A boxing club that tackles mental health is raising money for its survival.

Fight Back Mental Health is a boxing club based at the Weymouth Amateur Boxing Club on Hardwick Street and has been an outlet for people facing mental health problems for more than 10 years.

Facing disbandment due to a lack of funding, the club is fundraising by going on a 10.4-mile run.

The club will complete the run from the Forston Clinic in Charlton Down to the closed Linden Unit in Weymouth on Saturday, November 4 to raise funds to hale ensure it can stay open.

Vaughn Fellows is a Mental Health Support Worker at Forston Clinic and has been involved in the project as a coach since its inception.

He said that many of the people in the club had been former patients at the clinics that use the boxing club to improve their mental health.

Mr Fellows hopes the run will not only raise money for the club’s survival, but also to raise awareness of the closed down mental health units in Dorset.

As reported by the Echo, the Linden Unit was a 15-bed mental health inpatient facility on Radipole Lane in Weymouth was permanently axed following its temporary closure during the Covid pandemic.

Mr Fellows said: “We’d love to make more people aware that these facilities are being closed down and emphasise the importance that they brought to the local community whilst raising our profile as a club and what we do.”

So far, the group has raised £1,500 which will keep them going for the rest of the year but need more to ensure their long-term future in Weymouth.

Mr Fellows said that the club aims to build confidence, keep people fit and focus their minds through boxing.

He said: “The group is predominantly for those with mental health problems, but everyone struggles and has a hard time- so even people without a diagnosis that are experiencing issues are welcome.”

“We’ve had a lot of joy as a club so far, watching the success of some of our boxers, so to keep this going will be important. We have a mix of consultants taking part in the run as well as members of the club,” he added.

To follow the work and to find out more about getting involved with supporting the club, search Fight back mental health on Facebook and Instagram.