Boxing clever programme delivers knockout results in Louth

The curtain came down recently on the latest edition of the Boxing Clever programme at The Red Door Project in Drogheda, marking the third successful year of the initiative supported by Louth County Council and Healthy Louth, through the Healthy Ireland Fund.

Boxing Clever offers a structured approach to addiction recovery, mental well-being, and physical fitness.  Over 20 weeks, participants took part in a structured programme that blended QQI-accredited education in addiction studies and health-related fitness with intensive physical training, including structured boxing sessions. 

They also explored nutrition, mindfulness, and stress management, all while building confidence, forming friendships, and restoring a sense of purpose and routine.

“Boxing Clever is a challenging programme in many ways,” said Cllr Pio Smith, CE Supervisor at The Red Door Project. “The participants face academic challenges with a QQI Level 5 in Community Addiction Studies and a Level 4 in Health-Related Fitness. They also take on the physical challenge of learning to box and improving their overall fitness.”

Some of the participants spoke openly about the programme’s profound effects, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and socially.

Francis Shields, a participant in his early 60s, credited Boxing Clever with helping him recover after illness: “I was unwell, and I was referred to the Red Door to help me along the way of getting healthy again and exercising, and it’s helped me a lot, an awful lot. It keeps the mind going.

“At 61 years of age, you’d be thinking, is it for me? I’d never done anything like it before… it was a big challenge, but it’s very rewarding to know you can come up with something like that at this stage of your life.

“When you’re having one of them days when you’re down, it’s straight back up again once you come in here, because people know how to talk to you.”

Róisín Gore, who joined as part of her recovery from addiction, said: “I started at the Red Door doing the CE scheme, and I was asked if I wanted to do Boxing Clever, and I jumped at the chance. My health had suffered, and I just wanted to get my health back and start eating healthy and exercising more.

“When you put the gloves on, it’s not about fighting someone else - it’s the fight you have inside you. It just gives you a real sense of achievement. 

“Through addiction, you lose friends, so it’s been lovely to meet people again and know you have friends there now.”

Niamh Pentony, a tutor of health and fitness, led weekly classes covering theory and gym-based training in a fun-filled setting: “We’d do 90 minutes of theory - food, nutrition, health and wellness - and then we’d go into the gym and get them moving their bodies. They’ve really built up their fitness and confidence week by week.”

“We all got to know each other very well and I enjoyed the craic with the lads this year,” she added. They were very good, and they bounced off each other in terms of information and also the bit of fun, the bit of joking and slagging!”

The Boxing Clever programme was coordinated by The Red Door Project, but Cllr Pio Smith said that the support from Louth County Council and Healthy Louth through the Healthy Ireland Fund was vital.

“In fairness to Louth County Council and Healthy Ireland, they’ve provided funding for the last three years, and it has significantly benefited people in this community,” he said.

“We’ve had people go on to further education, become gym instructors, fitness instructors, Pilates instructors, people who didn’t believe they could ever achieve anything academically. Without this funding, some of those people wouldn’t now be in jobs.

“There’s also what you could call a soft effect, a change that comes over people. The average person leaving here still maintains 150 minutes a week of exercise, and that trickles down into their families and the wider community.”

Cllr Seán Kelly, Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, said: “Louth County Council is proud to support initiatives like the Boxing Clever. Over 20 weeks, this initiative has not only helped participants in Drogheda to build their fitness, but it has also opened the door to education, helped them rebuild their confidence, improve their mental health and reconnect them with members of their community.  Programmes like Boxing Clever are not just worthwhile - they are essential.”

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Cllr Michelle Hall, Mayor of the Borough District of Drogheda, also praised the programme’s outcomes: “The stories coming out of Boxing Clever are a testament to what happens when people are given the chance to thrive. It shows the importance of community-led supports in Drogheda and County Louth and the incredible things people can achieve when they have the right tools, encouragement and structure.”

David Conway, Chief Executive of Louth County Council, said: “This programme shows us the power of community-based health initiatives. When people are supported to learn, move, connect, and grow, real change is possible. Through our Healthy Louth initiative, we’re proud to support local services like The Red Door Project, whose work reflects our commitment to inclusion, health, and opportunity for all. May I take this opportunity to thank the staff and the participants for the passion and commitment that they give this programme.”

The impact of the Boxing Clever programme is captured in a short film now available on Louth County Council’s YouTube channel.