A 138-year-old boxing club that supports the sporting careers of young people and trains them for free fears it will have to close as Tower Hamlets Council wants to increase the annual rent by over £60,000.
Broad Street Amateur Boxing Club (ABC) in Shadwell offers free coaching and mentoring and is open to everyone in exchange for members committing to training for five nights a week, and must also be willing to compete in matches.
Broad Street first opened in 1886 under the Highway Clubs charity, and was one of the charity's many clubs for young people, but it's now the only surviving one left.
The club, which is run by volunteers, says it has been trying to negotiate a new lease with the council after its 60-year protected lease ran out in 2017.
A council spokesperson said it was keen to work with the club to reach an “amicable solution”.
As a non-profit organisation, the club relies on fundraising and grants and has paid £110 per year in rent since 1957, however the council has proposed a new annual rent of £64,000 as part of a 15-year lease.
The council has also offered a three to five-year lease at an 80 per cent discount, but the club has rejected it as it doesn't offer them long-term security.
The club is willing to pay £20,000 per year in rent and proposed this as part of a 30 year-lease but this was rejected by the council.
The club's future now hangs with the courts, which will decide on the new market rent.
Head coach, Ray McCallum says charging members is not an option because a lot of young people come from low-income backgrounds and are growing up in some of the most deprived areas in London.
He went on to say Broad Street is the only boxing club in the capital to offer free training, and over the years has stopped a number of young people from going down a potential path of crime, instead nurturing them into boxing champions.
He said: "I just don't think the council has taken into account what we've been doing and the service that we provide, it's always been free.
"Ideally we want to stay here, this is where we've been since 1957. We are non-profit and all our bills are covered, and you want to put £64,000 on us to keep kids off the street and out of prison?"
Mr McCallum added: "I think it would be a travesty if the gym was to close, but we won't let it. We just won't suffer.
"We're a community asset, there's loads of kids and young men in here who are off the streets and aren't getting involved in anything. They're in a safe space and the council want to get rid of that."
The club has raised its concerns and has asked for support from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, whose own brother has boxed at events hosted by the club at The Troxy in Islington before.
A spokesperson for the Mayor said City Hall is in contact with the club.
'It's there to help boys get off the streets'
Tommy Borg, who has been training at the club for over 10 years and regularly competes in fights, sees the club as his home and counts the coaches and other boxers as his family.
He said: "[The club] is so good, and I'm just sad that the council is trying to get rid of it by putting an unreachable goal of increasing the money. It's just ridiculous, it's not fair and I just don't think it's right.
"We've not got enough like that around, especially in Tower Hamlets. I don't think there's any charity-run clubs like this that want to see boys and girls do better."
He added: "It's there to help boys get off the streets, provide themselves with a bit of confidence knowing they can handle themselves and puts a lot more structure into their life - without it people are going to do silly things.
"A lot of boys go down the wrong path but when you find a club that wants to make sure you do well, you always tend to lead down the right path, and the trainers have become like family now.
"Ray is like my second dad, I don't ever want to disappoint him or make him upset because I see him so much like another father figure, it's just been a great place to be."
Tommy and many other young people at the club have been able to travel to countries such as Mexico and Spain to take part in training tournaments, which have been organised by Ray and the other coaches and are also free of charge.
When the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) visited the club last month, Broad Street boxer, Emma Judd was preparing for her first international tournament in Sweden.
Emma joined just under two years ago and was initially going to a fitness club class once a week however, she fell in love with the club and now trains there for five nights a week and regularly competes.
She said: "It's mad, there's such a big legacy here. I don't think people really realise how big of an impact all these people volunteering and this little family have on so many people who come through the doors.
"It's helped me with confidence and I'm sure it's helped loads of the boys here in lots of different ways."
Emma, who came to the club to initially learn self-defence, added: "It's one of those spaces where it doesn't matter who you are, how old you are, what religion you are or anything, everyone is welcome.
"You just turn up, we all try hard and do the same thing there's no airs and graces which is quite rare in other places and other sports."
As well as training for five nights a week, members are also required to go on a 30 minute run every morning.
Mohammed Yusuf, who has been at the club for the past 12 years and has often been out on 5am runs with Ray and the group, says he doesn't know what he'd be doing if he wasn't at the club.
Mohammed has competed in a number of national finals and in 2022 took part in trials for the GB national squad - he eventually plans to be a professional boxer with the help of Ray and the club.
On the council's plans to increase the rent, Mohammed said: "I don't think it's very good for the community, a lot of the boys that are here are like me don't come from very privileged backgrounds, so it's very hard for their parents.
"It would be very difficult for Ray to start charging kids and keep running the club how it's been running for the last 60 years."
Wasim Rahman, who is working towards entering competitions and already has two championship belts, says the opportunities the club has provided him is what pushes him to do his best in all aspects of his life.
He said: "It's helped with my education as well because I'm having to balance revising, revision itself and exam preparation and because I'm so committed to coming here every day I fit in what I can do every hour."
Naym 'Paddy' Ahmed, recalls how the first time he went on a plane was through the club, which he says has opened his eyes to new experiences.
Paddy said: "I feel like [the council] increasing the rent will have a negative impact, especially in boxing now. I'm Asian, I'm Bengali - nowadays there are more Asian kids that are getting into boxing because there's been a generational change.
"More kids are growing up in this country and are more understanding of the British culture* especially when you're seeing Asian world champions, it makes you think, 'I want do that because if he's doing that I want to do it'."
He added: "Ray and that club is actively helping kids make correct decisions at a young age so they are tackling it from a very early age, they're doing a prevention.
"I've known Ray for a very long time, he and the coaches are very dedicated.. They volunteer, they don't get paid. They volunteer to do this to keep something that's part of the community alive."
John Davidson explained how management of the club has always been past down through the generations, and after he retired from boxing he became one of the coaches.
Tommy and many of the other boxers plan to one day take over as part of the club's ongoing legacy, but this is under threat because of the council's proposed rent increase.
John said: "I just think it's so short-sighted there's nothing there for young people* where would they be if we didn't have this facility and one that's free of charge? That's the main thing, I think we're the only place in London that offers that.
"Most of the kids around here come from broken homes. My upbringing was really rough and I struggled with regulating my emotions, which is something the boxing club helped me to just focus with and I couldn't imagine my life without it."
Club captain, Don Mole added: "You could be looking at future world champions, future representatives of our country but we could be hamstringing that just by raising the rent to astronomical amounts which would price out a lot of working class boys.
"[It's run by] regular people who have jobs and families, who have to sacrifice a lot and I just feel like [the council] has not taken that into consideration - they've not considered the human aspect, I just feel like it will be a wrong move to increase the rent to more than what it is."
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: "We are aware of the club's preference to have a longer lease and note they have rejected taking a community lease, which could have allowed them to receive an 80per cent rent reduction over three to five years.
"Because of their preference, we are required to go through the court process for the market rent to be determined and have instructed an expert to assess the case, which is currently ongoing.
"There is a range of support and funding options available for community groups and officers will liaise with the club to help them access these."
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: "The Mayor recognises the great value that grassroots sports and recreation facilities offer Londoners, contributing to their health and wellbeing, and City Hall is in contact with the Broad Street [ABC]."
