A POPULAR boxing gym has celebrated one year of opening - and outlined plans for a bright future.

St Joseph’s Amateur Boxing Club Caldicot, in Sudbrook, opened its doors to the public on Saturday to celebrate the milestone.

Around 40 regulars and some new faces came to the celebration and to hear about its plans for expanding.

Plans include extending the current training space, create new changing rooms, a free weights area and a recovery room.

Martin Lewis, founder of the gym, said the open day proved a success.

“It went really well,” he said.

“We had lots of our current members and sponsors pop in to see how we were doing.

“We had around 30to 40 current people and new faces popped in and out over the two hours we were there. I did a few little demonstrations with some new faces to show them a bit of what we do here at the club.”

The club, which has nearly 100 members, is planning to put forward plans to the committee of the Sudbrook Sports and Social Club to change an unused room into a new changing facility and free weights room.

Mr Lewis added: "This will enable us to maximise the available training space and allow us to hang more punch bags, allowing for more people to train."

Two of the gym's youth boxers, Ethan Saunders and Tom White, both aged 16, recently made their debut in the ring.

Ethan became the first out of the club to fight in a match against Tallon Slade at Cwmbran ABC's show at the Parkway Hotel.

Opening the club was a long-held dream for Mr Lewis, who along with a small group of friends, transformed the venue. Several businesses and groups helped out with donations before it officially opened on February 16, 2017.

Mr Lewis received a Citizen's Award from Caldicot Town Council in recognition of the impact of the gym. The club runs three sessions on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday 6pm to7.15pm.

New members are welcome to come to the sessions. For more information, email StJosephsCaldicotABC@outlook.com.