'I realised I couldn't fight in the ring any more, but I could fight for young people and my community'

MARCELLUS BAZ DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO HELPING OTHERS WHEN A NEAR-FATAL STABBING SHATTERED HIS DREAMS OF BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL BOXER

- GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

MARCELLUS Baz saw things no child should ever witness as a young man in The Meadows.

“My childhood was incredibly tough,” he said. “I was surrounded by poverty, crime, and violence. I witnessed murders and serious trauma in my community.”

In many ways, Marcellus - known as Baz to just about everybody he knows - had a childhood not dissimilar to many of his peers. To some, perhaps he was written off as another young thug, having got involved with clashes with the law amid mental health issues and substance problems.

“There weren't many positive role models, and survival became the norm,” he said. “I got involved in things I shouldn't have because there didn't feel like there was another way. But those experiences shaped me.”

Today Baz runs the Switch Up charity and the Nottingham School of Boxing gym, both of which work to deter young people from crime and violence in inner-city areas much like the one in which he grew up.

He has long argued that tackling many of the issues that run rife in our communities - from knife crime to drug abuse - can only be achieved by addressing the root causes of such crimes, rather than simply arresting already vulnerable people.

The charity leader says he was a symptom of such unsupportive environments and lack of support when he was a young man.

“One of the hardest things was watching my mum struggle with her mental health,” he said.