A former retail manager is urging business owners to help him set up a boxing gym for young people.

Darren Hill, 40, wants to launch the gym for teenagers in Streatham who are likely to get caught up in knife and gun crime.

Mr Hill, of Douglas Robinson Court, Streatham High Road, is organising fundraising events with raffle donations from local shops, but still needs an estimated £4000 to make his dream a reality.

He said: “I know how hard it is to have lived on a big under-privileged estate so I have a passion to get our kids off our streets and onto the straight and narrow.

“I am hoping and appealing to local business people to help with this project, with either premises or gym equipment.”

The lifelong Lambeth resident, who trained at McKenzie Boxcercise in Herne Hill with former British and European champion Clinton McKenzie, grew up on an estate in Brixton Hill and began boxing aged 13. He hopes to run the Streatham gym on a not-for-profit basis.

He said: “It is not something I will be making money from. It is for the children really, they live on the council estates and it is something they can focus their energies on.

“I think boxing saves a lot of children’s lives. It gets them into something positive and it would prevent them turning to crime.”

Mr Hill believes Streatham is in desperate need of activities for young people, particularly following the August riots.

He said: “There is nothing [for kids] in Streatham at the moment. I lived on an estate and I know there can be problems. I did boxing as a young kid and it helped me.

“This is for our children- we cannot leave them behind. We cannot forget about the issues. We hear every day about knife crime and I believe this starts from the teenage years.”

A fundraising event for the gym will be held at the Pied Bull pub on January 6 at 6pm.