New home for local community club
A local sports club is preparing to move to a new permanent home, one which will allow it to significantly expand its offering to the community.
Winchester Boxing Club first opened in 2013 at the Garrison Club and is currently operating from a unit at Barfield Close. The club, which is a CIC (community interest company), will soon have a new home at a building in Hillier Way opposite Winchester City Football Club, a move which has been arranged by Winchester City Council’s Estates team.
The club welcomes hundreds of people to its weekly sessions, which include classes for men, women and children, and for those with additional needs, including adults from local charity Winchester Go LD.
It soon hopes to offer sessions to adults with Parkinson’s and two of its seven coaches have recently completed specialist training by the Parkinson’s Disease Society.
Glyn Parkin, an England Boxing certified coach who lives in Winchester and has been involved with the club since 2017, said: “Currently we have over 200 members, including men, women and children who attend a variety of classes; some train for awards at different levels, some compete in amateur competitions, some come to enjoy learning new skills or just for a good workout. We have been getting more and more popular over the years, and we don’t want to say no to new members - we just need more space.
“The new premises are exactly what we need for our future and we are very grateful to Winchester City Council, especially Richard Wadman in the Estates team who has worked hard with us for several years to find alternative premises. We’re now at the very exciting stage of preparing a planning application for the big long-term changes to this new site, where, in the meantime, we will be functioning as a club within a few weeks as we prepare to fundraise for the bigger plan”.
Winchester City Council’s Cabinet Member for Healthy Communities Cllr Kathleen Becker said: “So many members of our local community already benefit from what Winchester Boxing Club offers, and I am absolutely delighted that we have been able to assist the club in finding a new home base, a base which will allow them to expand so significantly. It’s also a base which is close to other clubs, and the area is a real community hub for local sports.
“It was fantastic to visit the site to hear more about the club’s exciting plans for the future, including the introduction of more inclusive sessions and offering full disabled access.”