gatherings. “We really want it to be a place that when we’re not using it other members of the community can and people can hire it from us or they can run an after-school club there,” she commented. She added, “We’re putting a lot of work into including that at the design stage to make sure it’s truly accessible and an inclusive space that anyone in our local community can use.” While a significant portion of the project’s funding has been acquired through grants, the club still requires an additional £30,000 from local community contributions. “It’s not a low-cost project,” Ms. McNamara remarked. “We want to make sure that if it ever does flood again, which is quite possible in the middle of Hebden Bridge, that we can just kind of sweep it down, mop it out and reopen.” She further explained that flood resilience measures are costly, and given the location beneath a music venue, robust soundproofing solutions also need to be implemented. As an element of the fundraising drive, contributors are eligible to receive “rewards” such as branded merchandise, club memberships, hairdressing services, craft workshops, and spa treatments. Ms. McNamara clarified that these incentives are intended as a gesture of gratitude to donors. “It’s just really a great incentive and a reason why people can support the project and get something back for supporting it,” she stated.