South Cheshire Amateur Boxing Club: A place to belong

In June 2025, South Cheshire Amateur Boxing Club and Crewe Youth Club opened its brand-new boxing gym and youth club, funded by the Youth Investment Fund and other generous funders. The club is the first purpose-built youth space in Crewe in over 60 years. It’s a collaborative project that’s been built by the community, for the community, and will give young people every opportunity to have fun and improve their health and life chances.

All Different. All Equal

A new film shines a light on the fantastic new space and shows the impact it is having on Crewe’s children and young people. It’s a welcoming space and has an ‘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.”

Building confidence

Nathan Clarke, Head Coach at South Cheshire Amateur Boxing Club, started boxing at the age of 13 at his local boxing club. Nathan says the brand-new space gives young people confidence and a place to belong. Nathan says it gives young people the ability to walk the streets of Crewe without feeling anxious and being here gets them off the streets. In the film, young people all talk about how welcoming the space is and reinforce the message about having a place where they can belong.

Tyler, aged 13, has been coming to South Cheshire Amateur Boxing Gym since he was five years old.

South Cheshire Amateur Boxing Club and Crewe Youth Club is the most important thing in my life

Amelia is 12 and says she was terrified when she first came to the Boxing Gym, she thought it wasn’t for her but decided to give it a shot. Now Amelia says:

“This is probably the most important thing in my life now. And I love it. It’s like a big family. You make a lot of friends, and everyone is welcome here. You can be yourself. It helps with your health and keeps you out of trouble.”

Helping to lever additional funding

Mike Morris, Chair of Crewe Youth Club, reflected on the journey they have been on. Mike says that the team really valued the support and learning they received from the Youth Investment Fund team in managing a large capital construction project. He says that the process and learning from YIF has put them in a strong position to go to other funders.

Although the building work completed in June, the team still has big plans.

They have lots of unused space around the new boxing gym and are talking to the local community about how they can best make use of the land for Crewe’s young people. They have dreams of it becoming a local sports village.  Watch this space!