Team Greaves has worked with young people in our community for over 14 years bringing youngsters from different cultures and backgrounds together very successfully. In recent times the dynamics within Oldham have changed causing young people to interact in different ways, and not always positively towards each other. This needed to be addressed and we felt the best way to do that was to lead by example, peer to peer support and guidance and communication.
This project for us was aimed at developing relationships and understanding amongst the young people within our gym and some local schools around different cultures, backgrounds and personalities, and building cohesion in our gym and local community as well as encouraging more young people into coaching/mentoring, boxing and fitness.
As part of the project our coaches led as the ‘experts/mentors’ for our young leaders, the young leaders took groups and individuals under their wing and used the skills and knowledge gained from the 6 week programme and residential, as well as what the coaches were modelling and sharing with them in the gym.
The majority of the project took place within our gym at Team Greaves, some in local schools and then the level 1 coaching course, safeguarding and first aid will all happen at a local boxing gym in Tameside in the coming weeks.
"I got involved in this project because I have been training at Team Greaves for years on and off and recently made the decision to get my amateur boxing card and compete. I have been training hard in the gym and helping Marvin and Jackson out with the kids and teen classes. I haven’t always made the right choices when I was younger so when I had the opportunity to join the boxing United Project I was excited to be part of it and help those younger than me make better choices and understand what is going on in our community right now." Zain, young leaders
The aim of this project and beyond for us is about bringing young people in this community together, building strong community cohesion, young people understanding each other and giving them a safe space to talk, ask questions and learn from their peers first hand instead of assuming or thinking miscommunication is accurate. We also wanted to develop the next generation of coaches and mentors within our gym and community who are working for the greater good, giving them purpose, skills and knowledge
We wanted to used what we have done previously that has worked well at Team Greaves of bringing all cultures and backgrounds together, communication and honest discussions but with a tweak – as this was about the young people leading from the front and delivering their messages from their own experiences, sharing their ideas and helping people their own age to make more informed decisions and understanding the positives and consequences of their actions.
The first issue we face at Team Greaves is the rent for the building which has increased quite significantly over the last few years so the funding from this project allowed that strain to be lifted for a few months, because if we can’t open our door to these young people we can’t do the work we have been doing as part of this project or at all if we can’t cover the rent.
The Boxing United team were a great help and our young leaders and young lads thoroughly enjoyed the 6 week programme and the residential they attended. They built great friendships and learn new things about themselves and others and some of the lads have continued friendships and visited each other’s gyms.
The coaches, young leaders and young people involved all came together to help each other throughout this project at Team Greaves. They used their skill set and knowledge to guide and advice where needed.
We made links with a couple of local schools and other local boxing gyms and England Boxing will be involved when the young leaders complete their Level 1 coaching course, safeguarding training and first aid.
The deadline for this project was the end of July. We have been able to complete most of the activities/sessions including school assemblies, school discussion groups, in gym nurture groups, in gym discussion groups, small group and 1:1 training sessions with the young people by the deadline. However the Level 1 Boxing Coaching qualification we were aiming g to do in May was missing due to the funding coming after this course had closed, so the young people will be completing these course in the coming weeks.
We completed most aspects of the project ourselves in house with our coaches and young leaders. We have linked up with some local boxing gyms for networking and collaboration, clothing companies for tracksuits and printing and England Boxing for the coaching courses.
We spoke to a couple of local schools about transition year groups and asked if we could come I and speak to some of the pupils about moving from primary to secondary school and hear their first hand experiences and questions.
We spoke to the pupils in school and then held small discussion groups based on pupils the teachers thought would benefit from support and guidance or who might have questions to ask about making new friends and communication with people from different background to themselves. We offered them free starter sessions at the gym if they wanted to come along and try it out.
The coaches and young leaders identified boxers within the gym that lacked confidence or seemed shy as well as those who seemed more confident and out spoken to take part in our discussion groups within the gym. They shared experiences that were current or what they had previously experienced and discuss the outcomes of these situations and talked about what they would do differently if they were in the same situation again. They also discussed the current situation in the town and issues that have divided communities, asked questions about cultures they weren’t as knowledgeable about and shared information about the backgrounds of each other to learn more about their peers within the gym.
Zain, Mehek and Attiq three of our young leaders/volunteers within the gym also started nurture groups taking specific individuals and small groups under their wing, training with them, talking to them getting to know them, asking them about what they enjoy and what they find trickier in the gym and helping the develop those skills as well as discussing their life outside of the gym and some of the decisions they are making or have made.
For example one young person aged 13 was on their social media with a balaclava on an talking about negative situations. Zain one of our young leaders spoke to him in the gym about what he had seen, asked about why he was doing things like that and discussed how this could be perceived and the consequences around these actions and posts.
All the coaches in the gym have been guiding the young leaders when they help out in the different classes within the gym. They have been showing them how to interact with different young people, how to instruct/command a class and how to structure sessions with different numbers of young people that may also have a range of different needs and external factors against them outside of the gym so knowing how to support these young people has been critical.
One challenge was some of the school assemblies and groups were cancelled due to events going on in schools but we are looking to rebook these in September and carry on the work we have already started.
Another challenge was time in some cases, there are still many young people within our gym that aren’t quite ready to open up just yet, which is fine but we want to continue to work with them and continue our nurture groups and discussion groups, small group training and 1:1 sessions where within the gym to continue to build those relationships and break down the barriers they face.
We have definitely made huge strides with multiple young people within the gym, improving their understanding about other cultures and those from backgrounds different to themselves.
We have definitely seen improvements in communication amongst our young people within the gym.
We have had new members join the gym after speak to our young leaders or young people in the community and at school.
The young people within our gym show nothing but respect towards each other and have shown this further when discussing taboo topics and asking questions and challenging each others thinking.
Some young people have shared their experiences of working with the young leaders within the gym and feel this has been positive for them.
More of the boxers have been getting involved in group activities and sparring at other gyms and not just at ours.
Some of the young people have developed great friendships with each other and this has brought them out of their shell.
Quote/Feedback from group members/service users of the grant:
“Reilly ‘s bond with Marvin is something else. He would never go anywhere else. Working with the older lads in the gym, he loves it and is learning so much from them.” Reilly’s Dad - Callum
“I’m not a big fan of running but I have joined in on one of the running sessions on the track recently which I’ve avoided previously due to not knowing many people and embarrassment of looking unfit. All staff and boxers were encouraging and supportive, cheering one another on whether that’s for the person at the front or the person at the back. Overall I feel my boxing skills have come on massively especially my footwork and confidence and team greaves is a great atmosphere to challenge yourself to be the best person you can be.” Keely
“Yes it was great working with Zain. It helped me with my combination punching and footwork.” Sirhan
“I love training younger kids in the gym because many recognise me from my socials and look up to me. Through boxing I’ve learned the value of hard work and pushing past limits — and I want to inspire them to do the same, breaking their own boundaries and aiming higher every day.” Mehek
“My confidence is something the team has helped me a lot with as I can be very hard on myself after I have a setback in the ring. I have learned to keep going even when things get tough. I have made a lot of new friends from all different kinds of backgrounds, the whole team feels like a family who support each other.” Aryaan
"As a parent, I always attend and watch my son's sessions which is always supported at Team Greaves. This was something that was a big factor for me being able to do as a parent as I wanted to keep a close eye on my sons progression. I have noticed so many positive improvements in my son. He is more happy, disciplined and dedicated to his passion for boxing. He has learned to keep going and not let any setbacks get him down.
His confidence is growing each day. He has made many friends of different ages who always praise and encourage him, which is a very nice thing to see." Aryaan’s Mum