Carpentry and decorating students are boxing clever by teaming up with the Frank Bruno Foundation to give its Northampton centre a facelift, with hopes it could also lead to more young people seeking help for mental health issues.
Northampton College was approached by the Foundation to help with the donation and hanging of new doors at the Round by Round Centre, a support hub which offers wraparound mental health programmes.
In October, Level 3 carpentry students and Level 2 decorating students will begin work at the centre as part of their assessment, giving them a real-life work experience opportunity.
There are also hopes students will get the chance to meet the former World Heavyweight Champion and that the project will encourage young people ' particularly young men ' to open up about mental health and seek support if they need it.
Mark Bradshaw, Construction and Electrical Curriculum Manager for Northampton College, said: Taking part in a real job like this will help our students develop key skills such as dealing with customers and keeping their work area tidy, while giving something back to the community and developing their CVs.
The Foundation's motto is 'Building heathy bodies and healthy minds', and we think that for some students, being involved with the centre could be beneficial. Boxing can help to break down barriers around mental health.
Generally speaking, the students on these two courses tend to be 16, 17 and 18-year-old males, who wouldn't normally visit mental health support centres. It's hoped that the project will help to make it easier for young people to access help.
This is the first time we have worked with the Foundation and we'd like to continue to support them as much as we can.
Brandon Eldred, chief operations officer at the Frank Bruno Foundation, added: Getting young people involved with our ongoing activities and giving them a focus is at the heart of everything we do. We are delighted to welcome students from Northampton College to our team and we look forward to working with them as we continue to evolve and grow.
