Tom Arthur, MSP for Renfrewshire South, recently met with head coach Mark Breslin and volunteers at Barrhead Amateur Boxing Club to present them with a motion he lodged in the Scottish Parliament congratulating the club on securing an Awards for All Scotland grant from sportscotland.
The club, which has been a pillar of the community for over 40 years, received a £5,000 grant towards the new equipment required after their move from East Renfrewshire Council premises to their own premises on Cogan Street in Barrhead in April.
Commenting, Tom said:
“The club is a real asset to the local area and I was delighted to visit on Tuesday to congratulate them on receiving this funding boost, which I am sure will help them continue to go from strength to strength.
“Their recent move to new independent premises is testament to the hard work and dedication of the many coaches, volunteers and members who help make the club a continuing success.
“It’s important to recognise the impact sporting opportunities, including those offered by Barrhead Amateur Boxing Club, have on people across the community. As well as promoting a healthy lifestyle, they can be key in helping tackle child poverty, closing the attainment gap and improving mental health.”
Mark Breslin, head coach, added:
“It was great to showcase the new premises to Tom who genuinely appreciates and understands what the clubs aims and objectives are. The boxing club caters for within our community and our doors are open to all. We keep our prices low in order that it is accessible to all where we build confidence, self-esteem and resilience to all our participants.
“The new premises has allowed us to expand in size and we are now able put on additional classes for example the female only boxercise class on a Thursday night which has over 35 participants attending. Although the boxing club has over 130 participants across all classes, only around 10% actually competitively box where the remainder come for fitness and exercise purposes.
“We have come a long way in a short period of time however, we have some work to do in order to complete the works within the new facility. Having the support of our MSP can only facilitate us to gain funding for the remaining work that we desperately need.”