BOXING legend Darren McDermott has swapped his gloves for a paintbrush to transform a Woodsetton church into a training facility for aspiring athletes.

The Black Country Bodysnatcher has been running Brooklands Amateur Boxing Club from his back garden since 2011.

But as his sessions now attract up to 60 energetic youngsters, he needed a bigger venue and decided Mount Tabor Church in Sedgley Road fitted the bill.

Darren, who is known to his supporters as Macca, is now sprucing up the church by giving it a lick of paint and is currently in the process of securing sponsorship to help fund work to strengthen the gym floor.

The former English middleweight champion said: "Once the floor is done, it'll be safe for the kids to be in there jumping around and we'll be good to go. We should be in there before the season starts in October."

Darren said the upstairs will be devoted to boxing, with a ring, punch bags and lots of floor space where people can do cardio workouts.

The ground floor will have changing facilities and gym equipment, including light weights and spin bikes, which he hopes to get more of.

Darren hopes the community will take advantage of the spacious venue and use it for coffee mornings or children's groups when it is not being used by the club.

"I want the building to be used as much as possible, it's for the community," he said.

"The reaction has been great, a lot of people have said they'd forgotten the church was there until we stuck our sign up."

Dudley News:

Darren makes no profit from the club, instead cash is ploughed back into the gym and spent on overheads and replacing and updating equipment.

However he isn't in it for the money, insisting that getting a ringside seat to watch his student's progress is priceless.

"When I was watching the Olympics and seeing kids winning gold medals, I thought that could be one of my kids representing Great Britain or boxing for England one day and I'd be able to say I've produced them from nothing."

For more information about the club, visit www.facebook.com/BABCBlackCountryUK