North Yorkshire Council is set to discuss plugging a £350,000 funding shortfall to help expand Westway Boxing Club in Eastfield, potentially doubling its capacity to support grassroots sport and community wellbeing.
Hundreds more people could soon benefit from greater access to grassroots sport to improve their health and wellbeing, as a planned expansion of a popular boxing club in Scarborough is considered by councillors.
Westway Boxing Club, located in the Eastfield neighbourhood, is currently facing time-critical cost pressures. The community venue requires £350,000 in funding for a proposed scheme to expand its facilities.
A private developer has already stepped in to cover the first £350,000, which has paid for the design, planning work, and an initial capital contribution to extend the facility. However, the club requires additional financial support to see the project through to completion.
The club has managed to secure a construction quote of £700,000 for the planned building work. North Yorkshire Council has noted that this price is only guaranteed until the end of June. With all other quotes received exceeding the £1 million mark, the authority warned that any delays could significantly increase the overall costs. Furthermore, the existing planning permission requires the building work to begin before the thirtieth of January 2027.
Members of North Yorkshire Council’s executive are scheduled to meet on Tuesday the sixteenth of June to discuss allocating the £350,000 shortfall to fund the project.
It is hoped that the proposed expansion will almost double the club’s footfall, taking it from around three hundred users to five hundred people. Organisers believe this will enable a safe, positive place for the community to build confidence, discipline, and life skills through sport.
Detailed plans for the boxing club’s expansion include a main training hall featuring a full-sized boxing ring, extra gym space, changing rooms, and new toilets. A café area, new classrooms, and additional spaces for storage are also part of the proposed development. During the planning process, consultation led to forty-four supportive comments from the local community.
This funding request represents an exception to a previous decision made by the council. In December of last year, North Yorkshire Council gave Eastfield community groups fifteen months to agree on a single plan for how £3.2 million in regeneration funding should be used. The council had previously determined that money from this £3.2 million reserve would only be allocated after a community-led investment plan was developed through the Town Investment Plan process.
Councillor Heather Phillips, the authority’s executive member for corporate services whose responsibilities include stronger communities, said:
"Westway Boxing Club has always been described as a valuable and long-standing community asset with a proven track record of delivering positive outcomes. It is a popular and much-loved facility and over the years has provided a safe and positive space for users of all ages. We will carefully consider the funding request when members of the executive meets later this month."
Councillor Tom Seston, North Yorkshire Council’s elected member for the Eastfield division, expressed his strong support for the project. He said:
"This is a brilliant opportunity to back a grassroots organisation that’s making a real difference. Over the years the club has been home for so many young people, men and women who have found strength, discipline, purpose and friendship through boxing. The planned extension would double the club’s size and give more young people and vulnerable adults a safe place to learn, train and grow. It is also due to create rooms for alternative education and specialist programmes, including support for people with Parkinson’s disease."
Councillor Seston added:
"This project would deliver clear community, health and regeneration benefits, making a real difference to residents and the wider Eastfield area and I would ask the executive to carefully consider the request for funding."
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