A Newtownabbey boxing club has been praised for the early impact it is making in its local community.
Rathcoole BC only opened its doors two weeks ago but is fast earning a reputation for changing the lives of young people walking through its doors.
The club - based at The Diamond in Rathcoole estate - offers a safe environment for boys and girls to learn how to box, and also build confidence and gain social skills that they can carry into their everyday lives.
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"We have only been going a couple of weeks and it has been brilliant so far," said one of the coaches at Rathcoole BC.
"We have 37 kids now, and have to run two classes to accommodate them all. They are aged between 7 and 14 and we cater for boys and girls.
"People in the area have been talking about a boxing club for years, but nothing ever materialised. There hasn't been a boxing club in Rathcoole for 30 years.
"The last one was The Farm Boxing Club, which was situated behind the O'Neill's Road garage. So there was a lot of chat about it but nobody actually did anything about it, until now.
"We started planning for this last November, and we have managed to get it up and running within two months."
Despite just opening its doors recently, the feedback has been resoundingly positive.
The club believes it is shining a positive spotlight on Rathcoole, an area which has often been the victim of negative publicity in years gone by.
"It has all been really positive so far which is great," they added.
"It is obviously good for us as a club, but it is also good to see the estate get some good publicity. For too long all we hear about Rathcoole is negative and bad things, and there is more to this area than that.
"We want to teach the kids how to box, but we want to get them off the streets and tackle some of the anti-social behaviour going on in the area.
"And in the future we want to run various programmes to educate the kids on things such as drugs and alcohol.
"The kids are loving the sessions so far, and the response from the parents has been really encouraging. We have had parents telling us that their child has really grown in confidence and how they have come out of their shells.
"That's important to us as coaches. It isn't all about the boxing side of things. This is helping young people with their social skills, and making them more confident for when they go to school, or in their day-to-day lives.
"It is putting a smile on the kids' faces, and their parents are delighted with the coaching so far."
The coaches at Rathcoole have been encouraged by the interest shown in the club so far, and hope more boys and girls come along and join the gym.
"We run sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so if your child is interested just get in touch with us," they said.
"Any boy and girl who fancies coming along and trying the club out can give us a shout on our Facebook page or just come down to the club some evening and have a chat with one of the coaches."
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