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WHERE WE STARTED
Vauxhall Motors boxing section was reformed on November 3rd 1981 by a group of work colleagues from the Vauxhall car plant. Mick Whitley Frank Newton and Dave McDonnell were voted in as Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. By February 1982 enough funds had been raised to purchase some equipment and the section's very first training session took place in the dressing room of the football/rugby team. This session was overseen by two members, John Kennedy and Peter Phelan. The dressing room was considered to be inappropriate, so the section acquired the use of the old foreman's canteen. In October 1982 we became affiliated to the West Lancashire & Cheshire division of the ABA of England and became known as Vauxhall Motors Amateur Boxing Club. We began with the motto "WE NEVER TURN ANYONE AWAY" and our idea was to give youngsters the opportunity to learn the art of amateur boxing in a safe environment. We held our first boxing show at the Vauxhall Motors Sports & Social Club in December 1982. Since then our athletes have represented England & Great Britain at senior and junior tournaments and won national titles at every level.
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WHERE WE WENT
As a club we have travelled Europe and the U.S.A. We have competed in team matches in Scotland, Wales, The Republic of Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Germany and Spain. In 1998 we made our first trip to New York City. This was followed by further trips in 2000 and 2006. A TV documentary was made about the 2000 visit to New York City called "Squaring Up" and was shown throughout the northwest region. It was a tremendous advert for our club, Vauxhall Motor, the town of Ellesmere Port, the athletes who took part and the sport of Amateur Boxing in general. Also in 2000 Vauxhall Motors requested we move from our home of 19 years as they wanted to demolish the building. After much negotiation we were rehoused in an empty building in Little Sutton known as the Gas Distribution Depot. This was by far the best move ever for our club as it placed us within the heart of the community. In 2008 our President, Mr Jack Thornley, sadly passed away. Jack had helped us achieve many of our goals, so it was decided we should name our gym in his honour "Jacks Gym". Also in this year we became involved in a community based campaign "Gloves Not Gangs". We received the backing of the then Sports Minister the Right Honourable Andrew Burnham. The objective of this campaign was to reach a young targeted group who were at risk of engaging in anti social behaviour associated with gang culture. This is still ongoing. In April 2010 we became the first club in Cheshire and only the 13th out of a total of over 700 boxing clubs in England to achieve Clubmark accreditation. Clubmark was introduced by Sport England in 2002 as a operating standard for all sports clubs.
WHERE WE ARE GOING
Vauxhall Motors Sports & Social Club ended its association with Amateur Boxing in July 2011 and the club known as Vauxhall Motors Amateur Boxing Club was disbanded. The membership and the community still wanted the club to continue so after negotiating a lease with the sports & social club we formed a new boxing club - Wirral ABC. Wirral ABC contacted the Community Police Clubs of Great Britain and were promptly affiliated to them and The Merseyside & Cheshire Association of the ABA of England therefore becoming Wirral Community Police Boxing Club.On November 4th 2011 the club held its first boxing show under its new name Wirral Community Police Boxing Club at the Vauxhall Motors Sports and Social Club. Also on that night the club helped to promote The White Ribbon Campaign (UK) which is part of a global campaign to help raise awareness to domestic violence in the home
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