A BOXING club which has helped troubled teenagers keep off the streets is facing closure - and members are in a race against time to find a new home.

The managers of the Real Deal Boxing Gym and Fighting Fit Club in Richfield Avenue say they were left shocked on Monday last week when they were told they must move out by today (Sunday).

Frank Bowen, 63, who helps run the Reading club, said: “How can you shift everything out in five minutes? If we had been told in advance we could have made arrangements and left.”

The club was set up five years ago and mostly works with former offenders. Mr Bowen added: “We’ve had nothing in writing. We paid all our money. We had a verbal contract to use these premises.”

The boxing gym has 40 members and the martial arts gym caters for another 40, containing a boxing ring, more than 10 punching bags and tailored soft flooring which Mr Bowen said cost around £25,000.

The coach, who has taught Thai boxing, kickboxing and boxing for 30 years, added: “These youngsters are fighters and us old’uns have got to fight for them because nobody else will. I would rather see these lads training than out on the streets.”

Azza Zeyadi, 23, from Tilehurst, joined the club two years ago after being jailed for three-and-a-half years for armed robbery.

He said: “This place has kept me out of trouble, kept me off the rails. I used to get into a lot of trouble mainly because of the company I kept but boxing has kept me out of it and has a huge impact on my life. I’m here almost every day.”

Boxer Aneeq Hussain, 20, added: “Kids come off the street and put their energy into this rather than hanging around outside.

“If we lost this place we’d go downhill again.”

The building is owned by the Reading Post Office Social Club and treasurer Alan Clarke told The Chronicle yesterday (Wednesday) [2]: “The Social Club is closing because we cannot afford to keep running, so consequently so is the rest of the building. The gas people came in to turn us off three weeks ago when I first told Frank about the situation.”

But Mr Bowen insists he was not informed until last week. If you can help the club find a new home, call 07740 287416.