Southport women raise £10,000 in six hour BOX-athon for families impacted by Southport tragedy

Fundraisers at PWR Box Studio in Southport have raised over £10,000 to support the families impacted by the tragic events at The Hart Space in July.

A group of local women at PWR Box Studio took part in a gruelling six-hour BOX-athon, all for a cause deeply personal to them.

The event was held on the second birthday of the studio, which is situated in the iconic Garrick building on Lord Street.

They were all inspired to go above and beyond on Sunday (20th October 2024) for a cause that is “very close to our hearts”.

The women were sponsored in their efforts through a GoFundMe page which you can support here: Fundraiser by Sarah Radley-Buck : PWR-Thon (gofundme.com)

Further funds have been raised through an extensive raffle, made possible by local businesses showing huge support.

Prizes donated included a £1,000 store credit at DFS, a party for 15 children at Nerf Action Experience, a luxury overnight stay for two in Snowdonia, two hospitality places for a Liverpool FC game at Anfield, a signed Steven Gerrard shirt, an overnight stay and breakfast at The Grand Southport and more.

The BOX-athon was organised by Sarah Radley-Buck who owns PWR BOX Southport and coaches Rachel Humphries and Ashleigh Blinston.

The three local mums were determined to raise as much money as they could to support the families of the three young girls who were killed and those who were injured in the heartbreaking tragedy at The Hart Space in Southport on 29th July.

The knife attack claimed the lives of Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven; Bebe King, aged six, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine. Several other girls and adults were badly injured and others left traumatised.

PWRBOX Southport — Sarah Radley-Buck (left) and Rachel Humphries (right) hosted a six-hour marathon fundraising event PWR BOX Southport. Photo by Andrew Brown Stand Up For Southport

Sarah, Rachel and Ashleigh said:

“We celebrated our second birthday but in a very special way. “We thought it was the right time to do a fundraiser which is very close to our heart

“In July this year we were left broken as many of our friends were involved in a horrific attack which shook the world some seriously injured and some left with mental scars

“We lost a little girl very close to our hearts and two other precious little girls. Alice, Bebe & Elsie you will never be forgotten.

“We wanted to do this fundraiser for the families affected as we know first hand what they are going through.

“Our little boxing studio has raised £10,000 and we still have donations coming in.

“To the girls who signed themselves up for our BOX-athon six hours of back to back classes well done we are so proud of you. Our community is just incredible and we couldn’t be prouder to be part of this.

“To the girls who participated in the classes, thank you so much for coming down! We couldn’t of done any of this without you girls

“To all of our donors / companies who have been incredible in giving for our raffle. We cannot believe how amazing our prizes were for the raffle. Without you we wouldn’t have been able to raise this much amount of money so thank you!

“To everyone who has donated, wow, what an incredible amount of money we have been able to raise by us all coming together, we’re so grateful.

“Our incredible coaches Rachel and Ashleigh were on fire, they were running off no food, coffee / energy drinks and sweets all day. They still brought the energy and had everyone motivated to the max. PWR BOX would not be PB without you.”

The PWR BOX Studio, which opened in October 2022, is Southport’s boutique boxing studio.

Members can enjoy boxing, HITT and strength classes in a safe environment with experienced coaches.