Essington Golden Gloves ABC's birthday gift
Essington Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing Club celebrates its first anniversary next week kitted out in new ring gear and equipment after a cash influx.
Recruitment firm Gap Personnel, which has a branch on Waterloo Road in Wolverhampton, flexed their muscles with a sponsorship deal for the club.
Gap have already put in £3,000 to provide Essington fighters and coaches with shorts, t-shirts and ring jackets as well as match gloves, head guards and other equipment.
The club was officially opened a year ago on Tuesday by Wolverhampton's Richie Carter, a national amateur champion in the 1987 junior ABA competition and ex-professional.
The likes of his brother David and John Birch are coaches and regularly attract 40 to 50 people to training sessions at the Essington Community Centre on Hobnock Road.
Essington schoolboy Frankie Fallows came within a fight of bringing home a first competitive title, the ABA Schoolboys Midlands crown, to the club at the end of January.
And coach Birch is pleased he can keep his focus on boxing through Gap's sponsorship, saying: "The kit and gear will make a massive difference to our members.
"The sponsorship deal has made our life a lot easier as we look to put the club on a solid financial footing for the future.
"We can't thank the good folk at Gap enough for their support and generosity."
James Martin, of Gap Personnel's Midlands region, said: "We are proud to be supporting a club like Essington Golden Gloves.
"They are inspiring a whole new generation of boxing enthusiasts and helping people to get fit.
"The club is also encouraging people in Essington to socialise and make new friends, which is incredibly important – especially for youngsters.
"Anything we can do to support this fantastic organisation is a pleasure."
