The doors have finally opened at the new premises for Pembroke and Pembroke Dock Boxing Club.

Having been based at the old Eastgate School in Pembroke since the ’60s, the charity that runs the club has raised more than £100,000 and with the support of 14 Signal Regiment and Sport Wales has bought the former J1 Fitness building in Water Street, Pembroke Dock.

The new facility officially opened on Monday, April 11, and there was a real buzz of excitement ahead of the first training session, with the junior boxers being put through their paces with long-time coaches Andy Edmundson and Nathan Probert.

They fully embraced the new facility and look forward to settling into their new home and building on the club’s success in developing more future champions and offering fitness and training opportunities to the community.

The new facility has also attracted the interest of a local weightlifting club which is already based within the same building and plans are underway to renovate the rear of the site to create a free running club with free-running expert, Mike Newman, of KBAM Ltd, who has already established a fantastic reputation through work with some local schools.

But their plans do not stop there. Club chairman, Chris McEwan, an ex-army chef, has plans to open a sports cafe that will also be able to offer training opportunities in areas such as food preparation and hygiene, and contact has already been made with a local scout group and Parkinson’s Disease care group to use the facility.

The club is now setting about raising a further half-a-million pounds to help see its ambitious plans come to fruition, and is applying for grants from the National Lottery and the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grants scheme.