BoxRec

Morning All

This is on Sheffield Forum, how the hell can this be right ?

I am writing this post, and I am sorry but it is going to be a long one, about the disgusting treatment of an amazingly successful boxing club in Hillsborough.

16 Years ago Glyn Rhodes, a former professional boxer, opened the Sheffield Boxing Centre. His dream was basically to give the children of Sheffield somewhere alternative to train and to get them into sport and off the streets.

Based at the Burton Street Project, Burton Street Sheffield, Glyn’s dream has become a reality, with sheer hard work and dedication to the kids and their development. Glyn has spent years of his life working with children of all ages races and financial backgrounds, no one has ever been turned away and all are treated like family.

You would think wouldn’t you that as the Burton Street project is a community project that they would support Glyns work and encourage it. The SBC is the biggest community project inside the building and offers more to the kids in one nights training than any other project in and around that centre and the area.

Sadly support and encouragement are not what Glyn is getting. Over the last few years he has gone from paying 700 a month in charges for the whole top floor to 700 a month for 70% less space. The company is demanding back rent which Glyn does not owe and have now in the last two weeks taken further space from the gym by adding a FIRE CORRIDOR that is made of TIMBER ?

Glyn has now been forced into leaving the centre all together, the clubs success means that children are being turned away as there is literally no space for them to train there anymore, he is now looking for new premises where he can carry on his work. Hillsborough will now lose one of its strongest youth workers and it is all about MONEY, the company want back rent and the company want more rent for less space.

The fees that Glyn takes are supposed to pay rent, pay fees to the differing associations that the club belongs to, pay wages to the dedicated full time staff that help him run the place and pay for the kits, equipment and the maintenance of that stuff. Insurance, CRB’s, the list is endless, how can this be right ?????

I personally am disgusted that this so called community project are talking in pounds when they should be talking about supporting this work and it’s success. In a world where our children are carrying knives Glyn is telling them to carry pride in themselves and in sport and anyone that knows him and his work would know that.

I am sure that you guys will join me in my feelings about this, I think it is disgusting.

Really got to know Glyn over the last few months - top man, top trainer who is willing to do anything for you.

There are so many boxing trainers around who deicate their lives to training kids - and they do not make any form of profit doing so either!!! - they hardly make enough money to pay the bills for their gyms let alone pay personal bills - I know Glyn Rhodes is not the only one in this predicament - sometimes these trainers are doing the jobs of the parents because the kids speak to the trainer more than the parent, they do the job of the government because its the trainer who is going out of his way to create an activity, its the trainer who is keeping the kids off the streets and its the trainer who is installing that much discipline!!!

Bloody hell I feel a rant coming on - people should back this one!!

Lorn,
This problem has been festering for Glyn for a few years now, I'm sure you're aware of that.
Year on year they've chiselled away at him with rent increases.
I expect Glyn to find new premises and to carry on his great work.
Problem is, it's likely to be in a different area of the city, so the lads are going to be affected.
I've given up on wasting energy ranting about local politics.
The decision makers are morons - but you just can't seem to get under their skin.
Glyn I recall speaking a few years ago now about his ideal premises having everything under one roof.
Space for the ams, space for the pros, and space to put on his shows with a licensed area to try and make a few bob to pump back into the business.
I hope he fulfils his dream - maybe finding a large Working Mens Club that can be refurbed.
A lot are closing down.
I am desperate for one of Glyn's lads to win a decent title - you know, one of his own who's been with him through thick and thin.
I thought Fewky was the man - maybe he can come again.
I say that for Glyn - a down to earth decent bloke who works so hard, often without recognition.
HE can be feisty at times ( ) and I can imagine rub beurocrats up the wrong way but he wears his heart on his sleeve - simple as.
Maybe we should get a few locals together and bombard Bob Westerdale with letters to the press.
McNeilly works for the Star - come on Ian J, get a campaign going !

"Millionaires" who have made thier money from the sport, OWE the sport, if they don't volunteer it, CHASE them for it... negotiated presure with sincerity can often win the day... you know £20- £30,000 from these folk (and it's really nothing from their overall existance), can last years in 'rent' and even a portion for equipment and the like.

come the day when we realise "we ARE our brothers keeper!"

twenty six wrote: Maybe we should get a few locals together and bombard Bob Westerdale with letters to the press.
McNeilly works for the Star - come on Ian J, get a campaign going !

Yes, 26, the letters from locals will help, definitely. I'll have a word with Bob about doing a story on it, too, in the Sheffield Star.

Glyn has another gym but it's in a different part of the city and too small.

