rolling-with-the-punches

Aim

Canal Boxing Academy was established to provide those living in the Lisburn City and surrounding areas with an accessible & welcoming venue

Canal Boxing Academy: Who are we?

We are a friendly and welcoming boxing club situated in the heart of Lisburn and we have been inspiring generations of young (and not so young) people of all abilities to experience the joy and thrill of the noble art of boxing

Prior to Lockdown Canal Boxing Academy was a thriving club with our boxers training up to 4 times a week and taking part in competitions throughout Northern Ireland and beyond across all age groups.

Fundraising on Crowdfunder

We have fundraised previously, but never using the Crowdfunder, but now we want to raise funds to support the club recover from the Coronavirus pandemic.

We now have exciting new projects that require funding, the delivery of a new training and fitness regime, not only for our current members, but for anyone who wants to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

It’s not just about young people, but anyone from our local community, seniors, endorphin junkies, mothers, fathers, grandparents, younger girls…whoever you are, you will find a welcome at Canal Boxing Academy.

….And don’t worry, newcomers anxious about keeping their good looks…we promise we won’t put you in the ring to face any of our experienced pugilists. No. We will work with you to build your strength, your stamina and overall physical and mental fitness. The bravery and courage to spar and compete comes much later.

Why are we crowdfunding?

To boost our membership and user numbers, we recognise that our club is…well, it’s a bit ‘tired’ and it needs at least a lick of paint.

But we need to do a bit more than throw a bit of paint on the walls. In the longer term, we hope to realise our dreams of being able to fund and build a purpose-built boxing facility in Lisburn. But for now, we want to introduce new training, recruit new coaches, build our female squad of boxers and attract more individuals from the local community.

As a charity and a non-profit boxing club we work tirelessly to ensure our membership costs are as low as possible. We are all too aware that many members struggle to make ends meet at times and we offer first-class training to our members, regardless of their ability to pay. 

We have certainly felt the impact of COVID we have suffered greatly both financially and in attracting new members, as well as retaining existing ones.

By targeting new members, we hope to increase our sustainability over the long term

In short, we want to bounce back from Covid

What we hope to do with your support.

We intend to offer  a 10 week 'test drive' opportunity to potential new members of our academy. This will be overseen by our qualified coaches and trainers and will be open to all ages, abilities and fitness levels. There will be less focus on 'contact boxing' and employ a range of different techniques including elements of dance, yoga, self-defence, martial arts, pilates and boxercise.

There will be no annual financial commitment needed or any need to purchase any equipment. All you need to do is register via our Facebook page, give us some details and we will send you details of specific classes that suit you.

As well as helping you get physically fit, we will extend the project we have  planned for our members to help them get fighting fit, mentally. We will do this through a community wide 12 week course developing  focussing on mental health support  - led by a qualified mental health practitioner.

Also, by linking up with Belfast Metropolitan College, we can also focus on getting participants eating and drinking the correct ingredients to develop a more balanced and nutritional lifestyle. This s a 10 week course that will culminate in all participants selecting one dish to prepare to showcase in a Health Banquet at Easter.

For our current members and hopefully some of those who have not come back to the club since covid we will engage a specialist trainer/coach who will work with our competitive boxers to improve stamina, short term speed, power, agility, warming up and warming down exercises, recovery and injury prevention techniques. 

New equipment, recruiting and training new coaches, establishing new training methods, putting in place a Healthy Body, Healthy Minds programme and a making a facility, fit for purpose for all will benefit from the club will require some investment.

This is why we need your support. 

Community impact

We want our club to become a central hub of the community, bringing people from all ages, background and abilities together to enjoy this brilliant sport. We know boxing is fantastic for improving mental health, and we are desperate for more people to reap the benefits, both mentally and physically, from our amazing sport. 

Creating greater access to the sport for a wide range of users, but in particular younger the generation of boys and girls will help to ensure the long-term sustainability of our club and sport.  

How we’ll spend the money raised

All of our dreams and plans come at a cost! We need a minimum of £10,000 to pay for the various small upgrades new projects and specialist coaches /workshop facilitators. We have come together as a club to identify ways in which we can help to reduce the costs of running the club. It is tough in these uncertain economic times, so we do not want to increase the burden on our members and their families by increasing weekly membership subs, so we want to reach out for support from all those in our community who value what we do.

By fundraising through Crowdfunder, we have the opportunity to secure match funding from Sport NI. If we secure £5,000 from our supporters, Sport NI will match that, allowing us to secure our target

Here's how you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. When you make a donation, if you are a UK taxpayer, you can Gift Aid your gift and the club can claim a further 25% 

3. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

4. Offer rewards. If you are a local business, get involved by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

5. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes, and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

This project successfully funded on 28th June 2023