THE coronavirus has changed so much. Boxing clubs and charities have had to shut their doors during the long weeks of lockdown. Carneyโs Community is the charity, dedicated to the memory of Fitzroy Lodge legend Mick Carney, that uses boxing and other activities to support young people at risk of being involved in crime. Having to close their centre is a significant problem. But not an insurmountable one.
They help their participants with boxing training and mentoring, as well as supporting them to set up businesses and start sustainable careers, as well as providing food to those who need it. Using their centre was crucial to that. Itโs meant theyโve had to adapt quickly. Carneyโs began boxing sessions live on Instagram and also used Zoom for more interactive training.
That of course requires access to technology and the internet, so Carneyโs put out an appeal for donated phones, tablets and laptops, as well as covering any data costs so participants can access the online sessions. They have also put together a well-being pack with advice and guidance on mental and physical health.
But George Turner, one the charityโs founders, explained, โWhat we were really aware of is that the ones we work with who are more hard to reach were even harder to reach because of lockdown. So normally weโd go down on the estates and find them and bring them down to the boxing session and find out whatโs going on with them. Whereas now we werenโt able to do that.โ
So they also started to reach out with food deliveries. โIf we can do food deliveries then at least weโll get a bit of face-to-face contact. So we worked out which ones were the families most in need of food and then there were a couple who probably werenโt the most in need but they were in need of some face-to-face contact,โ Turner said.
They take donations of food and one of their mentors is a chef who provides meals through his catering business. He has also begun supplying the ingredients in order to conduct cooking classes over Zoom as well.
Carneyโs Community has even received celebrity support from Stormzy, who got in touch with the charity himself to volunteer. โHe decided to come down and first off helped put the food packages together and did a few messages for us on social media for us to put out to participants, encouraging them to do the Instagram videos and that sort of stuff. And then agreed to come and do some of the food deliveries, which was brilliant,โ George said. โThey were so excited and itโs really given them a boost.
โHaving Stormzy turn up with a load of nice food has definitely made the process easier.โ
These are all positives but the challenges the charity addresses are only getting more severe. โA lot of our participants have been through trauma where theyโve experienced some really negative things and are struggling with mental health at the best of times. Being locked up at home and especially being locked up at home where thereโs been abuse in the past or parents have got mental health issues, you can see how it can be a massive struggle,โ Turner explains. โItโs easy to say [stay in] if you live in a house thatโs got a fair bit of room or a garden or a bit of outdoor space. [But for one participantโs family] theyโve got three bedrooms and eight kids. Being stuck in a house like that, all of you on top of each other, yes, youโve got to assess the risk for Covid 19 but youโve also got to assess the risk for mental health as well.
โAll the other risks are there and probably with a lot even higher risk than they normally would be because of the situation. So itโs about weighing that up as well.
โI think is why weโre slightly frustrated with the governmentโs decision to still not allow sports centres to open but theyโre opening up all of the shopping centres.โ
โOur main aim is around trying to reduce offending and anti-social behaviour and trying to create something that all people can belong to no matter how disadvantaged you are or what issues you might have faced in the past. But related to that is a lot of mental health. I think society in general is getting to understand mental health a bit better,โ he continued.
โ[Boxing] gives you that ability to get some physical activity let off those endorphins while also making you feel part of something. You donโt find any friendlier places than boxing gyms where you find so many different people just getting on with each other, and then giving them the self-esteem boost.
โPeople would always ask me whatโs the best way of getting somebody out of a gang and the answerโs always the same, itโs getting them into another gang. These are vulnerable people who have a lack of support and they need a support network around them and unfortunately theyโve may have found a negative support network to link in with. But if youโre going to take them out of that, youโve got to replace it with something so itโs providing those positive โgangsโ or support networks, whether thatโs a sports club, a religious group, a youth group. Itโs finding places where they feel that they can belong, who can provide them with advice, guidance and support. Thatโs what we wanted to try and create with Carneyโs. I think thatโs what weโve managed to create and having the building has helped massivelyโฆ The positive support thatโs coming into Carneyโs during lockdown highlights that weโve achieved that to an extent.โ
Donations to Carneyโs Community can be made on this link: https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a051r00001bYoY2AAK and if made this week, that donation will be doubled.