Marvels Lane Boxing Club in Grove Park which has provided quality boxing training and enabling focus for people who live in Lewisham since 1962 has been told to shut its doors. The Club has helped many local youths not only hone their boxing skills, but has also taught them the values of teamwork, hard work, determination, self-discipline and respect for the local community.
Many people in Grove Park have commented that the main points around the gym were that it allowed young people somewhere to go in order to hone their discipline, control and get a sense of achievement. This is an area where the ruling Labour Party in Lewisham have failed our younger generations over time. There are very little activities in the area provided by the council in order to keep both our streets safe but also to focus the minds and harness the talent of everyone in the area.
London Youth have decided to reclaim control over the site at the expense of the loved local amenity which means that the sense of pride, community and belonging for the area will no longer be available. Almost two thousand people have signed an online petition to keep Marvels Lane Boxing Gym open but as of yet, the Labour run council have not helped or London Youth have not looked to provide alternatives to keep it open. We have written a letter to the CEO and trustees of London Youth to keep the gym open and not close it on the 31st March 2018.
London Youth’s connections to the now defunct Kids Company have been an issue of contention in the past with previous CEO writing on their website that it is time to move on from the scrutiny of Kids Company. However, there need to be questions asked regarding the taking back of Marvel Lane Boxing Gym premises, clearly there has been an issue regarding the handling of finances in the past and if the plan is to sell off the premises, what does this mean for other London Youth operations in Lewisham?