Lancashire School of Boxing: 'Helping these kids can be life-changing and there's so much pride in that'

“I was only small in high school and I got into trouble with a bit of bullying, so she took me to the boxing club and the love of it started from there,” says Rob. “It’s been a hugely positive influence for me.”

Now lead coach at the Lancashire School of Boxing on Laurel Street in Preston, the amateur boxing club that he himself founded in May 2017, Rob previously enjoyed his own successful boxing career, boxing for England and travelling as far and wide as Ireland and Denmark for bouts.

But, having spent almost three decades training at Preston & Fulwood Boxing Club, he decided to take the plunge and found his own establishment.

“A friend was egging me on; he pushed me into it and helped me set it up and here I am today - not a bad decision in the end!” says Rob, 50, from Preston. “I wanted kids to be able make something of themselves. When you’re at a boxing club, it’s like a family and it gives kids somewhere to go and interact with others.

“It sets them up with life skills,” he adds. “That’s why I’m in Avenham, which is a deprived area: because boxing can help these kids.”

Run by volunteers, the club is affiliated to England Boxing and was Preston’s first full-time boxing school to offer a BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Sport Development and Coaching.

Welcoming of everyone, the club prides itself on its strong community links and warm atmosphere, boasting a wide range of members, including 16 promising up-and-coming boxers with whom Rob works personally.

“It’s crazy what kids go through nowadays - when I was a kid, there was always a youth club or somewhere to play pool with your mates but now there’s nothing,” says Rob. “And then they wonder why kids get into trouble... They’re bored!

“One young lad has been with me since he was 13,” he adds. “He started out as a chubby kid who was bullied, but now he’s lost all the weight and won all four of his fights. He’s changed completely; his confidence is up there and he’s such a pleasant kid.

“It’s life-changing, and seeing that is like ‘job-done’.”

During the first lockdown, the club - at which Rob’s partner Sarah Garratt also works as a coach - held a few online sessions before returning for socially-distanced training. Despite them not being able to spar or do any pad work, Rob says he was hugely impressed by the boxers’ enthusiasm to still turn up and work on the basics regardless.

“It’s been hard for the boxers during lockdown because they haven’t been out there competing,” he explains. “Boxing is all about training for a goal, but there’s nothing there. You start to worry that they’re going to get bored; you wonder if they’re going to come back or start doing something else.

“It’s frightening,” he continues. “People need the chance to take their frustration out on the bag, to let off some steam, to go for a run: it’s all mental.

“We’re all messaging each other to keep spirits up, but you can only go so far.”

Describing the last three-and-a-half years as a real ‘journey’, Rob says: “We’ve got a great team here: my partner, Sarah Garratt, has been a huge asset. She does a cracking job and she’s the heart and soul of the place - if it wasn’t for her, I don’t think we’d be as successful as we are.

“She’s the brains of the operation,” he says with a chuckle. “I’m just the trainer!”

But ‘just the trainer’ doesn’t sum up the impact Rob has at all.

“The amount of parents I’ve had ring me up to tell me what a difference boxing has made to their kid; how they can see improvements in their schoolwork and home life... that’s the reward,” he says. “I love coaching - it’s my passion.

“There’s so much pride in knowing you can have that impact.”

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