Building work is underway for a new state-of-the-art youth boxing gym at Mirion Street Centre in the heart of Crewe. The brand-new youth space is a collaborative project between Crewe Youth Club and South Cheshire Amateur Boxing Club and is generously funded by the UK Government’s Youth Investment Fund (£820,622) ,the Garfield Weston Foundation (£150,000), the Community Ownership Fund (£300,000), the Improved, Greener, Communities Facilities Fund (£15,000) and the Crewe Towns Fund (£732,000). It’s an exciting moment for Crewe’s young people and will give them every opportunity to have fun and improve their health and life chances.
VIPs, Mayors, Councillors, council officials, funders, senior police officials met young boxers, and Crewe Youth Club and South Cheshire Amateur Boxing Club Boards of Trustees at a special event. A giant ‘ground-breaking’ spade marked the start of the new youth centre’s construction. It’s hoped that the new gym will complete and open its doors to young people in early 2025. The celebrations included an opportunity to meet young boxers as they unveiled their ideas for the youth centre’s design.
The Mirion Street Centre is part of a two-stage project to relocate the South Cheshire Amateur Boxing Club from a crumbling Victorian warehouse to a modern sports and recreational facility. The first phase will develop the Mirion Street Boxing Gym on a derelict site. Once complete, it will be an inspiring new space where young people from all backgrounds can participate in boxing and benefit from small group coaching and striving to achieve personal goals in a highly skilled physical sport.
The new youth centre will be built on a large 1.13 acre stretch of land. Around two-thirds of the land will be used for the development, leaving plenty of space for outdoor activities and future development for the benefit of the youth community. The building will be a modern, double height space with a hipped roof. Sustainability is at the heart of the build; it will include solar panels, an air sourced heat pump, LEDs, and will be insulated with natural materials.
The outside space will include a new running track, attractive landscaping, plus plenty of car parking spaces, including points for electric charging. The building has been designed by NC Architecture, a North West firm of Architects with experience working with charitable organisations. The boxing gym is being constructed by PGS Projects, a firm also based in the North West.
Mirion Street Centre will be a welcoming space for every young person who wants to get involved. Working alongside other agencies, including Cheshire East Council, the NHS, local Schools and the Police, the Mirion Street Centre will give young people in the area a fantastic central access point to help get support and guidance. The Club promotes community cohesion through its ‘open door policy’, encouraging local community members to attend, commit to the club values and code of behaviour, regardless of gender, disability, age, ethnicity or culture. The Clubs informal motto, and an inspiration for this project, is “All Different. All Equal.”
