Some of Hull’s police officers and staff will be fighting in the name of charity instead of crime to raise money for organisations in East Yorkshire.
Eighteen boxers, comprised of seventeen police officers and one detention officer, will be sparring against each other in a charity boxing match, taking place in West Hull tomorrow evening (Friday 10 August).
Donations will be given to Riverside Special School in Goole, MACS (Micro and Anophthalmic Children’s Society), Cerebra, The Echoes Foundation and Alastair Smith’s Sensory Garden.
The charities were chosen as they provide help and support to serving police officers and their families and friends.
Police Sergeant, Paul Gladstone, has played a key part in organising the event.
He said: “We decided to arrange a boxing matchbecause it’s an event which lots of people can get involved with, in one way or another, and it is an unusual way of raising cash. When we asked our colleagues to participate, they were more than happy to get involved and give up their spare time to train hard and fight for good causes.”
Vulcan Gym has kindly allowed officers to use their trainers, gym, ring and other facilities, as has the Martial Arts Training Centre in Oak Road, Hull, where officers have been practising their punching skills and improving their fitness when not solving crimes.
Head teacher of Riverside Special School, Richard Barcynski, is very grateful to the police for their financial support:
He said: “The school currently provides facilities for children aged five to 16 years with a wide range of learning difficulties, including conditions such as Downs syndrome, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Fragile X syndrome, and other chromosomal disorders.
“We are hoping the funds raised through the charity boxing event will enable us to improve our outdoor learning environment, so we can install some shaded seating areas for our children and also extend the agility trail, and build a climbing frame for our older pupils.”
Some of the proceedings will also be going to MACS, Cerebra, The Echoes Foundation and Alastair Smith’s Sensory Garden and will be distributed by The Life Less Ordinary Foundation, which was set up by three dads who have children with different special needs.
The group now has 30 members. It allows dads a chance to share experiences, discuss difficulties and to help each other through the many traumatic situations, which come from being the parent of a special-needs child.
Gavin Waugh, co-founder of the Foundation, said: “These charities do wonderful things for families with children with special needs, be it a shoulder to cry on, help with completing forms or simply just putting people in touch with others in a similar position.
“We want to raise enough money to really make a difference to these charities, so we’re looking for as much support as possible from local people.”
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
