- Gym facing uncertain future as landlord refuses to carry out repairs and maintenance
- Joanne pledges support for ‘tremendous’ charity
- Club’s founder wants to save gym and help turn building into a community centre
Joanne, this week, helped launch a petition to save the All Stars Boxing Gym on the Harrow Road. At a club meeting attended by over fifty club members, Joanne and the club’s leaders launched the petition which calls for the work of the club to be recognised in the community and a proper settlement be arranged to secure its future.
The gym caters for people of a wide range of ages and ethnicity throughout the North Westminster area and provides a vital hub of community activity in one of central London’s most disadvantaged wards. Despite its’ excellent work, the club’s future remains uncertain with the gym’s current landlord refusing to sanction the upkeep of basic repair work to the ageing building. If the repairs and maintenance are not carried out regularly it could render the building unsafe and uninhabitable, forcing the club to relocate or worse still to close altogether. By taking action in the courts the club’s owners have managed to force the landlord’s hand in carrying out recent essential maintenance but the long-term outlook remains uncertain.
Commenting at the launch of the petition Joanne said: ‘In an area of London, where local shops and facilities are closing down and young people in particular are provided with so little, it is vital that a club like All Stars which brings together people of different ages, races and backgrounds is kept open and fully supported. For too long and too often the Harrow Road and Queen’s Park areas have been overlooked. Now is the time for the community to unite, back this petition and ensure that the future of this tremendous charity is permanently secured.’
Club founder Isola Akay hopes that the petition will raise awareness of the club’s difficulties and put pressure on the landlord to hand over control of the building in the long-term: ‘For some of the children I have gotten to know over the years this club has become a kind of second home. It would be simply heart-breaking for them if we had to close. Given the right care and attention this building has so much potential. If we were to get control we would not only protect the gym but clear up the rooms which are currently unoccupied or derelict and turn the whole site into a community centre which could be used by all local residents.’
Kai Singh, 18 and a club member, added his support to the petition: 'Many youths around the local area who would probably be up to no good have a place to come and train because of All Stars. All Stars is like a small community with nothing but good coming out of it. Me and my friends have signed the petition and we will get our friends and their friends to sign it to, we must do everything we can to keep All Stars open.’
