Story
On 12th July, I will throw myself down a huge zipline over Lambeth...
I'm doing this for a fantastic cause. Carney's Community in Battersea, south London, is a boxing gym with a difference. They're not trying to produce world champions in the sport (though Mick Carney, the boxing legend who inspired it, did his fair share of that).
Instead, their job is to turn round lives. They help some of the most disadvantaged children and young adults in London. Lots of them have been involved in violence and crime of one sort or another and Carney's Community gets them into boxing to focus them on discipline, courage and respect for others--as well as burning off some of that teenage energy and aggression we can all identify with.
Check out their website: http://www.carneyscommunity.org
The philosophy of George Turner, who runs the project, is that there is potential in everyone. Once a young person has been through those doors in south London, George will never give up on them, even if schools, councils and the rest of the authorities don't want anything to do with them because they think they're such a risk.
Everyone benefits from what George and his team are doing. Turning people away from crime makes the streets safer and saves scarce public money.
Never give up. Ever. What an inspiration.
The money we raise from this will go towards the Carney's Community business start-up fund, which allows young people to access funding for things like business cards, phone bills or anything related to starting a new business. Carney's Community will launch a business started up by one of its young people later that the same evening at Battersea Power Station. Here is a link to the start-up's website https://www.goodguysdecorating.com/.
Thank you so much for your kind donations to such a great cause!