Boxer Jon Thaxton helps young offenders

Norwich Evening News STEPHEN PULLINGER19th March, 2010

For many of the young men gathered at the Diamond Boxing Club in Norwich yesterday lunchtime, fighting was the very thing that had got them into trouble in the first place.

But during a session of sparring and training led by former lightweight champion Jon Thaxton, they were taught how using their fists could actually help - in boxing parlance - lift their lives off the canvas.

Thirteen men, many with a history of offending, have signed up for the pioneering 10-week course at the Dereham Road gym, which has been devised by the Norwich charity the St Edmund's Society, to give them the ring of confidence in their everyday life.

Some are living at the charity's homeless hostel in Earlham Road while others are of school age and taking part in its skills development project - an alternative to school which teaches carpentry and basic numeracy and literacy.

Mr Thaxton, 35, who was helped yesterday by some of Norfolk's brightest boxing stars, including Norwich's Commonwealth heavyweight champion Sam Sexton and the Walsh brothers from Cromer, said: "I am not teaching them how to fight; I am teaching them how to use their energy in a positive way.

"The message I want them to take is that if they dedicate themselves to doing this for 10 weeks they can take the same positive attitude into their everyday lives as well."

He said at the beginning the fitness of the 16 to 26-year-olds was "absolutely lousy", but after three sessions it was already improving and seeing the progression could only boost their self-esteem.

Michael Walsh, 25, who has chalked up seven knockout wins from his seven professional fights, said he was only too glad to help as boxing had turned his own life around.

He said: "I must have been arrested 100 times between the ages of 17 and 21 and it was fighting that got me into trouble a lot of the time.

"It's boxing that got me back on the straight and narrow. It keeps my mind focused and a healthy body means a healthy mind."

Chris Purvis, 26, moved into the St Edmund's Society hostel after completing a prison sentence for an offence that involved fighting.

Relishing the challenge of the course, he said: "I used to do boxing when I was younger before girls, drugs and alcohol took over. It's exciting and an outlet for your aggression, but it also demands discipline."

Zita Hipperson, development manager for the St Edmund's Society, said the pilot course had been made possible by a £10,000 Awards for All lottery grant.

She said: "The aim is to improve their communication skills and develop their motivation, self-esteem and discipline.

"We will see their progress over the 10 weeks of the course in terms of their fitness and how they communicate with and support each other. It is about learning life skills most of us take for granted."

Course graduates would receive a level one certificate from the National Open College Network in communication skills.