A Helensburgh martial arts school - run by the uncle of a teenager who was violently murdered - is vowing to offer young people in the town an alternative path in the face of spiralling youth disorder.
Combat Central gym manager Stuart Allan, whose nephew Kirk Allan was just 19 when he was murdered in a crime that shocked the community, says he doesn’t want another family to go through what his has.
Twisted Kevin Murray, 34, was jailed for life in April after the brutal attack on Kirk in July 2020.
Stuart said: “I am the uncle of Kirk Allan, who was murdered in a house in Helensburgh. That has had a big impact on how we run the gym.
“Our fight team is called Sit Seeyang, which roughly translates as “Student of Risk”. My nephew Kirk was an avid tagger, and he used “risk” as one of his tags, hence the name. His menchy is part of the fight team logo.
“We stick up for the kids in the town because if we don’t do what we can do to help them, no one else will, and there will be more and more violence and travesty.
“I really don’t want anyone to go through what my family has been through the past two years.”
Combat Central martial arts gym opened in 2020 and offers a safe place for people of all ages to get fit, physically and mentally, and vent any outside world frustrations they have.
Based in the centre of the town above Helensburgh Central train station, its location has seen staff witness and even intervene in brawls outside the gym.
Stuart said youth anti-social behaviour and violence in the town is now worse than ever.
He said: “We have had to interject on a couple of occasions with instances outside where we have had to calm it down. There certainly is an issue in Helensburgh.”
Deputy Director of the Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU), Will Lenden, has pinned Covid as one of the main reasons why violence amongst youths is on the rise in Scotland.
He said: “This is possibly a reaction to the pandemic because a lot of services and youth work have closed down. Young people are trying to seek means of being with each other, and they have not had access to services and support.
“They can’t go to youth centres because that is now something else or there are not enough youth workers.
“So, they end up hanging around with their mates online and on the streets, and it exasperates it, and it creates a problem. It is not totally the fault of the pandemic, but it certainly hasn’t helped it.”
Stuart believes that there is some truth in the lack of services being offered to kids being a reason for the large amounts of incidents taking place amongst youths in Helensburgh, adding: ”I am born and bred in Helensburgh. I am 55 this year, and Helensburgh hasn’t really changed.
“If anything, there is less now than when I was a teenager. We had community groups, Monday clubs, Wednesday clubs, and football teams. There were all sorts of things going on.
“That is all gone, and the stuff that is out there is very expensive. Especially if you are in a single-parent household. You can’t afford to spend £60 a month on memberships etc.
“We try to keep our membership prices down as much as possible, especially for the juniors.”
Stuart believes the whole community in Helensburgh need to play their part, saying: “All I can see in Helensburgh is a community that is against the youth.
“Unless you go to the posher schools in Helensburgh and in that sort of money bracket, then you are forgotten about.
“The problem isn’t going away it is only going to get worse.
“We have moved along so much in society to know that just saying no doesn’t work anymore.
“We need to lead by example and show kids a different path, and that is what we are trying to do.”
Combat Central has taken on kids from more deprived backgrounds.
The gym was recently set to be involved in a fight night on the May 28 where nine Combat Central fighters would have competed against rival gyms.
Stuart said: “We would have had a couple of them (kids from deprived backgrounds) fighting on the show, who were heading off the rails.
“We try to give them that safe space where they can come and talk to us about anything that is troubling them.”
