A Few Helpful Notes Before We Begin

This Crowdfunder offers REWARDS generously provided by local businesses, and we are incredibly grateful for their support. If you’d prefer, you can also donate without selecting a reward.

We’re delighted to have match funding from the Aviva Community Fund - £1 for £1 up to £250! They’ll match the first donation from each supporter, so if you’re considering multiple rewards, please select the higher-value one first to help us maximise this support.

The Project:

Our goal is to refurbish the ground floor of The Trades in Hebden Bridge, a space that has been closed since the floods of 2015. We plan to create a flood-resilient, energy-efficient community hub that promotes physical and mental well-being for everyone in our local community. This new facility will house our boxing club while also offering a safe space for people of all ages to participate in structured exercise, socialise, and access support. A key focus of our project is creating a space where young people can engage in structured activities or simply relax and feel safe. The space will also feature a dedicated homework/chill-out room, changing rooms, shower facilities, and a kitchen, ensuring a welcoming environment for all.

Making this space flood-resilient and soundproofed (ensuring that neither tenant impacts the other) makes this an expensive project, which is why it has remained empty for so long. This has deprived the Upper Calder Valley of a community space originally built by local trade unions in 1924 to serve the people.

We know that many of you love our club, many love this important building, and many want to support organisations like ours that support our community. That’s why we’re asking for your donations to help us reach our goal and breathe new life into this historic building. We’re calling on our local community to help us raise the final 10% needed to reach our £320,000 target.

Our story:

Northern Powerhouse Boxing Academy is proud to be the first women-led boxing club in the UK. Our mission is to make positive contributions to the physical and mental well-being of our community by providing a safe, inclusive space where everyone is welcomed and empowered through boxing, exercise, and social inclusion.

We run twenty timetabled sessions per week, along with workshops, courses, holiday clubs, and free access to sport for those who need it most. Many of our programmes are funded so that financial barriers do not prevent people from accessing the benefits of sport and exercise. We are dedicated to making fitness accessible, especially in our rural area where opportunities for organised indoor sports are limited.

Each year, we support around 400-500 individuals, with a total of 6000-7000 participation. Our members range in age from 7 to 77, and come from diverse social backgrounds, ethnicities, and genders. While we primarily serve the communities of Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, and Mytholmroyd, we also welcome participants from much further afield. Our work extends beyond our gym, reaching into local schools, social services, youth and community groups, with a list and testimonials provided below.

The feedback from our members clearly shows that NPBA provides crucial support during difficult times—sometimes even proving to be lifesaving. We want to expand this essential support to as many people as possible across the valley, which is why we are moving to a bigger and better premises!

The need for a bigger facility

For the past 6 years, our premises at Eastwood have served us well, but they now limit what we can achieve. By creating a new, larger facility, we will have the capacity to offer more programmes and reach more people across the community. This new space will be fully accessible for people of all ages and abilities, enabling us to expand the community work, workshops, and events that already have a positive impact on those around us.

With a larger facility, we will increase our reach, enhance our programmes, and support even more people in improving their physical and mental well-being. We believe in the power of community-driven spaces, and this new facility will help us make an even greater difference in the lives of the individuals and families we serve.

The Trades Building

Our new premises will be located on the ground floor of The Trades Building, a disused community space in the heart of Hebden Bridge, on the edge of Calder Holmes Park.

This space has remained closed since 2015, when it was flooded along with the rest of Hebden Bridge Town Centre. Between 2017 and 2020, funds were raised by the local community and various grant providers to bring the space to a 'first fix' stage, including some flood prevention measures and wheelchair-accessible facilities.

Built in 1924 by local trade unions, The Trades Club has deep community roots. Funded by contributions from textile workers, it was intended as a union headquarters and recreational space. As the textile industry declined, the building fell into disuse until the Labour Party's local branch took it on, now administered by the Building Management Committee. It is held in trust for the community which means it will never be leased or refurbished by a for-profit organisation. However, without a community-driven initiative, this space risks remaining empty for many more years. We have a viable strategy to bring this space back to life, and we hope others share our vision.

Our aim is to create a community asset that honours the principles on which it was founded in 1925. We want this space to truly benefit the people of Hebden Bridge.

(Pic below.. Post 2015 floods....preparing for the new floor)

Big plans for a big space

Our new premises will cover approximately 150 square metres - more than double the space we had before! In addition to the expansive main area, there will be a kitchen, a shower, a locker room, and a homework room - a quiet space for young people to use.

The benefits of moving to this building are numerous:

• A Community Hub: We'll create a space that is not only used by NPBA but is also open to other community-driven social and recreational groups, making it a true community hub.
  
  
• Revitalising a beloved space: We'll bring a cherished but disused ground-floor space back to life - something the local community has long been eager to see happen.
  
  
• Central, accessible location: With our new, centrally located premises, those with limited mobility due to age, injury, or disability will find it easier to attend, ensuring that our services are accessible to all.
  
  
• After-school youth services: We'll create a welcoming indoor space for young people to go after school - a much-needed provision in Hebden Bridge that provides a safe and supportive environment.
  
  
• Outdoor opportunities: With our proximity to Calder Holmes Park, we can offer outdoor programmes that foster a sense of community and belonging. These activities will help make our green spaces more welcoming and safer for everyone, particularly women and young people, to enjoy.
  
  (Pic below - the premises in 2023 with a new floor)

How we’ll spend the money raised

The funds raised will be used to complete essential work to make the ground floor space well insulated and flood-resilient. If you live in Hebden Bridge, you know that flooding is a reality. That's why we're implementing special measures so that, in the event of a flood, we can simply clean up and reopen quickly, ensuring minimal disruption to our services.

