THE chairman of Devizes Boxing Club has been blown away by the fledgling club’s success.

Devizes Mayor Pete Smith was on hand to open the town outfit’s new facilities on Monday night, which are based at Devizes Town football club.

The young club, who were founded last November and are backed by the Amateur Boxing Association, have unveiled a new boxing ring, which was made possible by a £9,100 grant from Sport England.

“It’s just unbelievable what support we’ve had and how we’ve grown,” said chairman and head coach Paul Wilkins.

“When I walk around Devizes, I get people coming up to me asking if their son or grandson can come along and we just keep hearing positive things all the time.

“We’re going to have about 25 people competing, we’ve got three coaches who have all recently qualified and we’ve got ladies’ box fit classes that run and have got 55 regular members.

“The support we get is fantastic and we’re just so happy that we’ve become such a community club.”

The club will host its first national amateur competition early next year when it holds the first round of the Western Counties ABA Schoolboy Championships.

Wilkins said the club’s partnership with the football club has been instrumental in the success and Town vice-chairman Neil Fautley is in agreement. “When they started, they were only using our facilities one or two nights a week but we’ve seen the boxing club grow and grow,” he said.

“For us, the increase in revenue has been fantastic but they’ve also done a lot for the town.

“It’s a proper boxing club and the fact that it gets kids involved and off the streets is a great thing.”