Deaf boxing in Peterborough has hit a new milestone. Fifteen people turned up to the latest session at Boxing Futures in Yaxley — the biggest turnout since Cambridgeshire Deaf Association and Boxing Futures started running fully accessible sessions together.
The sessions have been running since spring, and we wrote in July about how quickly they had built a loyal group of regulars. Since then the group has kept growing, and a fifteen-strong session is a real marker of how much appetite there is for sport that deaf people can simply turn up to and take part in.
Andrew Palmer, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Deaf Association, said:
“It’s great to see people getting access to accessible sport. It just goes to show how important it is to make sport accessible for deaf people. Unfortunately not a lot of sports are, and that’s why it’s Cambridgeshire Deaf Association’s role to try and create accessible sports opportunities — like we’re doing with the walking football, and like we do with our deaf football and our pickleball as well.
“They’re not all as well attended as deaf boxing yet, but I’m really looking forward to the future. We know that sport, health and fitness bring so many positive benefits to people’s overall wellbeing, which is one of the missions of Cambridgeshire Deaf Association.”
Why boxing works so well
Traditional boxing gyms can feel off-limits to deaf people, because so much of a session runs on hearing — timers, shouted instructions, coaching from across the room. But boxing itself is a very visual sport. Combinations, footwork and movement are all things you can see and copy, which makes it a natural fit once the communication is right.
The coaches at Boxing Futures have adapted how they run the sessions, with British Sign Language support throughout, so everyone can take part with confidence. Add in the strength and conditioning, the cardio, and the sheer satisfaction of taking a week’s stress out on a punchbag, and it is not hard to see why the group keeps coming back.
How to join
Sessions run every two weeks on a Friday at 6.00pm and cost £5 per session. The next one is on Friday 11 September. They are open to deaf and hard of hearing people, and to family and friends who want to come along too. You do not need any experience and you do not need your own kit — just turn up ready to move.
The venue is:
Boxing Futures
Unit 12, Crusader Court
Harrier Way
Eagle Business Park
Yaxley
Peterborough
PE7 3PU
To let us know you are coming, or to check the dates of later sessions, get in touch with us.
More CDA sport
Boxing is one part of a growing sports programme. Alongside it we run pickleball and the Cambs Hammers deaf football teams, and new deaf and hard of hearing walking football starts at Power League in Stanground on 21 September. Every one of these is built on the same idea: sport should be somewhere deaf people can turn up, join in and be understood.
If you would rather support the programme than play in it, we still have free #TeamCDA places in the Great Eastern Run on 11 October — and every runner gets a free beginner’s British Sign Language session for themselves and a guest.
You can find out more about Boxing Futures and their work across the region at boxing-futures.org.uk.