It's a complete load of bollocks, of course. These people would be the first to complain if some bored kid kicking his heels in Hillsborough got up to mischief when he would have been in a gym.

I'll find out from Glyn who these 'decision makers' are and write to them too.

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:

twenty six wrote: Maybe we should get a few locals together and bombard Bob Westerdale with letters to the press.
McNeilly works for the Star - come on Ian J, get a campaign going !

Yes, 26, the letters from locals will help, definitely. I'll have a word with Bob about doing a story on it, too, in the Sheffield Star.

Glyn has another gym but it's in a different part of the city and too small.

It's a complete load of bollocks, of course. These people would be the first to complain if some bored kid kicking his heels in Hillsborough got up to mischief when he would have been in a gym.

I'll find out from Glyn who these 'decision makers' are and write to them too.

and if some of us request their details via pm in order to make our feelings know, i don't suppose there could be any harm in that either?

Twenty Six - Fewkey is probably going to fight in July.

Come on guys - lets keep this thread at the top here - not just for the benefit of Glyn and the Sheffield scene but to highlight the absolutely fantastic work trainers from all around the country do!! for very little reward!!

Installing discipline and keeping the young uns occupied in todays modern society is a massive thing - Rhodes and others deserve all the plaudits that come their way!!!

Buncey!!! - read your texts - why not do a little feature on this on your programme mate!!!

Glyn is a proper good man, and I sincerely hope he finds other premises to carry on his excellent work. Maybe in the bigger picture it will work out for the best, people will sort out better premises and he can lose these mugs instead of lining their pockets.

I ahve spoken to Steve and hes is going to read this thread soon as he gets home, he was just telling me about another club in the same situation..Something has to be done about this, social/youth clubs being closed down while MP's are spending 20k on gardening and such bollocks ??

I DONT THINK SO !!!

!!! I am mad

It might be worth Glyn talking to sheffield council's planning department and seeking something called s106 money.I'm a town planner myself here in London, and when you get big developments taking place the developers and the council enter into a s106 agreement whereby the council recieves a sum of money from the developer which is to be spent on improving the local infrastructure -schools, transport, open space and community facilities.It would be well worth his while putting a bid in.I know my council, before I arrived helped a couple of boxing gyms out this way.So well worth him talking to them.Am very happy to help if he needs any further advice on this matter.

It seems the only bit Glyns got left is where the Roof leaks. Must think He is Welsh.

twenty six wrote:Lorn,
This problem has been festering for Glyn for a few years now, I'm sure you're aware of that.
Year on year they've chiselled away at him with rent increases.
I expect Glyn to find new premises and to carry on his great work.
Problem is, it's likely to be in a different area of the city, so the lads are going to be affected.
I've given up on wasting energy ranting about local politics.
The decision makers are morons - but you just can't seem to get under their skin.
Glyn I recall speaking a few years ago now about his ideal premises having everything under one roof.
Space for the ams, space for the pros, and space to put on his shows with a licensed area to try and make a few bob to pump back into the business.
I hope he fulfils his dream - maybe finding a large Working Mens Club that can be refurbed.
A lot are closing down.
I am desperate for one of Glyn's lads to win a decent title - you know, one of his own who's been with him through thick and thin.
I thought Fewky was the man - maybe he can come again.
I say that for Glyn - a down to earth decent bloke who works so hard, often without recognition.
HE can be feisty at times ( ) and I can imagine rub beurocrats up the wrong way but he wears his heart on his sleeve - simple as.
Maybe we should get a few locals together and bombard Bob Westerdale with letters to the press.
McNeilly works for the Star - come on Ian J, get a campaign going !

Glyn should be supported by the local council, not undermind in the way he is being. He does a terrific job with local kids and i wish him all the very best in getting something sorted out for the future. The best way, would be for Glyn to be self financed, through putting on shows etc, but to get to that stage takes an initial injection of cash. Gyln should try and seek finance through government led community projects and maybe put himself forward as a community worker, who specializes in the type of work that he has been doing for years, which is part trainer, part social worker. People like Glyn need to be supported and the authorities need to be made aware of what an important role he plays in the community and how his current predicament is hindering that unique role.

