Sheffield Kings Boxing Gym has been offering free food to those in need since last week.
The club, located in Retford Road, Woodhouse, collects canned goods and non-perishable items and places these in a basket outside of the gym, with the message: ‘Free food for all- don’t be hungry’.
Gym owner Chris Medley said: “Woodhouse has a lot of people who are on drugs, so they’ve not got much money in the area.
“So what we thought of doing because we’re in lockdown, was to go out with the spare bit of money we had, buy some cheap food, and put it out in front of the gym on a table.”
“At the beginning, nobody was taking the food. So then we put a note out saying ‘free food for people who are hungry- take what you want’, and that’s how it kicked off, really.”
On their Facebook page, commenters shared their appreciation of the gesture.
One person commented: “I just love this gym- always go out of their way to help others.”
Mr Medley added: “We’ve had to top it up every two or three days, but we don’t mind. It’s only cheap, like tinned food, pot noodles, and long-lasting milk, but it’s been good.”
The pandemic has taken a toll on the gym, which will reopen on April 12.
Chris said: “It’s been hard. We’ve had our rent rolled over, and we’ve had to pay the charges on the gas, electric, and water bills but we’ve had no income to do that, so it has been hard for us.
“A lot of people have been suffering from their mental health through the pandemic, as well as a lot of our boxers.”
Chris said he’s looking forward to restrictions being lifted for the gym to reopen so that he can see people’s faces again.
Woodhouse Boxing Club- Sheffield Kings shared their upcoming event on their Facebook page.
The gym is to host a 24-hour virtual ‘Boxathon’ on Saturday 15 May, in order to raise funds for new equipment and gym maintenance.
To donate to their fundraiser, please visit their JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/woodhouseboxing-club?utm_term=mxwY2ZpEW&fbclid=IwAR2j_kldB9j3NZk4WbrxykaUEybTWDUI5POS3HSU3E9QGEatYIsVRGbM93k
To sign up to join the gym or book a place in the Boxathon, head to the gym’s Facebook page for more details: https://www.facebook.com/woodhouseboxingclub/