Dudley boxing club wins charity funding in its fight to help those battling mental health issues

The vital funding has helped to launch a programme of adaptive boxing, designed to support the wellbeing, confidence and physical fitness of adults in the community facing mental health challenges.

The Cash4Clubs initiative, funded by Flutter UKI, awards 200 community organisations £2,000 worth of funding to help drive participation in sports and wellbeing, improve facilities and run coaching programmes. This year’s submission deadline for funding has been extended to 12th December due to the sheer number of grassroots clubs that have already submitted bids for 2024. Other sports clubs and organisations across the region have been encouraged to apply for £400,000 worth of free grants before it’s too late.

Commenting on the funding, Kumar said, “Priory Park boxing club is a community institution. Paul and his team do incredible work with local people, keeping them fit, and improving their mental health. This funding means that work can continue and expand. I can only recommend that more local clubs follow the lead and apply for the Cash4Clubs funding so more people in our community can benefit.” 

Since the initiative was launched in 2008, nearly £6 million has been invested into community sports by Flutter UKI through its brands, which include Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky Betting & Gaming and Tombola. Last year, 40,000 people across 50 different sports benefitted from the Cash4Clubs fund. Almost 85% of those clubs funded were from lower socio-economic groups. Cash4Clubs focuses particularly on the involvement of those with mental health and wellbeing issues, many of whom live alone and suffer from feelings of isolation and loneliness.  

Paul Gough, Chair of Priory Park Boxing Club said: “Our club has always been about supporting local people to get involved with the community and overcome their own issues, be that mental health or antisocial behaviour, through positive physical activity. This funding is essential to ensuring we are able to continue that work and I encourage community clubs like ours to apply for this fantastic scheme.” 

Also commending the funding was Labour ward councillor Keiran Casey, he said, “It’s fantastic that this funding has been awarded to Priory Boxing Club through the Cash4Clubs community initiative run by Flutter UKI. 

“This new funding will allow the club, who do so much fantastic work in the community, to further expand, running a 12-week boxing course for adults, so I’m really grateful to everyone involved for making this funding possible, and to the club for the work they do locally.”

“The Cash4Clubs fund closes next month, so it’s still possible for local clubs to apply and get funding just like Priory Boxing Club have, so I’d encourage all clubs to look at this funding and make an application.”

A spokesperson for Flutter UKI stated, “We know that Cash4Clubs can play an important part in helping at the grassroots level – great stories such as Priory Park Boxing Club show the power the programme can have by enabling small clubs to play an even bigger role in their community.

“There are real benefits to encouraging people to try out a sport or exercise a bit more and we hope this year’s funding will make a real difference.”

Applications for the current round of funding close on 12 December. Applications can be made at cash-4-clubs.com.