Boxing coach turned charity champ blown away after smashing £250,000 fundraising mark

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A boxing coach turned charity champ has delivered a knock out blow to a £250,000 fundraising target as he sets his sights on a new £500,000 goal.

Chris Goodall never thought he would raise more than £10,000 when he put together his first white collar boxing show in 2015.

Now, as he gets set to host his latest fight night at Harton & Westoe Miners Welfare on Friday July 9, he has announced he has smashed the £250,000 mark.

Mr Goodall, who is based at the welfare in Low Lane, said: “When we first started, it was to raise money for Newcastle's RVI so they could buy toys and other equipment.

Coaches and gym members celebrate hitting raising £250k for charities through boxing shows and other charity events including the David Goggins 4x4x48 challenge with Chris Goodall (front left).

“We aimed to raise £10,000 with the first show but raised more than £14,000. Everyone really enjoyed it, so we decided to host another one, then another and before we knew, we had £50,000 raised for charities and on our way to £100,000.”

The boxing shows allow people interested in the sport to try their hand at stepping into the ring following eight weeks of free training to raise cash for their chosen charities.

Over the years, a number of charities and good causes have benefited from the nights including Cancer Connections, Hebburn Helps and more recently Ethan's Arc – created in memory of South Tyneside youngster Ethan Adams who lost his battle with rhabdomyosarcoma – a rare form of cancer – in August 2021, just after his ninth birthday.

Mr Goodall, who runs the charity boxing shows under the brand Box Clever Events, added: “To hit £10k, was great, £100k was mega, but to hit £250k – that's quarter of a million pounds for charities, it's just surreal.

Images from one of the previous boxing shows (courtesy of ID Event photography).

“There's a lot of hard work that goes into putting the shows together, but it's really rewarding, not just because of the money element and seeing so many charities benefiting, but also seeing people who have never boxed before stepping into the gym, working their way towards the night and finally seeing them getting into the ring.

“Taking part has helped to boost their confidence, improved their health both physically and mentally and a lot have made new friends through the training sessions and taking part.

“When we first started, it was mainly people who came to the gym who would take part, but now we have a lot of people who sign up through word of mouth, or because they've known someone who has taken part. It's also good to see women also taking part.

“We're already looking for people to participate in our next show in September and applications are now open."

Box Clever's forthcoming show is being sponsored by The Health Insurance Group. Left: Coaches Steve Graham and Michelle Robinson with founder Chris Goodall (back right) and Adam Brown, employee benefit specialist at The Health Insurance Group.

Adam Brown, employee benefit specialist at The Health Insurance Group which is sponsoring July's event, said: “The amount of money Chris has raised through the boxing shows is fantastic, and as a business we would like to help towards keeping that going.

“I take my children to Chris' boxing classes so I've always been aware of the shows, but never realised how much of a positive impact it has and the charities that have benefited.

“Our company has been running for a number of years now and this is a fantastic event for us to be involved in and it will hopefully give people the opportunity to find out more about the services we provide.”

For tickets for the show in July or if you would like to take part in September's show visit Box Clever Events on Facebook.