“We want to develop for the community,” says Sean Mailey who has dedicated 19 years to East Hull Boxing Academy but has made the difficult call to close it immediately
Parts of the ceiling have started to collapse at East Hull Boxing Academy.(Image: East Hull Boxing Academy)
The coach behind a community boxing gym in Hull has told of his sadness in having to close due to pressing safety concerns. Volunteer Sean Mailey has been running East Hull Boxing Academy beside St Bede’s Church on Staveley Road for 19 years but has been forced to close the decrepit premises for fear that young boxers could be hurt.
The building has long been in need of repairs and now recent heavy rains have caused the collapse of a ceiling and threatened more. Sean says the property has been in a “sorry state” for at least seven years, despite his desperate efforts to get support.
Its sudden closure leaves about 70 young boxers without a place to train and with no solution in sight, Sean has told of his anguish following nearly two decades of voluntary work fitted around a full time job, and often at the expense of his own family life.
He said: “All these years I’ve put other people’s kids first. My own kids hardly know me – it’s just the way it has been since before they were born unfortunately.
“I’m just a fool to myself really and that’s the way I feel. I feel really negative at the moment because I’ve put that much time into the community and I can’t find any positives.”
For some time, boxers have had to work around buckets placed about the gym to catch leaks. And Sean, with his team of five coaches, has had to stop various programmed training sessions because of the unsuitability of the gym which he says needs “more than sticking plasters”.
Sean explained: “The other night part of the ceiling fell down. Luckily nobody was there, but if I didn’t make the decision to close the club, it’d be on my head. On the safety side, there are other boards that look like they’re going to drop so it was the decision I had to make.”
He added: “It’s affecting me mentally, in my own family and work like. And I’m going to bed tossing and turning. It shouldn’t be like that when you’re volunteering for an organisation.
“After 19 years there should be some kind of help. I’m also seeing a other places that aren’t anywhere near as established as us getting money injected into the club because they’re not in our vicinity. It seems anything beyond the Drypool Bridge gets forgotten about – I’ve always said this.”
Despite feeling “deflated”, Sean is holding out hope that significant support can be found for the club. But he has stressed the scale of works needed – and ideally larger premises altogether.
He added: “We want to develop for the community because we have so much potential – and not just in boxing, we also do sessions for football teams, rugby teams, fitness and sports development sessions. Those are the type of things we’ve unfortunately had to nip in the bud.”
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