Fighting fit at 50

Harrow Boxing Club has a new lease of life thanks to Harrow Council.  The 50 year old boxing club moved into the previously derelict Croft Pavilion building in Pinner on June 13. The leader of Harrow Council, David Perry met local amateur boxer Shelly Sweeny, who is a member of the England boxing team and already at the age of 15, is a two time National Amateur Champion and Three Nations gold medallist who showed him around the gym. The building has been transformed into a purpose built boxing gym for members with a full size boxing ring and gym facilities.  The new gym will allow the club to offer more classes for young girls and boys across the borough, as well as expanding to serve other groups in the community. The amateur boxing club had been going for over 50 years, but recently was using the Leisure Centre to run its classes meaning they were only able to offer a few hours a week. Leader of Harrow Council, Councillor David Perry said: “It is great to finally see this gym up and running.  Harrow Boxing Club do great work in the community already and hopefully this will allow them to expand.  Our investment has led to the transformation of this building from an unused shell to this facility is fantastic.” Harrow amateur boxing club secretary, Chris Bracewell said: “I have been looking forward to this day for a long time and the facilities are great. We were limited on time and space while we were at the leisure centre and I have seen a number of promising boxers attend clubs in other borough. “We now have a gym with some of the best facilities around and the kids are going to love it.  I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.” Harrow amateur boxing club is run by experienced boxers and regularly travels up and down the country competing in boxing competitions. It is the only affiliated boxing club in the borough and prides itself in helping young boys and girls across Harrow giving them a positive outlet and a strong sense of discipline. Croft Pavilion was unused for over 12 years and has been brought back to life after an injection of capital funding to bring back unused buildings across the borough. With the support of Harrow Council a derelict and fire damaged building in Pinner has been brought back to life. The fire damaged building has been transformed into a brand new sport facility for an amateur boxing club has opened a new purpose built gym.  Harrow ABC boxing club has been going for over 50 years providing male and female boxers with high quality training.