Boxers deliver KO to drug misery

BOXING clever (l-r): Eric Noi, Charlie Henson and Joseph Marsden. Picture: Anthony Miller

RECOVERING addicts from Oldham are punching the lights out of their drug-fuelled past.

Former users are now helping people up against the ropes in their lives with training sessions at the Oldham Boxing and Personal Development Centre in Derker.

The club has supported up to 400 people with drug problems over the past four years.

Charlie Henson (42), who won a Pride in Oldham award for his work as a head boxing coach, was a man in desperate need of help five years ago after taking heroin for almost two decades.

He said: “I used to box when I was younger but this was before I went down the wrong path.

“I was in jail a number of times and I realised enough was enough and I needed help. Going to jail was just like pressing the pause button on the cassette player.

“It was not a lifestyle taking heroin it was an existence.”

The Chadderton man’s path took a U-turn when he was asked to volunteer as a boxing coach, receiving funding through Oldham Drug Action Team (DAT).

He now helps people aged 18-25 with difficult backgrounds to achieve a similar change in their circumstances.

One of them is Joseph Marsden (19), from Oldham, who admits he was at rock bottom in his life after taking copious amounts of cocaine and cannabis.

After spending 10 months at the centre, run by director Eric Noi, the young father has now turned his life around.

He said: “I was told about the boxing and I thought I’ll give it a go. I thought nothing to lose, everything to gain. Then I came here, spoke to Eric and the lads, with Charlie saying how it went for him in the past, so I started coming each week and I stopped taking the drugs.

“I had mental-health issues, drug problems, smoking cannabis every single day of the week, I was out on the Friday nights taking cocaine, any class-A drugs, whizz.

“I was smoking cannabis since I was about 13 and started taking the harder drugs when I was 16.

“Since I have been coming here, I have been able to control myself, I have become a better person and I can now walk around with my head held high.”

Eric said the imminent move for the centre from Derker to the derelict Victoria House in the town centre will help more people, after Oldham Council gave the go-ahead earlier this year.

A new state-of-the-art gym and leisure centre will be built, along with a community hub for youngsters and facilities to provide drug and alcohol programmes.

Boxing is seen as a good tool to help drug users cut the crack and weed, because of self-control, according to Eric. “Boxing is a good message for life, it instils the individual self-esteem. We are a non-judgmental and all-inclusive centre engaging with people. There’s no stigma attached to it.

“People don’t think they are coming to a drugs centre here, they are coming to a boxing gym.

“Charlie had been in the system and was a prolific offender. This enabled him with a foundation and got his life back on track.”




NEED support for a drug abuse problem? Call the centre on 0161-628 6869 or call the ACCESS team, which offers support and advice on substance misuse, on 0161-621 9191.