Action at Amateur Boxing Club, Rectory ABC which has benefited from grants

SUTTON COLDFIELD CHARITABLE TRUST PAVES WAY FOR DEVELOPMENTS AND COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust, the organisation that awards grants to local groups and charities to alleviate hardship and support other needs in the community, has provided several grants to Amateur Boxing Club, Rectory ABC.

The grants, which in total reach almost £100,000 since the first in 2013, have gone towards extensive improvements at the club, including extending the club to a second room, and have allowed for the facilities to be updated to provide a safe and functional environment for local boxers to train. 

The not-for-profit club was launched and is managed by Phil Brennan, who said: “We are extremely lucky to have grants like this available. These funds which go towards rent, club improvements, putting on shows and things like minibuses provide us with the reassurance that the club can remain open and allow us to concentrate on applying for other grants whilst, of course, prioritising training our members.

“As a result of Covid, we have seen a significant drop in the number of students that have returned to the club, but we’re looking to the future and want to encourage anyone of any age to join us and give boxing a go.”

Given the recent excitement in Birmingham’s sporting summer, Team England experienced success in the boxing with hometown hero Delicious Ore and Leamington Spa’s Lewis Williams winning gold medals, supporting grassroots sports clubs has never been more important. 

Club Founder and Senior Coach Phil added: “With the ongoing help and support from the Trust, the club gets the opportunity to apply for grants we would not normally be able to prioritise, and so widen the scope of what we do within the community” RABC has recently been involved in the Birmingham 2022 Festival’s Creative City Programme, where 108 community groups around Birmingham worked with artists to flood the city with new creative work as part of the Birmingham 2022 festival. 

“The club used their successful grant bid to do the artistic ‘Boxer Beats’ project. Working with local artists and club members the project developed a connection between the two groups through the common thread of rhythm, creating tunes based on individual Rectory boxer’s style and movements, with filming taking place onsite at the new and improved Rectory ABC club. 

“We have also had other successful grant bids allowing us to run  programmes to help local people suffering with stress and depression, and service people suffering from PTSD We have put grant money towards after school programmes and summer holiday schemes.

“We are able to do fundraisers for local hospitals, the Birmingham Homeless and Children’s charities, we have raised tens-of-thousands over the past 15 years.”

Phil added: “This is all possible because of the help from SCCT which frees us from the usual amateur sports club concerns of raising money for equipment, rent etc. We get the opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ in our community and we are very happy to do just that.”

David Cole, Grants Manager at Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust, said: “We are delighted to have been able to provide consistent support to Rectory ABC  over the last 9 years, and seeing the changes that have taken place captured on film as part of their Boxer Beats project is fantastic. 

“We are always looking for new and exciting groups and charities within Sutton Coldfield to award grants to, and the Rectory Amateur Boxing Club project is a perfect example of our funds being put to fantastic use for the benefit of the community.”

To view the full Boxer Beats video, head to https://youtu.be/73tm28IaIEA and for more information on Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust, please visit https://www.suttoncoldfieldcharitabletrust.com/.