Growing Amateur Boxing Club Needs Help to Find a New Permanent Home

For many sports clubs, growing their membership is the top priority. For South Downs Amateur Boxing Club, in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, the success of their club’s membership growth has moved a new priority to the top of their list: searching for a space big enough to host their expanding club.

The England Boxing-affiliated club has built its programme around far more than the ring. Alongside competitive and recreational boxing for children, teenagers and adults, it runs sessions for people with Parkinson's, girls-only training, and dedicated provision for young people not in education — work that depends on having a space the club can shape around its own needs, rather than one it's simply passing through, as is the case with its current base at the Park Centre.

Club director and coach Shaun Stepney isn't short of ambition for what comes next. "We're really proud of how far the club has come and very grateful to have had a space that has allowed us to get South Downs established," he said. "We're now ready for the next chapter. Our ambition is to build a strong competitive amateur boxing club alongside the community work that is so important to us, and we'd love to find a space that we can make our own and grow into for the future."

Rather than holding out for a purpose-built gym, the club is casting its search wide. "We're very open-minded about what that might look like," Stepney said. "It doesn't need to be a ready-made gym – it could be an unused hall, warehouse, industrial unit, sports facility or another building that could be given a new lease of life. There may be a space somewhere in Burgess Hill that somebody hasn't considered for this sort of use." The requirements themselves are simple enough: room for a boxing ring, punch bags and training equipment, and little else beyond that.

It's an approach that leans on something grassroots clubs so often end up relying on: the people around them. "We'd love to hear from businesses, organisations, landlords or local residents who might be able to point us in the right direction," Stepney added.

A permanent home would let South Downs do more than host training sessions and lessons. It would mean room to grow its competitive programme, take on new members without the worry of their capacity limit, and finally give Burgess Hill the kind of lasting community boxing facility it doesn't currently have.

Anyone with a lead on a suitable space, or able to help in another way, can reach the club directly at info@southdownsabc.co.uk.