A boxing club has received a grant to train young members for free.

Love ABA Police Boxing Club in Rawtenstall has been working with the Maverick Stars Trust to offer members two-months of free training.

The gym, on Myrtle Mill, has re-opened since the end of lockdown with the newest project aimed at giving the club a much-needed boost and supporting the boxers' families, many of whom have struggled during the pandemic.

Maverick Stars has also secured further funding for the gym with help from the MP for Rossendale and Darwen Jake Berry and councillor David Foxcroft.

To celebrate the new partnership between the boxing club and Maverick Stars Trust, Mr Berry went to a session at the gym and watched the coaches put the young people through their paces.

He said: "It's fantastic to see the work being done with so many young people; but in fact, ABC is a lot more than that.

"I have lived in Rossendale for over a decade and I didn't know about the community work that is being done here, the outreach work to help people get back into the workplace, learn real self-worth, discipline, fitness.

“It's just brilliant to see it. It's a facility with boxing at its heart but this place goes so far beyond that."

The club is looking to expand since bringing in new coaches and are hoping to host classes for people with autism.

Head coach Paddy Connellan said: "Now we have got a couple of coaches that come through the day one day a week, that opens up avenues.

"We want to expand, we want to open it up to kids with autism, we haven't got that available to us at the moment but people have asked us for it."