50 not out for wrestling club as it celebrates anniversary
There was a celebratory feeling in the air as a city wrestling club celebrated its golden anniversary.
Wolverhampton Wrestling Club invited MPs, councillors and members of the community to join it for a day of celebration on Sunday at its base at the Guru Nanak Satsang Gurdwara in Fallings Park as the club celebrated 50 years of bring wrestling to the community.
The event saw members of the club engage in matches, all under the watchful eye of club founder Nirmal Singh and other alumni of the club, including Commonwealth medallist and 1996 Olympian Amarjit Singh, who said it was a massive achievement to see the club hit 50.
He said: "It's been great to see so many wrestlers, over the years, come here and train and it gives me pride to see the youngsters come here and learn and train hard in what is a really hard sport."
Wolverhampton North East MP Jane Stevenson was one of the guests at the event, having supported the club since becoming MP for the area, and spoke warmly about the work going on.
She said: "It's fantastic to come down and see all the work that Ranjit Singh and the members of the club are doing, not just in wrestling, but in the community.
"Their work during the pandemic was really important, supporting people with food and mental health, and I think the club is fantastic and it's always a pleasure to come here."
There was a special presentation made by head coach Ranjit Singh to the founders of the club, as well as some of the young talent who were coming up through the ranks.
There was also the launch of a new charitable fund in the name of Bobby Bansal, a member of the club who had passed away last year, called "Bobby's Wrestling Help Fund".
Ranjit Singh said Bobby was still missed by everyone and the fund would help people suffering through all issues and the 50th anniversary was an appropriate time to launch it.
He said: "Bobby was one of my closest friends, almost like a brother, and was very dear to everyone at the club, so today seemed the right time to launch the fund in his name.
"Today has been amazing and just great to see the community come out and be part of our 50th anniversary as we are a community club and we're here to represent them."
