A boxing gym that gives focus and purpose to young men across Edgware fears for its future. 

Amateur club Nomads in Hammonds Close teaches boxing and discipline to hundreds of young people, who would otherwise be causing trouble on the streets.

The club wants to expand, but uncertainty over its lease has forced it to put its plans on hold.

Head coach Steve Mills said he had accepted a new lease with Barnet Borough Council in May last year, which had later been suspended while the council reviewed its community assets.

He had since met with a series of excuses and evasions, including accusations he could not afford to pay the rent.

He said: “There is nothing for young people to do in this corner of Barnet.

“Many of our boys have been in trouble with the police before they joined us. We get them off the drink and drugs and give them discipline, self respect and a sense of purpose.

“We have loads of boys and girls who want to come but we have to turn them away because we don’t have the room.”

Mr Mills added the club had people willing to financially back it in enlarging and modernising its facilities.

“But we can’t do anything until we know what the future holds.”

Entirely run by volunteers, the club runs amateur and Thai boxing sessions for up to 25 young people almost every day of the week.

Jordon Hornblow, 19, who has been boxing for five months, said it had given him new focus and enabled him to get a job.

He added: “I was a typical teenager, always getting into trouble and fighting. Boxing takes up my time and channels my aggression.

"The trainers work you hard, they teach you to fight properly and how to respect it.”

Sergeant Dan Reid of Barnet Police is a regular visitor to the boxing club.

He said he fully supported its work, adding there were a number of boys who had regularly come to the attention of the police who no longer came to his attention since they joined the club.

Chair of Barnet Neighbourhood Watch Maureen West said how “wonderful” the gym was, praising the dedication and politeness of the boys who attended it.

She added she feared the council’s review of community assets was its way of determining what resources it had before it outsourced them.

Mrs West said: “The council did a similar thing to care homes. I worry if the council outsources the boxing club, the new owners will close it, because it makes barely any money and the hall looks shabby.

“The council should come down and see what happens here, we have to stop it doing this before the club closes and the youngsters are back on the streets causing trouble.”

Councillor Daniel Thomas, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for resources and performance, said there were no plans to outsource the building.

He said: “As the gym is a community building, when its lease was due to expire we agreed to freeze its current rent pending the outcome of our Strategic Community Asset review. This review is looking at new ways that community organisations can work together with the council.

“The council is keen to support the good work the gym does within the community and the last thing we want is them turning anyone away, but we must let the lease agreement process run its course.”