Youngsters from Willenhall, Coventry, are getting off the streets and into the ring thanks to funding from Whitefriars Housing Group.

Willenhall Boxing Club is just one of the groups which benefitted from funding after £150,000 was injected into Coventry community projects through Whitefriars' Pride on Our Street Awards last year. 

This year a pot of £70,000 is up for grabs for local people as the awards open for round two. Residents, groups and voluntary organisations can make bids from £50 to £5,000 from the fund to make their area or community stronger, safer, cleaner or greener. 

The boxing club is just one example of how the Pride on Our Street Awards empower local people to improve their communities. Run by volunteers, the club provides free training to more than 50 young people every week, helping to keep them off the streets and improve their health. But with no secure funding source and money needed to train new coaches and renew equipment, its future was uncertain. 

Thanks to £1,150 of funding, the club can now continue to offer free services and has expanded its classes to include a boxercise session for girls. Head coach Seamus Skingle, aged 44, explains: "There are few activities that young people can get involved in locally so there is a very high interest in the club. We now attract youngsters from Stoke Aldermoor, Wyken and Hillfields, plus we get involved in activity days and local activities such as football tournaments, swimming and table tennis. Our services are free as we don't want to exclude people on low incomes from accessing the training. 

"Many of the experienced boxers who've trained at the club since they were young help the younger athletes as they know what a difference it made to them. The youngest member is nine and the oldest 32, so it helps to bridge the gap across the generations too."

"Boxer Conrad McCloskey, aged 19, from The Barley Lea, Stoke Aldermoor, is just one of the club's success stories. He said: "I've been boxing at the club since I was 11 and it definitely helped to keep me out of trouble when I was younger. It's a great release which trains the mind and has kept me focussed. 

"I'm now studying for a HND in Building at Coventry University and still enjoy boxing to keep fit. I often help out with the younger kids that come to club - they look to me as a bit of an example. I don't think I'd have stayed on track or got to where I am today without the club."

Quaid Madden, aged 12, from Willenhall, added: "The boxing keeps me off the streets and has improved my general fitness."

Lynn Hanson, head of customer engagement for Whitefriars Housing Group, said: "Following the success of last year's awards we're proud to be able to offer up a further £70,000 for improving local communities. 

"The scheme is all about empowering people to make the changes they want to see in the areas in which they live and encouraging people to take pride in their communities. Often the bids are also about bringing people together - such as the Willenhall Boxing Club example, and we're keen to support this too."