Unity Gym provides support to individuals and transforms lives of vulnerable youth through sports and mentoring

HEAVYWEIGHT Abdul Majid is a 6ft 3ins boxing coach whose previous employment includes time working on door security.

The burly 27-year-old from Eastwood is from the school of hard knocks – and has taken more than a few.

The owner of the Unity gym in Aldwarke maybe isn't the type of person you would expect to lay open his own mental health trials, but the kid brother of professional champion Kash Ali is prepared to take it on the chin the fact that he might be judged - in the hope that he will be helping others.

Abdul, a former Clifton High School pupil, laid bare his own fight against his demons, and went even further by founding a partnership with Rotherham & Barnsley Mind to help adults and children in the area.

Abdul was plunged into mourning five years ago when his father Dildar died unexpectedly from a heart attack. 

The experienced trainer, security worker and taxi driver’s proudest moment had been acting as cornerman, along with Abdul, when Kash sparred with Anthony Joshua.

“It was Ramadan,” recalled Abdul.

“I'd finished training at our old unit in Eastwood, come home, fasting was ending and there was food on the table, but my father had not come down from his room.

“He was losing consciousness and was taken by ambulance.

“He was in good hands, they tried their best, but he passed away.

“The first few months were very difficult,

“I didn't want to see anyone...even the people who wanted to help me.”

Abdul said as a Muslim, talking openly about his feelings was “hard”, adding: “I won't say it is looked down on but some people of faith just want to 'stay strong.'

“But people see me at 6ft 3ins in a boxing gym and think: ‘If he can talk about it, others can.’”

After his father's passing, Abdul flew to Cyprus for help, spoke to a spiritual guide and met others in the same situation.

“It became a bit easier, although it never gets easy,” he said.

“I did a bit of coaching in the gym to get my own mind back in, and then packed up security and went full time into boxing.”

Abdul met Emma Sharp, adult services team lead for Mind, who was so impressed by how he was helping people in the community that she became an unpaid volunteer helping with red tape and grant funding.

Together, they instituted programmes like Talk and Train, designed for people to get things off their chest, as well as enjoying physical exercise.

“We don't force anybody to do anything,” said Abdul.

“We just treat them like normal people, if they want to just talk over a coffee and have a chat then that's what we do.

“For others, we'll set up a gym routine for them.

“Our message is to talk to someone you trust and feel comfortable with. Don't hold it in.”

Emma and Abdul, who now have accredited mental health first aid qualifications stress they are “not proscribing or advising” - simply sharing experiences and chatting with people who benefit from non-judgmental interaction.

Emma, whose charity has funded punchbags for the gym, said she was delighted with how the link-up was going, adding: “I'm proper mum proud.”

Steve Bubba Thompson 

Lives which have been hlped by Unity

Steve “Bubba” Thompson played table tennis with staff, who provided him with food. Sadly, he died of hypothermia in an abandoned building near Silverwood Miners’ Welfare Resource Centre on Doncaster Road in January.

The gym says it has had eight or nine people coming in who have discussed their problems with alcohol, over the last six months, and staff have tried to steer them toward rehabilitation.

Emma said one teenager from Canklow, who had been moving around to find a stable home while getting into compromising situations, had seen his “life changed completely”.

She added: “He had been at risk, should have been at school, was getting involved in things he shouldn’t...and the gym got him away from outside influences.

“He has done well in his exams and was accepted into college and is now a Level 1 coach.”

The gym attracts kids with issues from areas including Rawmarsh, East Herringthorpe, Eastwood, Thrybergh, and Kimberworth, some from broken homes, “affected by the cost of living crisis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, or are young carers for parents, and some that are vulnerable to exploitation,” added Emma.

“There are a lot more women coming in.

"The assumption was always that women – some affected by mental health issues or the menopause - wanted to do arts and crafts but some of them just want to smash seven shades of something out of a bag.”