I wish him all the best.....

its a nightmare , i used to train in nottingham at a place called clifton , as a kid , and twice the buildings got knocked down , once to be replaced by a wilkos and again to be replaced by a co-op . it then moved to the local school , i got older and sick of sparring a heaveyweight whilest i was only 8 stone and being knocked out in sparring twice a week ( whole other rant there that i wont go into at mo) . its now though been moved again out of the area to a nearby village called gotham its a good little set up there but clifton , where it used to be was at the time and maybe still , the biggest housing estate in the country where there was always boxers but now its in a posh little village and seems to mainly have adults cos the kids cant get there .
to put it simply , please help support glyn , i now live in the worksop area , not far from sheffield and would be very likely to take my son to sheffield to train when hes old enough , to teach him discipline if nothing else , something a lot of youngster need nowadays.

guys

Thanks so much for your support, Glyn is chuffed with it all. The situation is the same today as it was last week and to be honest it doesnt look like it is going to get any better. The local goverment are not interested, he has tried them before, basicly Glyn is on his own unless some kind of miracle happens, that club will close and all those children will on the streets again with no where to go.

This is a cut and paste of a couple of posts on the thread on Sheffield Forum, another place where he is recieving support from joe public, apart form one doughnut who is more obcessed with brain damage

I think you have missed the point of this thread. It isn't about boxing per se its about a club where young people go to that is being closed down and therefore making youngsters only having the streets to go back to. A place where youngsters can go to should be preserved. I don't personally like boxing and I don't know Glyn Rhodes but reading through the thread he sounds like he is a real good guy who has done a lot for the community and deserves everyone's support regardless of anyone's opinion on boxing.

As I have already said this thread is NOT about the whys and wherefors of boxing but about a club for youngsters of the community that is being closed down and is quite frankly something that should be given support to in a bid to help keep it open.

From what I have read Glyn Rhodes deserves a medal for what he's done in the community and it sounds like he is being very shoddily treated.

It is support that he needs not a lecture on the whys and wherefors of boxing!



Look...This gym is a boxing gym, of course it is BUT it so very very much more than that.

The first time I walked into that place 10 years ago there were tables and chairs where families sat and relaxed together over a cup of tea or a coke. Kids came to the gym just to meet up, maybe punch a bag around a bit but more so to meet up with pals in a warm safe enviroment with peope they could talk to and relax with.

The gym is not just about boxing, its about a brothehood, a sisterhood, friendship and trust !!!!!!!!! People go there to get fit, to feel better about themselves, the kids are off the street and not running amock bored with no where to go.

Adults go there to get fit in a place where they feel comfortable, not a poncy gym that costs more than they can afford, Glyns is a place where ANYONE can go for their own reasons and will be made to feel special and welcome, everyone makes a friend for life in that place.

Now a days the tables have gone, there is a small area where people/parents stand while the classes are going on, they still have a cup of tea and a chat but thanks to the greed of the people running the building they are no longer able to sit down and chill out for a whole evening, it just isnt practical anymore...How sad is that.

So is Gyns just about boxing ? NO ! The smallest part of the work of him and his team is, the majority is un paid youth work and he is quite frankly a genuis at it.

Hillsborough is about to lose a mentor, thats what you should be concentrating on, not so called science



Boxing teaches you discipline, how to manage your life, to take notice of people who know more than you, and much more, sadly a lot of "parents" dont know how to do this, the like of Glyn Rhodes does an excellent job in achieving this. Good luck Glyn in finding another place


As others have already pointed out, the 'boxing is bad' stuff is way off topic and would be better discussed on a new thread devoted to that purpose (or one of the many existing ones on various boards).

However, one benefit of boxing which does relate to the 'community' aspect of this thread is that there is a subsection of youth in the community which simply is not interested in engaging with other community provision, or with any of the 'eastern martial' alternatives.

They will however, engage with boxing and, in most cases, benefit greatly from it.

Multiple interviews with professional boxers from deprived backgrounds invariably contain their views that, without having gotton into boxing, they believe they would have ended up in jail, or dead, along with many of their peers from their childhood who did end up that way.

As you say, there are other options to obtain the benefits, but, that particualr subset of youth aren't interested in them- they are very interested in boxing.

As anyone who works with youth knows choice is the cornerstone of engagement i.e. their choice- even if they choose something which, in your opinion is too risky.

So, the 'unique benefit' of boxing, is that it appeals to some who are not interested in any of the alternatives.

Glyn is live on Radio Sheffield today at 12.30 and Steve Bunce will be talking to him on his show on Thursday !!!

Lorn wrote:Glyn is live on Radio Sheffield today at 12.30 and Steve Bunce will be talking to him on his show on Thursday !!!

The media coverage will be invaluable. Good work.

NEWS JUST IN !!!

Glyn has just phoned me, the company that own the building have just been intouch with him, they ahve requested a meeting this week with him, thanks so much for your support guys, I will let you know how the meeting goes and what the outcome is.

xxxx

Lorn wrote:NEWS JUST IN !!!

