Ronny Tucker has been coaching young boxers in Sheffield for more than 30 years.
It is a sport often associated with kids in trouble, but Ronny works hard to bring people of all backgrounds together using sports.
His club trains children and adults from council estates to "posh estates", but does an important job of keeping young people away from gangs, anti-social behaviour and knives.
Ronny spoke to The Star about this crucial work.
It is a sport often associated with kids in trouble, but Ronny works hard to bring people of all backgrounds together using sports.
His club trains children and adults from council estates to "posh estates", but does an important job of keeping young people away from gangs, anti-social behaviour and knives.
Ronny spoke to The Star about this crucial work.
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NewsTranscript
00:00My name is Ronnie Tooker, I run the Aspire Boxing Club. I've been with the Aspire Boxing Club now for 34 years.
00:06We're currently here at the UIS gym, working closely with Mark who used to box with me as well.
00:14You've probably seen the stories that we lost our gym and Mark very kindly took us down here.
00:19So we're working jointly down here now to continue doing what we've always done.
00:23It's helpful to the community because when you've got young people in this gym,
00:28they could be involved in such behaviour, they could be involved in knife crime,
00:30they're here, they become members of this gym, they're working together, they're going home at night,
00:36they're going to school, they're not getting excluded.
00:38Because when you look at the triggers for young people getting involved in gangs and criminal exploitation and knife crime,
00:43exclusion, no mentors, where are you showing kids who are in school?
00:47Where are you showing them who are mentors for young people?
00:50We've always been a free society for young people because the barriers for young people in sport are huge.
00:57So we've seen the benefits it's done over the years, we've seen young people turn around.
01:01But like I mentioned earlier, it's important to note that not everybody who walks through a boxing gym
01:06is someone who wants to be in trouble.
01:08Some people walk through the boxing gym, they're doctors, nurses, solicitors, dentists.
01:12So not everybody who walks through the boxing gym wants to be in trouble.
01:15But the beauty with boxing gyms is all those people, people from counselling stays, people from posture stays,
01:20people from dentists, social workers, they all come to one place and in this place they're just boxers.
01:26For me, the important thing with this game, working with people and working with people to stop them getting involved in knives and gangs
01:33is working with people and working with services.
01:37Slaves and services.
01:39We don't get into slaves and services, we don't get into saying people should be doing it better.
01:42What we do is say, come on, we'll work with you and at the end of the day, let's work together.
01:50I did say one of my favourites in this city is Kate Joseph.
01:55And I do hate Kate Joseph a little bit because she does a fantastic job.
01:59I think she comes to see what we do, she's been to our presentations, she's been to our conferences,
02:06she's been to the gym to see what kids can do.
02:10Thanks to the council for the work they've done with us.
02:12Let's continue working together.
02:14What I want to say to other groups, other community groups, is stop slating on services.
02:20Stop scaremongering to make it look like Sheffield's a terrible place.
02:26We have an issue, like I said before.
02:28One kid carries a knife, one kid too many.
02:30One kid gets an amputate, one kid too many.
02:32But, you know, let's work together.
02:34It's not about me, it's not about other groups, it's about young people.