Last week Joe Gallagher was recognised for his dedication and commitment to making a difference in the community at the This Is Manchester Awards.
Joe took home the ’Individual Making a Difference in the Community’ Award following a hugely successful year with the Joe Gallagher Academy.
The award seeks to acknowledge excellence from those who support individuals and communities through challenging situations by giving back through community based projects.
Joe was hugely proud to pick up the award! His vision is to make a real difference to the lives of young people, in his much-loved city of Manchester, by helping to enhance their future opportunities through sport and education.
Joe has a deep-rooted passion & gift for nurturing and developing talent – he’s dedicated his life to it!
He’s trained many world, international and British champions and has already made history this year by becoming the first trainer to win the prestigious British Boxing Board of Control Trainer of the Year Award for the second time!
After so many professional successes, Joe always wanted to get to this point in his life where he can help build a legacy which gives back to the community, and truly makes a difference to young people through sport and education, who may not get a lot of opportunities in life.
Joe explained: “I was lucky enough to have found boxing at the Wythenshawe Forum Amateur Boxing Club aged 10, and then Moss Side ABC back in the 80s, and even luckier to have certain people around me to guide me and teach me so much, not just in boxing, but in life. Now is the time for me to help pass on my own knowledge and guidance to support the next generation.”
The Joe Gallagher Academy combines full time college education for school leavers (16-19 years old), combined with world class boxing tuition – so it’s about hitting the books just as hard as the punch bags!.
The Academy is open to those of all abilities, and provides either additional technical support to gifted boxers, in partnership with England Boxing, or improving the general confidence, social, transferable skills and general quality of life for our students.
The Academy combines education with boxing, which allows the students to study a BTEC in Sport and a Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DISE) while taking up full time boxing training. The students get the opportunity to broaden their boxing development through physical sessions which cover all of boxing’s technical, tactical, physical and physiological attributes.
Regular community sessions for young people interested in boxing also take place at the Academy’s home at the Manchester Youth Zone in Harpurhey, one of the city’s most deprived and high crime areas.
A key ingredient to the Academy’s early success to date has been Joe’s ability to effectively engage & inspire the students, because he’s someone they can all relate to – and not just for his love of boxing.
Joe Gallagher has been the ideal role model for the Academy students – his tough upbringing in Benchill, Wythenshawe, life experiences and challenges, have make him someone they want to aspire to be.
For more information on the Joe Gallagher Academy please visit https://joegallagheracademy.org/
