Boxing Club raises £210k for renovations and goes solar

Supporters of Bideford Boxing Club have raised over £210,000 to fund extensive renovations to the club, including solar panels to make it more energy efficient and reduce costs.

The club received a grant from the Sport England Olympic legacy fund for £90,000 as well as £80,000 from the S106 community use scheme and donations of £5,000 from Bideford Town Council, £10,000 from the Bridge Trust and £10,000 from the Boxing Club committee.

The club gathered its supporters together to thank them for their efforts. Bideford Boxing Club’s development officer Jeff Facey said: ‘Our supporters agreed with us that going solar would be a great boon to the club and worked tirelessly to make this happen.

‘Adding solar technology will reduce overhead costs in running the facility over the long term.’

The new Bideford Boxing Club facility includes a new £10,000 mezzanine floor and £6,000 solar panels, and the club has plans for second floor additions to house all important exercise machines by the end of April.

Once completed, it will be used daily to offer quality boxing and exercise facilities, with a particular focus on training local young people to produce talented boxers. The club recently introduced boxing fitness for women, which is proving extremely popular and is regularly oversubscribed.

Ben Sears, England Boxing’s club support officer in the region said: "Bideford Boxing Club is a pillar of the community, working proactively with schools, colleges and the local authority to demonstrate the incredible benefits physical activity can have on health and academic performance."

Devon County Councillors Robin Julian and Gaston Dezart agreed that: "There is no doubt that Bideford Boxing Club has made a valuable contribution to the physical and social well-being of youngsters, which prompted our support of the solar energy initiative for their new permanent premises at East of the Water."

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