![\"Kerry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/71ec73f9ebd803bafce7083de3ffee71.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nAn award-winning boxing coach said she has been using her experience of living with addiction to help young people make positive choices.<\/p>\n
Kerry Norfolk, who teaches at Thrive Boxing Team, at Kickstop in Norwich, helps children and young people to learn the sport and provides extra support outside of the ring.<\/p>\n
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Earlier this year she was named England Boxing Female Coach of the Year 2025.<\/p>\n
Ms Norfolk said: “I use that lived experience to educate others, showing children and young people that change is possible, no matter how far you’ve fallen.”<\/p>\n
Thrive Boxing Team, which was founded in 2023, said it helped children and young people build resilience, confidence and a sense of belonging inside and outside of the ring.<\/p>\n
Ms Norfolk, who is its founder and lead coach, got into the sport after experiencing addition.<\/p>\n
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She said boxing became the “turning point” and gave her structure, discipline, “and something bigger to fight for”.<\/p>\n
Ms Norfolk, who is also a social worker and manager within child and adolescent mental health services, said the sport allows her to build trusting relationships with her students.<\/p>\n
One young boxer with a history of criminal offences became a part of the club and “changed their life around”, Ms Norfolk said.<\/p>\n
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Another one of her students told the BBC: “She is not just a coach she is like a mum as well and it is nice to have her.”<\/p>\n
Ms Norfolk said: “We create a really good culture, we celebrate diversity here, and every single person who walks through the door, who might feel a little bit nervous or uncomfortable, always walks out feeling like a champion.”<\/p>\n
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Ms Norfolk has been described as a “mum” by her students at the club [Robby West\/BBC]<\/p>\n
After being named England Boxing Female Coach of the Year 2025 at a ceremony in Sheffield in July, she said she was “never really lost for words” but was “chocked up and emotional”.<\/p>\n
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Her son, who also trains at the gym, added: “It was exciting to see she got good recognition for something she is so passionate about.”<\/p>\n
Ms Norfolk said: “One of the little statements I always use is it takes a village to raise a child, and I think we play our role as part of the village.<\/p>\n
“Children come from a whole range of different experiences and we give them the opportunity to make them changes.”<\/p>\n
Another one of her students said the sport “helped with mental health” and that Ms Norfolk was “a very good role model”.<\/p>\n
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Ms Norfolk said boxing was her “platform to inspire hope, model positive behaviour, and empower others to find their own strength and purpose”.<\/p>\n
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