BOXING classes are hitting the spot for those who attend them at St David’s, Exeter, and are described by the Bishop, Dr Mike Harrison, as “a beacon of hope for the city”.

The Fitter for Faith classes offer hope for people living with addiction, homelessness, and other challenges. The initiative is run by Ben Cookson, a qualified boxing-for-fitness coach, who is a former drug addict with experience of homelessness. Each weekly session is followed by a shared lunch, a well-being check-in, and a time of prayer.

‘Are you boxing or praying?’

“I teach proper boxing skills, and we turn it into a fitness session,” Mr Cookson says. “The basic movement is really good. There’s no level you’ve got to get to. We’ve got someone in a wheelchair, we’ve got someone who is visually impaired, we’ve got a 74-year old. It’s open to everyone.”

Mr Cookson begins training as a Church Army evangelist in the autumn. He became a Christian, he says, after being invited to church by a friend and attending an Alpha course. “If I was to say to someone, ‘Would you like to come to church and talk about your childhood trauma?’ they would say, ‘No thanks.’ But generally, when I’ve said to people, ‘Would you like to come and learn some boxing skills?’ they say, ‘Yeah, I’ve always wanted to do that.’

“It’s a way to connect and for me to carry a message of God’s goodness and to freely give what was freely given to me.”

Jake, who attends the classes, credits Mr Cookson with “seeing something in me that nobody else did”, and describes the sessions as “helping me get out of my comfort zone, and be more compassionate to others. It’s also helped me to stay clean from alcohol and drugs.”

Dr Harrison concludes: “It is a great example of a Christian outreach project, providing healing, growth, belonging, and community, as well as offering people an opportunity to experience a God who loves them and meets them where they are.”