The Fight Against Knife Crime

SO many young people are witnessing like a war environment.

“They’re witnessing stuff that soldiers see,” Stephen Addison continues. “No one’s dealt with their problems, the aftermath of their problems and they’re re-enacting what they’ve seen.”

That’s exactly why Addison founded his organisation, Box Up Crime, five years ago, working with schools using a boxing programme to divert young people away from criminal activity. “I want to do something that helps young kids not go down the same road I went down, or my friends. What really helped me was starting boxing and finding the beautiful art of boxing can really give discipline and can instil morals into you. So I started Box Up. I wanted to create this kind of environment for young people where they can come to a gym for free [and] be able to have access to positive role models and get the right discipline for them to become successful, not just successful in boxing but successful in life,” he told Boxing News. “I got kicked out of school and I got involved in crime and making money. At the age of 20 I had a dream that I was going to go to prison for murder. I believe God spoke to me.

“So I ended up changing my lifestyle round. I started boxing.”

“I went to London South Bank university and ended up competing at the British University championships and I won gold. I was on the back page [of a local paper] and on the front page of the newspaper was a mate, he got life in prison for murder. That really resonated a lot with me. I just felt lucky. I felt that could have been me,” he continued. “Where I’m from there’s not a lot of hope, not a lot of young people actually believe in themselves. They don’t feel like success is accessible to them.