Help us buy a new Boxing Ring/improve centre items

Aim

Our aim is to give the community a place to safely learn Boxing, exercise, gain confidence, reduce social isolation and make good friends.

This is a joint fundraiser for Portsmouth Golden Gloves Boxing Club 

& 

The Stamshaw Tipner Community Centre.

Who are we?

Portsmouth Golden Gloves Boxing Club

Portsmouth Golden Gloves was established by my Father in 1991 at the Stamshaw Tipner Leisure Centre.  The club started as a non-profit club remains a non-profit club to this day.   He has trained people at all levels, Professional Boxers, Amateurs, Juniors, Novices, White collar, Charity Fighters etc.

For 30 years the equipment in the club has been funded by my Father by his own pocket, every pair of gloves, every bag, every weight, vest, boots, speedball, he only ever asked for a token payment of £1 per session to help with the rent of the gymnasium for 28 years, recently my Father has had some poor health and my Brother, and I are voluntarily continuing the sessions in his temporary absence.

We have had people come from all walks of life over the last 30 years and we take great pride in every member who joined us and trained with us, everybody is welcome to join the club no matter who they are or their backgrounds, we are a ground zero club which means it’s a clean slate for all.

What are we trying to achieve?

We want to replace our old equipment!

We are trying to revitalise our club to try and attract more people from our local community and so that we can offer a better experience to those who are currently with us and for those who will join us in the future.  We believe people may be attracted to clubs which have more up to date equipment, so we are trying to refresh our equipment and expand our online profile to get feet through the door.

We would like to be able to expand/increase the number of sessions to allow more people to attend, not only for the Boxing element, but also the mental health and social inclusion benefits that clubs like our offer, many people who have attended our club over the 30 years have made friends for life, obtained jobs through one another, had and offered support be it financial or sponsored training, we’re not in it for the money, but there aren’t many like us who do it because we love it, we have believed in the sport for 30 years and we do not plan on stopping.

For our club we are trying to raise funds so we can purchase a collapsible ring, replace old gloves, and help keep the roof over our head. 

As a non-profit Boxing club we heavily rely on contributions towards the costs of running the club.

Though our sessions used to run at £1 per session, we have had to increase the prices to £3 to help go towards the gymnasium’s hire fee's due to Covid19 which had such a big impact on how many people could attend the training sessions which is why the cost was raised (money taken still does not cover the fees), we also have a number of people who attend who are not in a position to pay the fee, we have always sponsored the sessions for members who aren't in a financial position to pay, by paying out of our own pockets, we run at a loss 9/10 times and volunteer our time to keep the sessions going - we continue to do it out of passion for the sport and the sake of our community, we aim to lower the fee back to £1 per session when enough people come to train ensuring our sessions are the most affordable in Portsmouth!

What happened?

We had some of our equipment vandalised by an ex member

In August 2021 we suffered some vandalism to our equipment, we are struggling to replace everything, so far, we’ve had support from our local community by way of donated equipment which allows us to continue offering our services, but the equipment is not suited for such heavy use.

We had 4 bags damaged beyond use, they will not last 2 minutes in the state they were left in, but we need to keep them for the stuffing when we purchase new bags, the vandal also caused damage to other bags, our boxing ring, ropes, and the equipment storage door.

The individual was struggling with addiction and mental health, although they caused the damage, we supported them by encouraging them to seek professional support, which they did, they moved to a facility near London and they are now receiving the right support and we even supported them by helping them find a local gym to help with the mental health aspect. We regularly stay in touch and we're glad to know everything is going well.

What will we buy?

Stamshaw Tipner Leisure Centre

Why are we raising money for the community centre?

The Stamshaw Tipner Leisure Centre is a conversion from two small factories built in the 1950s with some additions in the 1970s. The building is managed by the committee of trustees of the Stamshaw & Tipner Leisure Centre Association. 

The centre is completely run by volunteers and is funded by event bookings and community groups such as:

• Boxing
• Bingo
• Dance Classes
• Table Tennis Club
• Knit and Natter
• Carer's
• Wing Chun
• Nursery

and many more.

Covid19 has had a massive impact on the centre, and we need your help! the community centre has been a place for the local community to meet up and step out of social isolation, taking part in many of the communities/activities which go on at  the centre.

The centre has suffered some flooding this year which is in need to repair, some ceiling tiles in the function room have gotten wet and fell through which we need to replace.

We are looking to purchase crucial items to expand the offerings of the centre which will enable the centre to make some money to ensure that the centre can self sustain in the future.

Items include (but not exhausted to):

• Cookers
• Blinds for the office to ensure privacy
• Dishwasher
• Washing Machine
• TV
• Hot Water Urn for Tea/Coffee
• Fans
• Lockers for groups to use
• Storage Options for some of the groups to store their equipment
• Benches for the Gymnasium for all groups to use

Your donation will help get us there as there is a possibility that Portsmouth City Council will possibly match donations up to a point! so even if you donate £10 you are giving more!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made