25 rounds of boxing to raise money for Newcastle boxing classes for neurodiverse kids
Union jab was set up by Charlie to give people a space to train including for those who are neurodiverse. Charlie decided to raise some funds for the charity and took on 25 rounds of boxing with those who take the classes. So we visited union jab to see how Charlie does against his clients.
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00:00 So I agreed to box 25 rounds. We've got 25 different people, so I'm going to have a fresh
00:08 opponent every round. And then it kind of got built on a little bit, so we ended up
00:13 saying, "Does anybody want to do a raffle?" We've now got a really good raffle. And then
00:17 our other coach, Katie, does sensory training. I said, "Could you do something for the kids?"
00:21 So she's now set up a sensory tent, which has got all the soothing lights and all the
00:24 rest. She's going to do a treasure hunt for them.
00:27 Ian Jabb was settled by Charlie after he had a great experience with boxing throughout
00:31 his life. At a younger age, he would take himself off to the boxing gym to help with
00:35 his autism. And now he is helping other neurodiverse kids get into the sport. He also helps a lot
00:41 of introverts who maybe aren't ready for a big gym, but still want to work out. To raise
00:46 some money for the organization, he had the idea to box 25 rounds with a few of his members,
00:52 and friends and family could come along to support them and the boxing classes. Each
00:56 round a different person would go into the ring to box with Charlie, and it was great
01:00 to see everyone get involved.
01:02 Day MacDonald helped Charlie come up with the idea for the fundraiser, and she said
01:06 it's great to have somewhere for those neurodiverse kids to try and get into a sport that has
01:11 helped Charlie so much.
01:12 Ian Jabb was set up by Charlie. He talks about his autism. And I think a bit like the Pied
01:18 Piper, people found out, and kids with neurodiversity, social anxiety, adults who don't like going
01:25 to the gym because they're paranoid. We all feel those feelings, don't we? And it attracts
01:30 lots of different types of people. Everyone's included, everyone's welcome. But it's all
01:35 about funds. And that's the thing with small charities and CICs. They need to raise some
01:40 funds in order to keep on going, especially with the cost of living crisis. So this is
01:44 a way of trying to raise a bit more money so they could do more programs and more courses
01:48 next year.
01:50 All of the money raised from the fundraiser will go back into the organization to fund
01:54 more classes and to expand further to help even more people across the North East.
02:01 So the plan was always to kind of branch out and franchise. We did have an opportunity
02:05 many years ago where we were looking at kind of opening boutique gyms, but that just wasn't
02:09 kind of what I wanted to do. You know, you're talking 150 pound a month memberships, GHD
02:14 straighteners in the changing rooms. And I was like, that to me isn't what Union Jabb
02:17 is about. And so we kept it a lot more grassroots, kept it in community centers. But the challenge
02:22 is to find coaches who have that knowledge of boxing. So although our members aren't
02:28 necessarily massively passionate boxers, most people don't come to us looking to compete.
02:32 We don't compete. But to have coaches that are really passionate about boxing, who really
02:37 know their stuff, that's integral to what makes our classes so interesting to members
02:40 and keeps them coming back. So we've got a bit of a niche where we need to find coaches
02:44 who know boxing, have experience coaching boxing, are passionate about boxing, but also
02:48 are able to work with young people with autism, with ADHD, and have that, you know, flair
02:53 about them that keeps people coming back. Because that's our number one metric. You
02:57 know, if you get fit, that's great. But if you keep coming, that's what matters more.