In April last year, the MCF provided a grant of £60,000 to Carney’s Community, a boxing charity in Wandsworth set-up to provide sustained, reliable support to more than 400 young individuals facing significant challenges such poverty, crime, exclusion and deprivation. In this edition of Arena, we contacted Carney’s to find out how the grant has helped these young people.
The history of Carney’s Community starts with Mick Carney, the boxing legend who motivated and turned around many lives through engagement with boxing. Mick introduced youth worker George Turner to boxing coach Mark Reigate; and together they founded Carney’s Community, a youth charity in Wandsworth, in 2011.
Carney's is dedicated to empowering disadvantaged and marginalised youth in London, helping them unlock their full capabilities. Their focus is on young individuals experiencing poverty, those in the care system, families affected by substance misuse, victims of domestic abuse, and those excluded from school or involved in the criminal justice system. What sets Carney's apart is their unique approach: offering sustained, long-term support, unlike much statutory provision. The charity creates a secure environment where young people can participate in constructive activities like boxing, skills workshops, social events, and receive mentoring and personalised one-to-one intensive support, fostering growth and development.
The £60,000 grant has helped these young lives to get the resilience and resources they need to overcome their challenges, paving the way for a more promising future. Carney’s Community’s activities tackle the mental and physical health implications of these challenges, whilst also improving their access to opportunities and support.
The programme consists of boxing sessions, a youth chill out space, free hot meals, workshops and mentors with lived experience of the challenges the young people are facing. The boxing sessions act as the ‘hook’ that means young people engage with Carney’s, where other services have been unable to reach them. And it gives them the opportunity to improve their physical and mental health, learn emotional regulation and receive mentoring. The youth club provides a safe space where young people can take part in constructive activities (chosen by the young people themselves), or simply relax in a family style environment away from their challenges.
Carney's Community approach is that those with same lived experience provide the best role models for the young people. Therefore, they employ former participants of the programmes as coaches, mentors and key workers so that they can support young people to make positive life decisions, despite the challenges that they face. During the boxing sessions and youth activities, the team is on hand for young people to talk to and seek advice. This informal environment is when young people are more likely to open up and access the support they need. The young people receive a free meal at the youth club too, helping to tackle food poverty in a way that does not attach stigma to individuals but instead creates a family environment with all young people and staff eat together.
In parts of Battersea, 29% of children live in poverty (national average: 17%). In Wandsworth, an estimated 2,800 children have recognised mental health disorders, with 70%of these children and young people not having had appropriate early interventions. In addition, 34.5%of 19-year-olds in Wandsworth are without level 3 qualifications (25%in London overall). Of the individuals Carney’s has supported in the twelve months prior to the grant award, 64% were considered most at-risk because they had a previous conviction, were excluded from education, lived in care; were not in education, employment or training; or had additional learning needs.
The grant has funded an entire year of youth work provision, mentoring and activities based at Carney’s Community, having an impact on these young lives for years to come. It has supported the young people’s mental and physical health, improved their skills and future opportunities and reduced their risk of offending. During 2024, with help from the £60,000 grant, 866 young people were given support: 16% were neuro-diverse and/or had a disability; 59% lived in the 40% most deprived areas in the country; and 47% were considered high-risk (due to school exclusion, a criminal record or care experienced, among other factors). 1,105 hours of group sessions were delivered, consisting of hours of key work, in-session monitoring and employment support. 67% of young people stated the programme improved their mental health, 65% found an improvement in their behaviour, 84% in their education, 62% in employment opportunities and 63%in family relationships.
Hannah Tulloch, COO of Carney’s Community, said: “We’re very grateful to London Freemasons for their generous grant, which has helped hundreds of young people from difficult backgrounds from across Wandsworth to get the help and support they need to overcome their challenges and make a better future for themselves.”
Paul King, Metropolitan Grand Lodge Charity Steward, from London Freemasons, said: “I’m very pleased we’ve been able to help Carney’s Community with their hugely important project to help disadvantaged young people in Wandsworth achieve their full potential.”
For more information on Carney’s Community, please visit their website at https://carneyscommunity.org/
This article is part of the Arena Magazine, Issue 57 Spring 2025 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.
Read more articles in the Arena Issue 57 here.