A teenager who was told he was a ‘lost cause’ has spoken about how free boxing classes organised by the Salvation Army in York have helped turn his life around.
Nineteen-year-old Curtis said he struggled with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts after a difficult childhood. He often turned to violence and was told he would end up in prison at 16.
But he started going to boxing classes run by Charlie Malarkey, the service manager at the Salvation Army’s Early Intervention and Prevention team in York - and credits the classes with saving his life.
“I thought I was a lost cause, but Charlie showed me there is another way and I have the ability to change,” Curtis said.
“The classes have helped me see I don’t need to use violence to prove myself. Now others say to me ‘if you can do it, I can do it’.”
The boxing classes, held at the York Masters Boxing Gym in Redeness Street, initially started as part of The Salvation Army’s work to support people who are homeless. But the free sessions have now been opened up to anyone who wants to attend.
Curtis said that since he plucked up the courage to go along, his life has been transformed.
He admits that until then he was on the wrong track. “Due to things that happened in my past, I would end up taking that out on other people, fighting every day, drinking, hanging out with the wrong crowds,” he said.
“I could be sitting one minute feeling okay and then it’s like a switch, someone could say something and that was perceived as a threat, a challenge, with violence a way to prove myself.”
READ MORE
- York Masters Boxing Club to get new gym in New Earswick
- Salvation Army's free York boxing sessions to help homeless
- York's streets at 5am: meeting the city's rough sleepers
Curtis was put in touch with Charlie following some counselling sessions at the age of 16. Boxing quickly became an outlet for his anger.
“To say the boxing classes helped me is an understatement,” he said. “If it wasn’t for boxing, I would have gone to prison. Boxing helped me drop the people who were not good for me. I started going to church and finding new friends. It’s given me a community.
“There’s always someone to talk to. I can do the workout and if I have a problem, I can go to Charlie or the team and they help me.”
Curtis will be one of the young boxers taking part on Sunday in a charity boxing match to raise funds for a new gym at the New Earswick Sports Club in York.
The new gym recently received planning approval, and the plan is for the Salvation Army’s boxing classes to move there when it opens.
With Charlie’s help, Curtis is now hoping to get some qualifications as a boxing trainer.
“I want to help other kids get out of the situation that I was in,” he said.
“Every time I leave the gym I feel so much better and I want others to feel like that. It’s not an understatement to say it saved my life.”
Charlie said the transformation in Curtis has been fantastic. “Curtis is a great success story and now wants to help others as he knows how beneficial the boxing has been for him.”
He said the Salvation Army boxing sessions were about improving people’s confidence as well as their physical and mental health.
“We have a lot of clients who are, or have been homeless, people struggling with mental health and addictions,” he said.
“We try to create an environment that feels safe and that gives them chance to have a laugh or to talk if they need to.”
Sunday's charity boxing event
The gates open at 12 noon for Sunday’s charity boxing event at the New Earswick Sports Club to raise money for the new boxing gym.
There will be 12 bouts in all, featuring 24 young boxers – many of them from Charlie Malarkey’s own boxing sessions, but others coming from as far afield as Tadcaster, Selby and Goole.
There will also be a raffle – including the chance to win a pair of gloves once worn by former multiple boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao – and a chance to see the World Championship belt once won by Ricky Hatton.
Entry is £20 on the gate – but children 16 and under get in free.
Simon Malarkey, who is vice-chair of the New Earswick Sports Club and Charlie’s cousin, said football fans planning to watch England’s last-16 European Championship tie against Slovakia on Sunday afternoon needn’t miss out.
The boxing would finish before the game, he said – and there would be a bar and food while people watched.
The Salvation Army boxing classes, which are supported by local not for profit organisation and café Chocolate and Co which helps vulnerable people get into work, are currently held at the York Masters Boxing Gym in Redeness Street, York, on Tuesdays between 10am to 12pm and Thursday 1pm to 2.15pm.
There are also women’s-only classes held on Tuesday evenings at 6pm and Thursdays at 2.30pm.
As well as the boxing and exercise classes, the Salvation Army continues to run its drop-in service for homeless people from Lawrence Street on a Monday to Friday between 10am and 2pm.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel