Unity Life Academy

Aim

We’ve already seen lives changed through our boxing and mentoring pilot. Help us build ULA and give more people that opportunity to develop.

More Than Boxing. A Place to Change Your Life.

I’m Andy Campsall, founder of Unity Life Academy (ULA) which I am in the process of setting up as a Community Interest Company.

I’ve spent years working alongside people who have been overlooked, written off or simply lost their sense of direction. I’ve seen something repeatedly: people don’t just need another service, they need someone to believe in them, challenge them and help them believe change is possible.

That’s why I’m building Unity Life Academy.

What is ULA?

ULA uses the discipline and intensity of boxing, combined with mindset coaching and mentoring, to help people make lasting changes in their lives.

But ULA isn’t simply a boxing gym.

We’re building an academy where people are challenged physically, mentally and personally. A place where someone can walk through the doors lacking confidence, direction or purpose and begin discovering what they’re capable of.

ULA is starting as a wellbeing pathway for men, creating a safe and structured space for them to rebuild confidence, discipline and purpose. However, this is only the beginning. Our vision is to expand and evolve the programme to also work with women, young people, and people with physical and mental disabilities, ensuring that ULA becomes an inclusive academy that supports anyone who needs a pathway to positive change.

Our programmes will develop discipline, resilience, responsibility, character, confidence and purpose, qualities that don’t stay inside the gym. They go home with you.

Boxing gets people through the door. Transformation is what we’re really fighting for.

The Team

I’m not building ULA alone. I’m surrounded by a team of people who believe in the vision and bring experience in leadership, finance, safeguarding, community work and personal development.

And I’m incredibly proud that professional boxer Jimmy Kelly is joining ULA as one of our coaches.

Jimmy brings far more than boxing knowledge. He understands the discipline, sacrifice, setbacks and determination required to succeed in the sport, and he shares our desire to use those experiences to invest in other people’s lives.

Together, we want participants to be coached by people who won’t simply tell them they can change, they’ll stand alongside them while they do it.

The Vision

The first Unity Life Academy is only the beginning.

Our long-term vision is to create academies that combine boxing, mindset development, mentoring, education, creativity and practical opportunities under one roof.

We want to work with people from across our communities, including those facing unemployment, isolation or difficult circumstances, people leaving prison or caught in cycles of offending, and others who just simply need somebody to help them find a different direction.

We want ULA to become somewhere people are proud to belong.

A place where potential matters more than your past.

And ultimately, we want to see Unity Life Academies established in communities across Manchester and beyond.

We’ve already seen it work

Before developing Unity Life Academy, Jimmy and I ran a 10-week pilot programme with six men, combining boxing with mentoring and personal development.

All six completed the programme.

We saw improvements in fitness, confidence, discipline and routine and some of those men are still training with Jimmy two years later.

That experience showed us what can happen when people are given the right environment, the right challenge and people who genuinely believe in them.

Now we want to give many more people that same opportunity.

But First, We Need to Build It.

We already have something incredibly important:

A unit that can become the first Unity Life Academy.

Now we need to transform it.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Craig has supported the development of the vision by pointing us towards relevant funding opportunities and helping open doors to people working across sport, community engagement and support services.

That kind of support and partnership will be incredibly important as Unity Life Academy grows.

But right now we need something else as well.

We need people to become part of the beginning.

You can help us open the doors

You don’t need to give hundreds or thousands of pounds to make a difference.

£10, £20 or £50 whatever you are comfortable giving becomes part of building the first Unity Life Academy.

And if you can’t donate, sharing this campaign personally with someone who might believe in what we’re trying to achieve could be just as valuable.

Our first pilot showed us what can happen when somebody is given an opportunity.

Now we want to give that opportunity to many more people.

Please help us raise £20,000, complete Phase One and open the doors of Unity Life Academy.

Where will your money go?

Every donation will help us turn an empty unit into a safe, welcoming and properly equipped environment where people can train, learn and grow.

Our £20,000 Phase One target will contribute towards:

Building preparation and refurbishment, preparing the walls of the unit so that it is safe, clean and suitable for the people using it £3000

Specialist flooring Installing appropriate hard-wearing flooring across the training area £5000

A Mezzanine to use as a classroom above the gym space £12000

Reaching £20,000 means we can complete Phase One and take a major step towards opening the first Unity Life Academy.

Future development will then happen in phases as we secure further funding, partnerships and investment.

Thank you in advance for supporting Unity Life Academy to help change people’s lives.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 7th November 2026 at 12:00pm