The Cannons Creek Youth Charitable Trust is delighted to have received a grant from New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) of $13,918 towards salaries for Male Coach, Lead Female Coach, and an intern.

Established in 2014 with significant support from the Vodafone Foundation and the Tindall Foundation, Cannons Creek Boxing Academy was the first academy set up outside of its pioneering academy in Naenae. With a vision for inspiring and empowering young people through the vehicle of boxing, the academy was set up with support and encouragement from the New Zealand Police.

Spokesperson Paul Sayers said, “Today the academy now has two head coaches and two intern coaches, as young women increasingly find their way to the Cannons Creek Boxing Academy for a source of wellbeing and friendship. We strive to collaborate with the local community to support the whole young person and their whanau. We value the relationships we have with schools, law enforcement, youth, and community organisations.

“This funding from NZCT will enable us to keep our relationships with local community and school groups through our day-time classes, funding that allows our staff to be paid for their time. It will also allow our coaches to run our membership classes that see 152 young people a week attend over four days and three different classes each day.

“Without funding like this we would cease to operate at such capacity and having a lesser impact on our community. We carry mana within our space, staff and classes. We will continue to be a taonga to our community thanks to this funding. Our staff enable long-term engagement for our young people in physical fitness and sport, with classes for ages 9 to 18+ years.

“Cahn Ahpene is our Lead Male Coach in charge of the boys, Hailey Collins is our Lead Female Coach in charge of the girls, with Ashley James interning alongside Hailey. Cahn, Hailey, and Ashley are all in the process of qualifying as Level One Boxing Coaches, where they currently hold probationary licences, as well as organising social events for our whanau. We also attend tournaments during the weekend and have a busy boxing calendar for 2021.

"Cannons Creek Boxing Academy have volunteer coaches helping them and we are also training some of the senior members to help them run the classes. However, qualified coaches are a necessity to ensure a safe environment for our young people to engage in and learn from. Without qualified coaches consistently available for these young people, our academy would be unable to operate.”

© Scoop Media