The Preston boxing club fighting crime, saving lives, and offering hope

"The first session, two kids turned up. Next week, about 10 turned up. Week after 20, then 30, then 40..."

A professional coach with the British Boxing Board of Control, Paul started Penwortham Boxing Club to offer young people hope. With poverty and austerity-led cuts to youth services rampant, he wanted to give them a reason to stay away from gangs, drugs, knife crime, and anti-social behaviour. And boxing was the avenue.

"It's statistically proven that a club in a deprived or crime-ridden area plummets the crime rate," explains Paul, 40, who's from Leyland but has lived in Penwortham for 20 years. A London Metropolitan University study backs him up, showing that boxing is seen as a credible alternative to anti-social activities which, provided it does not reinforce the erroneous belief that violence can resolve issues, can teach people to manage aggressive situations effectively.

Growing quickly, the club needed a permanent home. "Vernon-Carus Sports Club had a little building behind the bowling green which was derelict," says Paul, a born-again Christian. "It was a mess, so I set off on a mission and managed to beg, steal, and borrow - only without the stealing - about £15,000, including some of my own savings and money lent by friends and my wife's parents.

"With that and donations from local companies, myself, a good friend of mine John, and our wives Charlotte and Janet have renovated the whole thing to about 80% of what we want," Paul adds. "I've been losing money during lockdown, but when we reopen we're going to be twice the size and twice as good so we can help more kids."

Himself a father-of-three, Paul says contact sports taught him respect, control, and discipline as a youngster but, having also grown up on an estate, he doesn't want economics to restrict access and so runs free classes every Saturday (9am to 10am for under-11s, 10am to 11am for over-11s) with food also provided. Those struggling to afford it can also attend weekday classes free of charge.

"Boxing saved my life," says Paul, who took up the sport in the army in his early 20s. "I could've gotten caught up in a life of crime and gangs and I was a bouncer for a long time, so boxing helped curb my aggression. I was a rum lad when I was younger, so channelled me a positive direction. A lot of kids have nothing, it's heartbreaking. We don't want them to be victims of circumstance."

Baking rules such as having to complete homework and showing good behaviour into the boxing experience has worked wonders, says Paul. "It's about rewarding good behaviour," he explains. "We're conditioning them to be well-behaved. You see a difference in the kids, but what's even better is getting a message from a parent saying how their schoolwork and behaviour has improved."

During lockdown, Penwortham Boxing Club has done around 45 Facebook Live workout sessions with 300 to 400 people taking part each time and, though he says he is losing money at a time when the club is in dire need of economic assistance to buy a minivan, Paul is thankful that he can offer an invaluable mental a physical release.

"What's to say Kingsfold doesn't have the next Floyd Mayweather or Tyson Fury?" Paul asks. "They all started at a place like this. If you lose hope, you've got nothing. If you think 'I'm never going to achieve', you're not going to try; you'll misbehave, you'll steal instead of working for something, you'll turn to drugs to fight off the demons.

"It's all about hope."