‘Were having to turn kids away’: Peckham boxing club struggling to secure permanent venue

An amateur boxing club has been left in limbo after years of struggling to secure a permanent venue.

Peckham Amateur Boxing Club (Peckham ABC) was founded in 2001 by head coach Iain Perriss to support young people from the community.

Mr Perriss, 41, of Southwark Bridge Road, Elephant & Castle, said: “We were residents at the club before the pandemic but our boxers weren’t being looked after so we started to train the kids in Peckham Rye Park, hanging the punching bags off trees. 

“But when winter came we needed to move back inside.”

After the pandemic the club moved between a series of makeshift locations including a car park and a school, but each venue fell through due to “technical issues”.

Mr Perris said the club has also struggled to afford rent for a space in Peckham.

He said: “We’re charging £10 for three sessions a week, but we know who can pay and who can’t. Some of our members are coming for free.

“The price of rent each year is just too much for a community boxing club.”

Mr Perriss currently coaches his sessions in a small venue in Mercato Metropolitano, Elephant and Castle.

But he said: “We’re a Peckham club in Elephant and Castle, it’s limiting the number of kids we can take on from Peckham.

“Some young people can’t travel through the postcodes because of gangs, parents get a bit worried about what might happen so they can’t come.”

“The space is also too small. We’ve had to cut down on people just doing it for fitness and only take on those competing.”

Mr Perris said the club is not just about boxing, but a lifeline for young people.

He said: “Our aim is getting kids off the street and out of gangs and grounding those who need calming down by getting them active.

“We’re stuck – we want a full-time venue that young people can come to every day.”

Peckham ABC have recently been backed by Woodward-Smith Fighting Futures Charity, a partnership Mr Perris described as a “significant investment” into the club.

Together the club and charity are actively seeking a new home for Peckham ABC in the heart of Peckham.

Mr Perris said: “We want it to be more than a boxing club, we want to create a venue that will offer meals, educational programmes, and community-building initiatives.

The head coach believes that by securing a permanent premises, they will be able to cultivate the youth of Peckham and help shape the sport in London.

Mr Perris said: “Without the existence of a club like ours kids do struggle. 

“Kids struggle and that’s why we need a premises, we need to get a stake in a building or we need someone in the council or someone in the public to say ‘here’s a building’.”

Former members of the boxing club have gone on to win the London Developments progressive tournaments and fought in King of the Ring in Boras, Sweden.

Pictured top: Peckham ABC (Picture: Peckham ABC)