Horsham Boxing Club forced to close its doors again due to second lockdown

It is a real shame for the club, as since they reopened, the club has had a lot of new members to the point they’ve had to put others on a waiting list to join due to such high numbers of interest, having over 50 people on their books at this present time.

Coach John Essex said: “We had opened extra sessions to try to cater for everybody as under the guidelines we were limited to how many we could train at one given time.

"It has been a struggle juggling the numbers as 25 of our 54 boxing members are already competing or at the level to compete when we get back to actually being able to box on shows. Our junior group ranges from the ages of 9 to 15 and that alone caters for 20 of our boys and girls and the remainder being made up of our beginners. That is not including the boxercise class which is run on a Tuesday and Friday.”

He added: "It’s a shame that over 60 people won’t be able to use the club for a month, especially those who have just joined.”

Horsham Boxing Club had applied to Horsham District Council for a small extension to the club in June to try and cater for the greater numbers the club is seeing. Planning permission was put forward, but with changes to the lease needed, they were asked to withdraw until this could be amended. Unfortunately, four months on they are still waiting to hear back.

Danny Essex said: “It would be great if we heard back in the next couple of weeks so we could hopefully start with the building process to allow for the amount of people to come to sessions in a slightly larger group.

"The boxers have been putting in so much hard work and their fitness levels are showing. They are all eager to get back boxing as soon as possible but have been very understanding as to measures that have been put in place under the England Boxing rules and regulations.

"We will look to be reopening on Wednesday 2nd December, providing there is not a change in legislation and ask members and people looking to get involved, whether it be boxing or fitness, to keep up to date on our Facebook and Instagram. We look forward to seeing everybody back then and wish everybody to stay safe and be healthy.”

Report contributed