Victory for Nelson community group

Victory Boxing’s commitment to staff development has seen them win the Skills Active Transforming Tomorrow's Workforce Award.

The award, which includes a taonga and a $1,500 Learning and Development Grant, was presented at the Skills Active Industry Stakeholder Event, in Auckland, on October 27.

The aim of the award is to recognise small and medium businesses that have demonstrated a strong commitment to knowledge and skill development of their staff, including volunteers, to respond to current and future workforce challenges.

Victory Boxing is a Nelson-based, non-profit community organisation, which was started in 2011 by Paul Hampton.

Paul says he was "really surprised and excited" when he heard about the win.

"We are doing a lot of work in the community here, and we are really proud of what we do, so it is fantastic to be recognised.”

Identifying as a community group, Victory Boxing’s mission is to make a positive impact on the lives of those in the community, through the teaching of life skills, using the sport of boxing and physical activity as the vehicle.

"The big focus about the gym is not just around the fitness aspect” Paul says. “It’s about mental wellbeing, teaching our values, and about having fitness in your lifestyle. We just use the boxing skills and training methods to invigorate these guys, pull out some challenges, and plug away at knocking them over.”

Paul says the idea for the boxing gym came from the youth he was working with. In its first year, there were only a handful of kids, and now Victory Boxing has its own gym, and operates six days a week, working with hundreds of people from all parts of the community - young and old.

Paul says the success of the gym's growth is largely due to the contribution of its volunteers.

"Our organisation is growing year by year, and right from day one the volunteers have been the backbone of the organisation. As our group become more diverse, we have got these wonderful, committed volunteers, so we are always looking to do things a little bit better, and to be as professional as we can."

One way the organisation is increasing its professionalism is by upskilling its staff.

Five volunteers from the gym are currently enrolled in the Skills Active National Certificate in Recreation and Sport for developing coaches.

Paul says that enrolling them in the qualifications "lets them know that we really value them and what they do for us".

Paul says the study has made a positive impact on the quality of training his staff can deliver.

"Enrolling the volunteers in the study has been absolutely outstanding for us. The quality of their coaching and their professional conversations around their coaching has just really lifted since they have started the study."

The $1,500 Learning and Development Grant will be put towards further supporting the volunteers, and “making sure we can help them have everything they need to keep improving” Paul says.

Ends

© Scoop Media