WHO WE ARE

The Boxing Gym (the Riverside Youth Project) is an active youth centre and has been managed by Dennis Stinchcombe MBE since it opened in the 1980’s. It has helped countless people over multiple generations in-and-around Bristol and is an incredibly important part of the community. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone from Bristol whose family or family friends weren’t part of the Riverside Youth Project at one point or another.

In recent years it has unfortunately seen a huge decline in attendance which has in-turn reduced the centre’s income, reducing the number of activities it can afford to host and depleting the vital resources it can offer to young people (you can see the vicious cycle starting to form).

We were approached by the trustees to see if we’d consider working alongside them to help generate some income for the charity (which for us was a no brainer). JJ and I have talked about running our own event space since we met at a festival in Bulgaria years ago and we can’t believe that we’re able to do so in such a unique building in the final chapter of its life.

However, it’s important to note that this new venture is not about either of us. It is about bringing an adaptable space back to the Bristol community. It’s about opening the doors of a building that can be used for a range of different outlets; art exhibitions, theatre, comedy, boxing, bingo, rehearsals, live gigs… the list goes on and on. And most importantly it’s about keeping the youth centre open to keep making an impact on the lives of young people in the community.