A boxing gym providing free boxing classes for children needs funding to continue it’s work in the community.

Halliwell based Elite-Thai Boxing is known for some of Bolton’s biggest boxing stars including Jack Flatley.

Head coach Alex Matvienko is also a MANbassador in Bolton, a group of men in the community that any man can talk to if they want to regarding their mental health.

Alongside this, the gym run free classes for elderly people and for children as well as a ‘Ricky’s Club’ for men to talk about mental health.

Funded by CVS previously, the boxing club can no longer afford to keep running the free classes and needs help to continue.

Alex said: “We've been providing free kid's boxing classes at Elite Community Hub for coming up to a year.

“These sessions were originally funded by Bolton CVS and have been an incredible success with over 150 kids attending and some of them moving onto more advanced classes and one of them about to get his amateur boxing license.

“Unfortunately. the project is coming to an end and we are now fundraising in order to keep these sessions going until we secure more funding.

“The fundraising events will involve the coaches, members of the gym and most importantly the kids that attend the sessions.”

Alex and the team at Elite are committed to becoming a safe place for young people in Bolton whether to train as boxers or to find a new hobby and stay off the streets.

Alex said: “We put these sessions on to benefit the kids because we want them to have somewhere to go.

“We have tried so hard to get funding for this but nobody else wants to know.

“I think it’s important because who else is doing this for them? We need this in our community, there’s hardly anything for kids to do as it is.

“You see them running about outside and not every family can afford it, so this was something anyone could do.

“It’s a shame if we have to stop although I’ve been trying to get donations to help keep it going.”

Donations can be made here.