A boxing club in Pembroke has managed to raise its game following a donation from Valero that will help it buy new equipment. The Pembroke Amateur Boxing Club has been training its young athletes since the 1960s and it now has up to 30 boxers training each week, 10 of whom are women.

Valero's donation of £1,000 has mainly been used for equipment such as gloves, competition kit and punch bags. As the boxing championships are sponsored by Adidas, any competing boxers need the right Adidas kit to fight in. Transportation and accommodation are also expensive when its members are away at competitions. One recent bout at national level was held in Motherwell, Scotland.

Andy Edmundson helps run the gym and says that in Wales, there has been a huge upsurge in interest in boxing since the Olympics. And with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year, there will be a lot of boxers pushing for places in teams.

"The women have been coming for a while, but there has been more interest since the Olympics. Lacey Sharp came to us last November. She is a footballer, but can't get games as there are so few facilities for women. She has been a revelation: after eight weeks in the gym we thought she was ready for her first fight, which she won."

David Ward, mechanical fields co-ordinator at Valero, has a 13-year-old son, Stephen, who trains at the club.

"My boy has made a lot of new friends at the club and learned the art of discipline with his training," he said. "He is an asthmatic and the rigorous training has improved his asthma and he can now compete in more sports at school.

"It is important that Valero and other companies help small clubs that are run by volunteers, who give a tremendous amount of their time free to help the young people of Pembroke community. With Valero's help, it makes the voluntary work they do for the youth in our community worth the time and effort."