Capital appeal · community ownership
Keep the Intense Boxing gym in community hands
The landlord intends to sell. Our ambition is to buy the building — or otherwise secure long-term community control — so the rings stay open for Plymouth’s kids and adults. This page is a capital appeal in formation, not a completed deal.
Ambition / vision — not a live service yet. The club you can join today is on our homepage timetable.
The building
Unit 9, The Old Printworks, 21 Burrington Way, Plymouth PL5 3LR — home of Intense Boxing on Burrington Industrial Estate, Honicknowle. Indicative sale value around £1.1 million [confirm: asking price, freehold/lease, condition].
Why ownership matters
- Permanence — stop rent/sale shocks ending a club that has run since 2011.
- Asset lock — held in the CIC (and/or a linked charity), the building serves community benefit, not private extraction.
- Platform — secure tenure unlocks institute-scale programmes, sponsors and commissions.
How a deal might be built
No single grant buys a seven-figure building. Community buy-outs elsewhere in England have been funded by a mix, and that is what we are planning for:
- A social investment loan from a lender that backs community-owned sport and community buildings, repaid from income the building earns.
- Community investment and pledges from families, alumni and local businesses, showing funders that Plymouth wants this. If we offer community shares, letting supporters own a stake in the building, that would be done through a community-owned society set up for the purpose, on a solicitor’s advice.
- Capital grants when the right windows open, including national community-ownership funds.
- Capital sponsors, led by the standard our principal sponsor JEM Scaffolding has already set.
- Rent from the rest of the building. The Old Printworks is home to other units and a rooftop communications mast as well as our gym. If the sale includes them, their rent could help repay a loan and keep the gym affordable [confirm: exactly what the sale includes].
The right legal home for the building (our CIC, or a linked charity or community-owned society) will be chosen with a solicitor before any appeal goes live.
What your support could fund
- Deposit and purchase / long-lease costs
- Surveys, legal fees and options appraisal
- Essential repairs and accessibility upgrades after acquisition
- Match funding that unlocks larger pots
Skills we need now (pro bono or at cost)
Big funders ask for professional evidence before they will look at a building bid. If you work in Plymouth or the South West and can give a few hours, these are the people we need first:
- A commercial property or charity solicitor to advise on the right legal home for the building and on any purchase or long lease.
- A RICS chartered surveyor for an independent valuation and condition survey.
- A quantity surveyor to cost essential repairs and accessibility work, the way lottery capital forms expect.
- An accountant to model whether loan repayments could be covered by rent saved plus new income.
Pledge now, pay later
We are not taking money for the building yet. What helps most today is knowing who would back a community buy-out when the time comes. A pledge is a promise, not a payment: tell us roughly what you, your family or your business might give or invest, and we will only come back to you once there is a real deal, a legal structure and a live appeal. Every pledge helps us show funders and lenders that Plymouth wants this gym kept in community hands.
Who we need in the room
Trusts and foundations · local and national lottery distributors · Plymouth City Council partners · social lenders · principal and capital sponsors (led by the standard JEM Scaffolding has already set) · alumni and families who will chip into a public appeal when we launch one.
Status: vision and early organising — not an open crowdfunder with a live target yet. WhatsApp us to be added to the capital update list.
Supported by
Local partners & sponsors
JEM Scaffolding is our principal sponsor — with Intense for many years. Secondary partners: Lewis Scaffolding Services, JAM Nationwide Auto Recoveries and James & Sons Building Services. With thanks also to TK Building.
Principal sponsor
Capital appeal
Stand behind the building
Tell us if you can give, lend expertise, open a funder door, or pledge as a capital partner.