Glyn has just phoned me, the company that own the building have just been intouch with him, they ahve requested a meeting this week with him, thanks so much for your support guys, I will let you know how the meeting goes and what the outcome is.

xxxx

Good luck Lorn

Hasn't Rhodes and an ex-boxer bought premises for his new gym ?

Think Glyn wants to stay indepedant.

Scrap, its nothing to do with independance. That gym is too far away from the present one, most of the kids that use the present one get them selves there and are from the sorrounding area, they wouldnt be able to get to the other one as it is not accessible for them.

That one is fine for the adults and pro fighters and the local area kids to use, which leaves the lot using Burton Street with no where to go, that is the point, the kids in the area and currently using the gym continuing to have that facility !!!

Beagle if you know about that place behind the pub you will know that already....it isnt Glyns it belongs to the guy that owns the pub, its too small and too far away.

End Of

Lorn wrote:guys

I think you have missed the point of this thread. It isn't about boxing per se its about a club where young people go to that is being closed down and therefore making youngsters only having the streets to go back to. A place where youngsters can go to should be preserved. I don't personally like boxing and I don't know Glyn Rhodes but reading through the thread he sounds like he is a real good guy who has done a lot for the community and deserves everyone's support regardless of anyone's opinion on boxing.

As I have already said this thread is NOT about the whys and wherefors of boxing but about a club for youngsters of the community that is being closed down and is quite frankly something that should be given support to in a bid to help keep it open.

Lorn - I don't think there is one person out there who would not support Glyn in his quest!!!

However threads like this are worthy of discussion and worthy of expanding if some more good comes of things - boxing forums are all about starting threads and we all know people go off the desired route!!!

The thread has a worthy cause to it and due to so many people of note reading threads like this on this forum and others something has been done - but I simply see no reason why people cannot add their 5 pence worth into things if they want - it doesn't just have to be JUST about Glyn Rhodes and his plight does it? - Glyn will not mind me stating that either !!!

Lorn wrote:Scrap, its nothing to do with independance. That gym is too far away from the present one, most of the kids that use the present one get them selves there and are from the sorrounding area, they wouldnt be able to get to the other one as it is not accessible for them.

That one is fine for the adults and pro fighters and the local area kids to use, which leaves the lot using Burton Street with no where to go, that is the point, the kids in the area and currently using the gym continuing to have that facility !!!

Beagle if you know about that place behind the pub you will know that already....it isnt Glyns it belongs to the guy that owns the pub, its too small and too far away.

End Of

I do not like the end of your post!!!

Again people have a right to their say and put forward their ideas - its due to people adding their bit which has possibly got a solution for Glyn and the lads!!!

Spud if you read the start of that post you will note that it says that the following are cut and pastes from the sheffield forum....They are not my words they are someone elses, I was showing the general view of the people of Sheffield about this situation......

Spud wrote:

Lorn wrote:guys

I think you have missed the point of this thread. It isn't about boxing per se its about a club where young people go to that is being closed down and therefore making youngsters only having the streets to go back to. A place where youngsters can go to should be preserved. I don't personally like boxing and I don't know Glyn Rhodes but reading through the thread he sounds like he is a real good guy who has done a lot for the community and deserves everyone's support regardless of anyone's opinion on boxing.

As I have already said this thread is NOT about the whys and wherefors of boxing but about a club for youngsters of the community that is being closed down and is quite frankly something that should be given support to in a bid to help keep it open.

Lorn - I don't think there is one person out there who would not support Glyn in his quest!!!

However threads like this are worthy of discussion and worthy of expanding if some more good comes of things - boxing forums are all about starting threads and we all know people go off the desired route!!!

The thread has a worthy cause to it and due to so many people of note reading threads like this on this forum and others something has been done - but I simply see no reason why people cannot add their 5 pence worth into things if they want - it doesn't just have to be JUST about Glyn Rhodes and his plight does it? - Glyn will not mind me stating that either !!!

Sorry you dont like the end of my post Spud, but then I am not so keen on people trying to make it look like Glyn is doing something sneaky either....

Spud wrote:

Lorn wrote:Scrap, its nothing to do with independance. That gym is too far away from the present one, most of the kids that use the present one get them selves there and are from the sorrounding area, they wouldnt be able to get to the other one as it is not accessible for them.

That one is fine for the adults and pro fighters and the local area kids to use, which leaves the lot using Burton Street with no where to go, that is the point, the kids in the area and currently using the gym continuing to have that facility !!!

Beagle if you know about that place behind the pub you will know that already....it isnt Glyns it belongs to the guy that owns the pub, its too small and too far away.

End Of

I do not like the end of your post!!!

Again people have a right to their say and put forward their ideas - its due to people adding their bit which has possibly got a solution for Glyn and the lads!!!