New season for club as youth work continues

The club, which moved to refurbished premises in Nelson Street at the beginning of the year, already boasts a healthy number of both male and female members of all ages.

The new venue includes upgraded changing facilities and gym equipment, with members training almost every night of the week.

With a cross-community ethos at its heart, the club receives funding from the local Policing and Community Safety Partnership for its youth intervention work.

Trainer John Neill explained: “We do a lot of work with the like of the neighbourhood policing team; recently we had a paintballing trip to Bray and four of the local officers came along.

“We organise these sort of things to keep young people off the streets and to form good relationships between them and the neighbourhood policing team; they get to know each other.

“The police also help us out by coming in and giving training and talks on things like knife crime and drugs.”

Local officers also worked alongside Castle Boxing Club to promote the recent ‘Once Punch Can Kill’ awareness campaign.

The Carrick club maintains a relationship with Holy Family Boxing club in Belfast, with members frequently using each other’s facilities to train. “We’ve had the likes of Paddy Barnes in and Michaela Walsh has trained at the club,” added John.