Dagenham (Police & Community) Boxing Club hosted their second summer boxing programme for 30 children aged seven to 17 last week.
The two-day programmme was funded by the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Sport & Recreation team and supported by the Safer Schools’ Partnership team from the Met Police in the borough.
And this year is the 11th in succession that the club has delivered the hugely popular non-contact boxing programme.
A further nine children won places in regular club groups, which are free for a limited period, and club secretary and coach Dan O’Sullivan was delighted with the response from the youngsters.
He said: “They were a very enthusiastic and determined bunch of kids and all successfully gained certificates, medals and T-shirts.
“The placement winners were also presented with trophies by Inspector Elise Gellately, who manages the Schools’ team.
“All the participants learnt basic boxing drills, taking part in ‘tag boxing’ and were also tested on the bleep test, with one of the 12-year-old participants reaching level 12, which is very impressive.
“Foot drills, skipping, and ‘bag work’ was also mixed with some light strength & conditioning circuits and throughout the two days fresh fruit was available free, for all participants.
“The kids were given inputs on healthy lifestyles on the two-day course, and were also given a very well-received police input from PC Kelly Wood – one of the borough’s dedicated Schools-based police officers.
“PC Wood delivered a fascinating talk on personal safety, online safety and also an interactive ‘Stop & Search’ presentation.
“The kids used metal detecting wands to search for metal tea spoons, reversing roles, to give them an idea how difficult it can be for police.
“The talk also gave advice on what the police can and can’t do when searching. The programme has been very popular since its inception, continues to attract high numbers and is always over-subscribed.”
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