FITZROY LODGE IN THE COMMUNITY 

London Active Communities 

We have a new partner, London Active Communities (LAC) which is a new Charity which has been set up to help the various communities in south and south west London combat social exclusion through sport and the arts. LAC are now delivering the Positive Futures programme in north Lambeth and north Southwark, Croydon, Wandsworth and West Norwood and the StreetGames project in Bromley. Boxing figures in all of these. In fact we are about to work with LAC and the local Housing Association in Bromley to set up and equip a boxing and fitness training facility in Penge. A Fitzroy Lodge ‘outpost' in the south!

LAC are also responsible for the Breaking Barriers programme and are about to start working in partnership with the ABAE to deliver a women's boxing and workforce development programme across London. Gary Stannett MBE is the CEO of LAC and he is working with Jim Atkinson (Fitzroy Lodge Hon. Sec.) to make the LAC/ABAE vision for the sport a reality.

The 2 Community Sports Coaches (boxing) Adam Martin and Mark Reigate who coach at the Fitzroy but also work in 7 local schools and community projects such as ‘YourStory' are now full time employees of LAC and working directly with Rebecca Donnelly, ex Muay Thai World Champion and now a successful Amateur boxer in her own right as well as being an ABAE Coach.

Sports Action Zone and Lillian Bayliss Old School

Fitzroy Lodge have worked very closely with the SAZ in north Lambeth and north Southwark since it began and are very grateful for the practical and financial help which the SAZ have been able to channel our way. We would never have been able to afford some of the aerobic machinery which we use for fitness training without the support of the SAZ and its Director, Brian Dickens.

Now a new chapter in the partnership is about to open with the club, together with London Active Communities taking on the programming of a boxing gym at the Lillian Bayliss Old School which was rescued for the community by local MP Kate Hoey when LB Lambeth wanted to sell it off for development. The Old School is now managed by the SAZ. A ring and 12 punchbags together with a state of the art weight training/lifting facility is about to be available for the development of the club and to help with the school and community work.

We have already run 2 junior boxing shows in the boxing gym at Lillian Bayliss and the boxing development programme which Adam and Mark are leading will really benefit from a venue for running squads and ‘Skill Bouts' as well as public shows.

LAC and Fitzroy Lodge will be working with the SAZ to bring local businesses into the boxing gym and other facilities to do recreational ‘Fitness Boxing' and help cover the costs of the community groups who need to be able to use the facilities for little or no charge.

Not ‘just’ a Boxing Club!

Fitzroy Lodge ABC is of the longest established Amateur Boxing clubs in London with 2 rings, 20 punchbags and a range of aerobic and resistance training equipment backed up by men’s and women’s changing and showering facilities, a sauna and lockers. We are open 6 days a week and we don't just train boxers!

Boxing and Fitness Training

Obviously boxing training for junior and senior level competitors is what we are mostly about but we also offer fitness training based on boxing for all ages and both sexes. Our Saturday morning ‘KO Circuit’ is so popular we simply can't fit everyone in and so we also offer our special brand of fitness training to the public on Tuesday and Friday evenings.

Our Champions

Over the last 98 years ‘The Lodge’ has produced many national, regional and divisional Amateur champions. Some, like Dave Charnley and Cornelius Boza-Edwards have then turned ‘Pro’ and boxed for World Titles. Most of our members will never be champions but the ‘Lodge’ helps them to be the best they can be!

Our Coaches

We have 9 ABA qualified coaches who have experience at all levels from beginners to Olympic standard and a fully qualified weights coach who works with the boxers and the fitness trainers. Head Coach, Mick Carney MBE and Senior Coach Billy Webster, have been with the club for over 40 years and they bring experience to the club which is second to none.

As well as our volunteer coaches, Mark Reigate, who works for ‘Kickstart’ a local Youth Inclusion and Positive Futures delivery agency is based at the club and coaches our competitive boxers as well as the young people from Positive Futures and the local Specialist Sports College (London Nautical School) and Stockwell Park School. Mark also works with fellow Community Sports Coach, Adam Martin, with the local Sports Action Zone.

Positive Futures

This is a ‘Social Inclusion’ programme set up by the Home Office and is now managed by the national Charity 'Crime Concern'. It has 119 projects all over the country, all of them based in the most deprived areas where young people are often at risk of missing out on educational, sporting and social opportunities. Positive Futures has now ‘adopted’ boxing training as a key part of it’s sport strategy and this was launched at Fitzroy Lodge in September 2004 by Kate Hoey, our local MP, Neil Watson, national director of Positive Futures and Jim Smart, Chair of the ABA.

Specialist Sports College - London Nautical School

As well as the work we do with Kickstart and Positive Futures we also have a partnership with our local Specialist Sports College and Stockwell Park School, as part of the Government’s attempt to make better links between schools and community sport. BSkyB recently made a programme featuring the work we do with London Nautical School as part of their 'Living for Sport' project. This is a programme devised by the Youth Sport Trust and sponsored by BSkyB.

Community Sports Coaches and the Sport Action Zone

As well as the Positive Futures programme and Specialist Sports College we are also working with the local Sport England ‘Sport Action Zone’ Pro-Active Central' (our local Sports Partnership) to introduce young people to the sport of Amateur Boxing and help them develop as competitors through the Government's Community Sports Coach scheme. This is part of the ABA's Regional Development Plan. Mark Reigate and Adam Martin are both Boxing Specific Community Sports Coaches based at 'The Lodge'. Maybe one of these young boxers will go on to the London Olympics in 2012!

Our Roots

What we do now carries on a long tradition at the club which was originally founded in 1908 by Dr Baly, a local Doctor, to provide sport for young people living in severe poverty in this part of North Lambeth. The levels of poverty may have changed since Charlie Chaplin grew up here in the early 20th century but we still have a lot of young people at risk of social exclusion and Fitzroy Lodge is ‘there’ for these young people just as it was almost a century ago. If they choose boxing as a sport we help them to be the best they can be. For some that has meant being British and World champions. For most we help them enjoy a great sport - and discover a lot about themselves along the way!

We are very much a Boxing Club, as we have always been, but Positive Futures, work with the Sport Action Zone, the Specialist Sports College, the KO Circuit Fitness Boxers and the Community Sports Coach network are all part of the Fitzroy Lodge Development plan. They will help us keep Fitzroy Lodge up there where it has always been - among the very best!