The Christian Hobbs Charity is building a state-of-the-art Boxing Centre in Hinckley, Leicestershire, in memory of Christian Hobbs, a boy who loved boxing. 

The Boxing Centre will be an outstanding facility facilitating participation in the amateur sport, which suffers from chronic under-investment in its facilities. 

A freehold site has been bought and full planning permission obtained. 

The project is “oven ready”.  Corporate Architecture Limited have put the fully designed and specified project out to tender with a return date of 24 April 2026.  The build can start as early as mid-July 2026 to be completed and in use by spring 2027. 

£1.135M has been raised privately to date. There is an estimated funding shortfall of £1.5M.  The Charity needs your help to close the funding shortfall and deliver the project.

Why give?

Amateur boxing has deep reach into disadvantaged communities.  It engages disaffected young, addresses behavioural issues and puts young people on a pathway to improved life chances. It channels aggression.  It combats anti-social crime.  It addresses obesity.  It fosters self-discipline, self-confidence and inner pride in its participants.  It provides a pathway for young people to make the right choices in life.  Put simply, boxing saves lives. 

Key Statistics

Research by Dr Stephen Hills at London Metropolitan University into the role of boxing in tackling social problems (LSR192-England-Boxing-The-Role-of-Boxing-in-Development-A-Social-Marketing-Perspective.pdf) indicates that amateur boxing clubs disproportionately attract children from underprivileged backgrounds and hard-to-reach groups.  

The significant, under-utilised social benefits of amateur boxing clubs in engaging disadvantaged youth and reducing antisocial behaviour are also highlighted in  “The Right Hook” The-Right-Hook-All-Party-Parliamentary-Group-for-Boxing.pdf which positions these clubs as cost-effective community hubs that foster mentorship, improve mental health, and boost employability.

Research commissioned by Sport England shows that for every £1 invested in community sport, there is a return of £3.91 for individuals and society (Social value and return on investment of sport and physical activity | Sport England).

Some 700 boxing clubs have no security of tenure or less than five years before they potentially find themselves without a home.  This Boxing Centre will provide a much-needed permanent boxing base for local boxing clubs (including Heart of England Community Boxing Club, one of the key proposed beneficiaries of the Charity and donors to this project).

The beneficiaries of the gym will be: 

(1) Amateur young boxers who will participate via local England Boxing registered clubs (average numbers participating via boxing clubs will be 50-100 youths three times a week);

(2) Amateur elite young boxers who come to the Boxing Centre to attend local, regional, national and potentially international competitions; 

(3) Amateur boxers with disabilities participating in the sport of disability boxing; 

(4) Wider society, which benefits from the reduction in anti-social behaviours and crime; and

(5) Other community and multi-sports groups which will also have use of the Centre.

There will be a classroom on the first floor of the building to allow lessons to be given to those young boxers who are excluded from education.