An appeal to raise money for a boxing academy in Aberystwyth has raised thousands.
Jason Spencer and Jamie Ambler set up the not-for-profit Jay Jay’s Amateur Boxing Club to give the town’s youth something to do and somewhere to go.
They set about raising funds for the academy and the response has been overwhelming, as Jason explained.
“About £3,500 has been raised through donations to our Justgiving page, an anonymous £1,000 donation and some companies, which want to be anonymous, gave donations too.
“We want to say a big thank you to everyone.
“The money will fund first aid course, new bags, age-appropriate equipment, hall fees, and more.
“Thanks to your ‘Cambrian News’ article about the fundraiser, people understand what we're doing here, and that we're going it for free, for the love of it, and more people have come through the doors.
“We are so humbled and overwhelmed, and we’ve had so many calls and opportunities from this.”
Jason and Jamie say there are very few facilities for young people and Aberystwyth is a town struggling with “poverty, drugs and bad mental health”, so they decided to do something about it by setting up Jay Jay’s Amateur Boxing Club.
Speaking on behalf of the pair, Jason said: “Aberystwyth is struggling at the moment, it’s a small community and I know three boys who have killed themselves in the last year.
“If we can give youngsters something, that’s a start.
“We both know how beneficial boxing can be for young adults both have young boys of our own, so we know there’s not a lot of opportunities for kids in Aberystwyth.”