Islington Boxing Club forced to sell beloved minibus to survive

Islington Boxing Club have been forced to sell their beloved 14-seater minibus last week.  

With no competitions scheduled for their boxers anytime soon and with the forthcoming ULEZ expansion looming, the club took the difficult decision to sell their Ford Transit minibus, the funds raised from the sale will help keep the club going during the forced closure. 

A spokesperson said: “The minibus was an asset to the club; we had saved up funds raised from profits from our dinner boxing events - which at the time were held at the Emirates Stadium - and after a few years had accumulated enough money (approximately £30,000) to purchase the vehicle from new in July 2013.

"It was used to transport our boxers and coaches to shows and tournaments up and down the country on an almost weekly basis and on the odd occasion ferried opposition teams who had visited from overseas to box against us or come over for a training camp."

From October of this year the club would have been required to pay £12.50 per day to travel to shows, tournaments and other club activities once it had left their Hazellville Road gym car park. 

IBC will start to save up for a new suitable minibus once they are able to reopen fully, however savings they had for a new minibus have been used to keep the club afloat during the lockdowns.