Leam Lane Boxing Club look to expand ‘Fit to Fed’ initiative following successes

Leam Lane ABC coach Gary Robson says the club is looking to host a second ‘Fit to Fed’ event over Easter, following their successful festive session earlier this month.

The ‘Fit to Fed’ session brings together physical and social elements throughout the whole day. Firstly, attendees participate in a two-hour gym session that involves lots of bag work and pads but still caters to beginners. This is followed by a warm meal at Leam Lane social club, who give up their lounge to allow Robson and his team to cook.

Like the previous two, the third annual ‘Fit to Fed’ took place in early January ensuring the continuation of a new tradition: “It’s always kind of happened over the Christmas period for obvious reasons and it’s just kind of become a tradition”, said Robson.

It’s a tradition that brings the community of Gateshead together and allows a multitude of people to benefit according to the coach: “It’s open to anybody who wants to come. We had a wide age gap this year, I think the oldest we had was 70 and the youngest was six weeks old!

“We get a lot of stuff donated to us. The local chip shop contributes, we get pizzas, chips. One of the local shops donated burgers and buns… we were even donated two big vats of soup.

“There was plenty of food to go around and a benefit of us hosting it at the social club meant we could hand out any excess food to others in the bar. No food went to waste!”

Whilst Leam Lane aims to benefit their community, the club received some good fortune of their own on this occasion, as local councillors Linda Green and Ian Patterson both donated £250 each. Yet their giving nature means Robson already has plans for it: “The club will benefit from half, but the other half will go to local homeless charities near to where we’re based.”

It’s a charitable occasion thriving in Gateshead, and such is its popularity that Dobson is now looking to host two events a year: “It’s getting bigger and bigger, and we’ve had a really good turnout, and everyone was happy.

“At the moment, it’s once a year during Christmas, but because of its success, we’re looking to do it again during the school holidays at Easter.

“We’re looking to grow it every year and we’re getting a lot more people involved. A special thank you should go to Brian Skipsey and Hannah Morley for their involvement in driving the cause.”

Leam Lane would also like to mention sponsors Scott McBeth Plastering, Jackson’s Delicatessen, Atif Bilal of Bilal Takeaways, Harry’s Fish Bar, Alan Dinning, Neil Porthouse, Deb Noble and David O’Brien.

Learn more about Fit to Fed and Leam Lane Boxing Club by clicking here.