A VOLUNTEER boxing coach spoke of his pride as his community gym won a Pride of Swindon award and a Comic Relief grant in just one week.

Paul Rogers, 45, from Gorse Hill, was recognised for his contribution to the Swindon community via the Scrappers Boxing Gym and Community Fitness Centre, in Hillmead.

Scrappers Gym is part of Scrapstore Swindon, a community resource and environmental charity that supports multiple projects.

The head coach is one of a team of volunteers dedicating their time to teaching non-contact boxing to children, adults and people with disabilities.

Paul said: “It was a shock and a bit of a nice surprise to win the award. You don’t do it for recognition, you do it because you care so I feel delighted. It was amazing.

“What boxing did for me as a kid was something I don’t think I really appreciated until I was older. This is a way of giving something back to all those people who volunteered their time to help me.”

Paul holds classes at the Swindon Academy, Lydiard Park Academy, Riverside School and several community groups. Some of his students are facing exclusion from mainstream education.

He said: "What amazes me is how the naughtiest kids are able to tell me exactly why they are acting up.

"It’s a way for them to get it all out of their system and what’s funny is that they’re often the best behaved students in the class.”

The Scrappers Gym Project was set up in November 2011 to offer a facility for members of the community and help disadvantaged young people increase their confidence and self-esteem. The charity has worked with 186 young Swindon people in the past 10 months.

Olivia McCann, project manager for Scrappers, said: “We provide a fantastic facility for all members of the community to access and we also work with disadvantaged young people many of whom have broken down barriers, increased their confidence and self-esteem as well as making new friends which they would not have done prior to this project.”

The award rounds off a successful week for the centre – the Scrappers Gym Project was recently awarded a £1,500 grant from Comic Relief through the Wiltshire Community Foundation. This will be used to run free non-contact boxing sessions for young people aged from 13 to 25 every Monday between 10am and 4pm.

For more information visit www.scrappersgym.com