London Sport Awards 2021 Winner: The Uniting London Award - Rathbone Amateur Boxing Club

WIMBLEDON boxing inspiration Rachel Bower revelled in claiming a prestigious London Sport Award after her perception-transforming exploits were recognised at the Guildhall.

Bower, who works as a detective in her day job, is the head coach at Rathbone Amateur Boxing Club - who were crowned winners of The Uniting London Award, in association with Sport England, at the historic venue.

Rathbone, who are based at Camden Boxing Club, use their crucial outreach arm to inspire trust in the LGBTQ+ community and promote the benefits of social integration through boxing.

The club’s 'Proud to #FightTogether' programme sees them run LGBTQ+ friendly sessions that combat the concerns of members of the community, so they feel welcome in a sport that has not always been so historically.

Rathbone Amateur Boxing Club took the award home by beating other incredible nominations, including MovementWorks and The London & South East Regional Netball Association and the Metropolitan Police.

And beaming Bower, 38, said: “We're absolutely over the moon to win this award, we feel incredibly proud.

“We've put in a lot of work and we're extremely grateful for the other volunteers at the club as we continued to work tirelessly all through lockdown.

“There was some really tough competition because there are so many brilliant sports clubs doing really important work in the community.

“The London Sport Awards are so important to us because we're so new on the scene and to be recognised by such a brilliant body is amazing.

“It's an incredible event and to be at the Guildhall with all these great sports clubs and organisations – we just feel really honoured.”

Over the last five years, the annual London Sport Awards, in association with the City of London Corporation, has grown to become the biggest celebration of grassroots and community physical activity and sport in the city.

And this year’s showpiece event once again recognised, celebrated, and shone a light on the stories of the incredible individuals, groups, and organisations for their outstanding work across the capital, helping Londoners of all ages and backgrounds to be physically active.

Mike Diaper, Executive Director of Children, Young People and Tackling Inactivity from Sport England, who sponsored The Uniting London Award, added: “I think it’s just really humbling.

“What I love about the London Sport Awards is that it really gets down to the local level, the club, the coach, the volunteer who just makes lives better.

“It’s really important that we at Sport England say thank you, that London Sport says thank you, because actually it’s people like Rathbone Boxing Club who make sport happen day in, day out and over the last 20 months it’s been so hard.”

See the full list of London Sport Awards 2021 winners here.