Islington Boxing Club are trying to make the most of being closed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic by fixing parts of the club’s headquarters.

Two of the club’s long-time recreational boxing members, Wojeich Rychlewski and Del McCann, have volunteered their time to help fix everything that needs some work at the Hazellville Road gym.

The gym is a much-loved prefab building which was originally the site offices for Bovis Construction Ltd whilst they built the Elthorne Estate in the early 1970s.

As it’s an old building it requires plenty of maintenance therefore the walls, posts and ceiling in the downstairs gym has had a fresh coat of paint and the men’s shower room has had new floor tiles.

IBC plan to have other parts of the building freshened with a few coats of paint including the men’s changing room, weights room and toilets and replace some of their old square vinyl floor tiles in the downstairs gym.

The club said it wants to thank both Del and Wojciech for their ongoing efforts and also Brewers Paints in Islington for donating paint in the club’s red and white colours.

Club manager and competition secretary Reggie Hagland said: “It would’ve been difficult to be able to do these jobs if we were open. I suppose that’s our positive point to take from the lockdown.”

In December, IBC received a Local Initiatives Fund grant from Islington Council, a small grant from the budget of local ward councillors.

The fund has reimbursed money paid out to become Covid-19 secure, which included buying products, storage cupboards, implementing an online booking website and regular deep cleaning.

IBC said they would like to thank all the councillors and wards that helped pay towards their grant, especially the Hillrise Ward which contributed the most and to Cllr Una O’Halloran who made them aware of the LIF.

The club has been successful with a small grant from Sport England and are regularly seeking other funding applications.