Our commitment to the environment

The building has already undergone work for flood protection and wheelchair accessibility. We plan to add further flood mitigation measures to ensure the space remains operational even after flooding.

We will install new glazing and insulation to improve energy efficiency and provide soundproofing, ensuring a comfortable environment for all users. Additionally, a renewable energy heat pump will make our facility sustainable, resilient to energy costs and environmentally friendly.

The space will be accessible to everyone, not only for wheelchair users but also for those with other physical disabilities and neurodiverse needs, ensuring inclusivity for all members of our community.

All this work doesn't come cheap, but it’s crucial to refurbish this space to a high standard so it can serve the community for years to come.

How we'll use your support

The total cost to refurbish the ground floor is approximately £320,000. This includes:

• Soundproofing: Ceiling, walls, and glazing
• Flooring: Concrete base and surface covering
• Flood Defence Work
• Plumbing in Heat Pump system plus WC's and Shower Room
• Internal Building Work: Walls, damp proofing, flood resistant boarding, and plastering
• Waste Removal & Skip Hire
• Painting and decorating
• Roof Repair & Velux Window Installation
• Electrics: CCTV, alarm system, lighting, and rewiring
• Purchase of Air Source Heat Pump
• Locker Room, Meeting Room, Office Joinery
• Kitchen installation
• Relocation Costs
• New Gym Equipment
• Professional Fees: Building control, Architect, Project Management, structural engineer and more!
• Contingency: Inflation and non-recoverable VAT
  
  Our funding plan:
• Rural England Fund: £79,000 (funding agreed)
• Gosling Foundation: £10,000  (funding agreed)
• Community Foundation for Calderdale: £5,000  (funding agreed)
• National Lottery Reaching Communities: £195,000 (awaiting Stage 2 decision)
• Crowdfunder: £32,000

Our commitment to the Community

We provide much more than boxing and fitness classes. Our special workshops and courses address important topics like teenage self-defence and menopause wellbeing. Here are a few:

• Moving Through Menopause: As a women-led organisation, we've seen the impact of menopause firsthand. Since 2022, our program has helped women stay active and healthy, featuring workshops with an expert panel, including a GP, and an eight-week funded training program.
  
  
• Trans & Non-Binary Class: A fully funded weekly boxing class, creating a safe space for the trans and non-binary community. This initiative, developed in response to the pandemic, helps inform England Boxing's Trans Inclusion Policy. Watch the video here: NPBA Trans & NB Boxing Film.
  
  
• Self Protection & StreetWise Workshops: Free workshops for teenage girls as well as in primary schools to help with the transition to secondary school.
  
  
• Girls Only Sessions: The only exclusive exercise class for teenage girls in Calderdale, helping prevent dropout from sport with around 20 teenage girls attending weekly.
  
  
• Free School Meals Program: Since 2020, children on Free School Meals can participate in our programs for free, ensuring everyone has access.

We also collaborate with local organisations like Active Calderdale, Upper Valley Social Prescribing, CAHMS, Reach4Wrd, Cloud Youth Club, Calderdale Young Carers, Calderdale Care Leavers, St Augustine's Centre for Refugees, TimeOut Calderdale, Project Challenge, and local primary and secondary schools.

Testimonials

Local charity senior staff member: “Thank you for opening your doors and allowing our centre members to access your facilities. It has been one of my highlights of the year to have arranged this. It has allowed a group of vulnerable women to not only access physical fitness but to improve self-confidence and self-esteem, where ordinarily they wouldn’t have had that opportunity. Seeing the pictures of the women after their session has been fantastic. It helps us to make the women feel like Calderdale is home.”

Trans/Non Binary Session Participant: "I currently make a 4 hour round trip to come to these Trans Accessible boxing sessions, that alone should be a testament to how important and needed community, sports and well-being activities are for this demographic. Coming to these boxing sessions has given me more confidence accessing group exercise: many full contact sports gyms are incredibly inaccessible and potentially unsafe to go to as a transgender person. As someone in recovery from alcohol and substance abuse, being part of a community of like minded people who engage in a physical, social activity is incredibly important for my mental well-being."

NPBA Member: "For over 3 years I have been attending NPBA - it’s a main strand of my coping strategy for dealing with life's stresses, the menopause and keeping my mental health on track. I have tried other gyms and training in the past and I never took to it, there was always a competitive atmosphere rather than the supportive atmosphere I found at NPBA. The efforts of the coaches to keep our ‘boxing family’ together and connected during the pandemic has been astounding and I really am not sure where I would be if I didn’t have this community to support me during this time."

Parent: "As parents we struggled to find a club or sport facility local to us (living in a semi-rural area) that suited our daughter’s interests and that would give her the opportunity to learn fitness skills and improve her physical health. Northern Powerhouse Boxing Academy has provided our daughter (12) with an invaluable after school sports activity, and opportunity to develop confidence in a friendly, diverse, supportive and empowering community space."

Local Primary School Headteacher: "The series of workshops were carefully planned to scaffold learning around personal well-being and development as well as introducing pupils to basic physical skills. By the end of the course, pupils were more able to recognise and value their own emotions, see others' perspectives and respond to others with greater empathy. The instructors were incredibly skilled in their delivery and in planning a scheme that fully met the needs of the pupils. Their attention to safeguarding was second to none."

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know.

4. Offer your services and help. This is a big project and we need lots of help, whether it is giving your professional time to help us or just picking up a paint brush when the time is right. Please get in touch if you'd like to help us in any way!

In the Event of Project Changes
If, for any reason, this project does not go ahead, we will get in touch directly to discuss how you’d like us to handle your donation. If we are unable to contact you, your donation will be refunded.