The Mayor’s Charity Boxing Showdown

The Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea has issued a bold challenge—calling on individuals who live or work in the borough to step into the ring and raise funds for the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation’s work to tackle isolation, loneliness and depression in our community.

19 dedicated recruits have joined him in an intensive 12 week training programme led by Fit For Life Youth at its North Kensington community gym.  Their hard work will culminate in an action-packed white-collar boxing event at 6pm on 10th May 2025. 

The event will take over The Great Hall at Kensington Town Hall and feature 10 bouts, fabulous locally-supplied food and drink, and a special halftime quiz hosted by none other than Shaun Wallace from ITV’s The Chase.

Having never boxed before, The Mayor of K+C, Cllr Will Lane, was motivated to take on this challenge by his passion for supporting residents affected by mental ill health.  Many of his fellow boxers have their own stories about how isolation, loneliness or depression have affected them or their loved ones.  As Will says ‘At its most serious, suffering from poor mental health can lead a person to take their own life. Someone close to me once told me that they had considered killing themselves. There was no worse feeling than hearing them say that.  That's why I'm supporting the K+C Foundation's work to provide support to our residents and a lifeline to those in crisis - nothing is more important."

Tickets for the event go on general sale later this month.  Every ticket sold will help support a local resident with specialist mental health services.