Partners: Pan Merseyside Arts Officers Group, Arts Council England, Boxing Clubs,

Aim: To engage NEET young people across the region in activity linking to the Cultural Olympiad.

Project Description: Working with artists, boxing trainers and NEET young people we created a performance combining boxing, dance, film and music for the closing of the cultural Olympiad at Preston Guild 2012. Artists and boxing trainers worked with participants across the 6 regions of Merseyside to create a performance that brought personal and social struggles of participants into the ring. Film work was projected on screens around the performance space with more performance activities (dance, music and boxing) taking place inside the ring. Artists of the highest level assisted the delivery including Phoenix Dance founder Villmore James, British punk legend Jah Wobble, Perfect Motion (documentary film makers channel 4), heavyweight boxing champion Tony Bellew and ITF DJ champion G-Kut.

This project received national media coverage including features on radio 4’s Midweek programme, national BBC breakfast TV and Sky Sports News.

The success of this work can be entirely attributed to Martin’s hard work, creativity and diligence from proposal, advocacy, fundraising to project management and evaluation’ – Sean Durney – Cultural Infrastructure Officer, Culture Liverpool.