Peterborough Boxing Futures charity coach to tackle the Great Eastern Run - but with a twist
For every £1 donation he now receives, he will punch a boxing pad at the end of the race
A boxing coach for a charity helping young disadvantaged men in Peterborough is to tackle to Great Eastern Run.
Aidan Lyons is a boxing and wellbeing coach at Boxing Futures in Yaxley – a small charity that empowers young people through dedicated boxing programmes.
He will take on the half marathon race on October 13 with the charity’s head coach, and ex-professional boxer Cello Renda – but with an additional challenge at the end.
"We empower young people by building positive relationships, developing core soft skills and increasing confidence and motivation,” explained Aidan, 33. “I'm the London Lead for Boxing Futures and have been working for the charity for three months. I've been spending my time between London and Peterborough, learning from the fantastic team at Boxing Futures.
“We delivery non-contact boxing sessions, which means everything except for sparring. In Peterborough we deliver sessions in our incredible gym in Yaxley. In London I travel around delivering sessions in schools, colleges and gyms across the city.
“I'm running the The Great Eastern Run to raise money for Boxing Futures so we can continue delivering our sessions to young people across Peterborough, Cambridge and London. I believe in what we do every day and donations are very important to support our work.”
Since setting up his Justgiving page, Aidan said he reached his fundraising target of £500 quite quickly – so he now has another idea to boost donations further.
“To spice things up I have decided to hit the boxing pads after the run,” he explained. “For every £1 over £500 that is donated, I will throw a punch on the pads, held by our head coach Cello Renda, who is also running the race for Boxing Futures. He has been the head coach since the very beginning, over 12 years ago!”
With more than £900 already donated to Aidan’s effort, that’s a few hundred punches he is already set to deliver after completing the 13-mile race.
To support Aidan, and further increase the number of punches he has to deliver, visit his JustGiving page.
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