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A personal trainer is hoping for donations to help him with his sit-down boxing sessions for the island's elderly residents – which he says make a "really positive difference".
Dan Dufour – a personal trainer who also runs the Boxd-off clothing brand – has spent the last five months visiting local care homes to offer residents something they might not usually expect: sit-down boxing sessions.
Dan said: "What I do is I go to the homes and I do some basic mobility training with them; I go round with hand-targets and they put on the gloves and hit the targets.
"It's a low intensity class because we want to keep the risk as low as possible."
Dan was inspired to start this unorthodox training when he read an article about it in a national newspaper.
He explained: "I thought it was a great idea, so I got into contact with a few [care] homes and we initially did it as a trial. The residents absolutely loved it."
After the hand targets have taken a walloping, Dan also leads the residents through some low intensity weight training.
Although the residents now look forward to their boxing sessions, Dan admitted that they weren't quite sure at first.
He said: "The first time I walked in, I could tell they were like: 'What the bloody hell is going on here?!' But they really got into it...it's a really good little bit of exercise for them."
Dan is currently fundraising in order to be able to get some new, fresh equipment to bring to the sessions.
He explained: "I operate out of a boxing gym and they let me use their equipment...but it's quite old and it does smell a bit."
Pictured: Dan Dufour leading a sit-down boxing session.
If he is able to raise enough for that, he is hoping that any additional donations will go towards the purchase of some transport kitted out with a drying rack. This is not only to ensure the health and safety of the residents, but to make sure he can out to as many homes as possible.
"You know, the smiles on their faces...you can tell it's making a really positive difference in their life," Dan added.
If you would like to organise a session with Dan, you can contact him at boxdofffitness@gmail.com.
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