{"id":339990,"date":"2025-12-28T22:43:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T22:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/339990\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T22:43:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T22:43:11","slug":"lgbtqia-focused-boxing-class-combatting-loneliness-amid-warnings-about-social-isolation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/339990\/","title":{"rendered":"LGBTQIA+ focused boxing class combatting loneliness amid warnings about social isolation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid renewed warnings about the negative health impacts of social isolation, a small boxing class in Perth’s inner-west is working to tackle loneliness by fostering a sense of community among participants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The non-combat boxing sessions held at a PCYC are focused on LGBTQIA+ participants, but anyone is welcome.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

The classes are volunteer-run and held monthly. (ABC News: Kenith Png)<\/p>\n

Sonya Frossine found the free monthly class felt different to traditional fitness environments.<\/p>\n

“I felt like an outsider in those spaces, but in The Boxing Project, there’s never been a single class where I’ve felt that way,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I just feel more confident walking out into the world, both on a physical and a psychological level.”<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

The queer-focused boxing group has been around for three years, but ramped up in 2025. (ABC News: Kenith Png)<\/p>\n

Ms Frossine said people should “never underestimate” the value of getting out and socialising.<\/p>\n

“I think the project is so, so powerful in the thesis of it \u2014 women, queer people, we’re here to take up space, to get stronger, to meet each other.”<\/p>\n

It’s a message she thinks rings true in light of a recent Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey which found young people between 15 and 24 years of age experience loneliness more than any other group.<\/p>\n

Those numbers were in addition to research papers from the US and UK that found LGBTQIA+ people were more at risk of loneliness than their heterosexual peers.<\/p>\n

A non-gendered space<\/p>\n

The monthly class is an extension of The Boxing Project which was founded in 2017 and focused on empowering women in the wake of the MeToo movement.<\/p>\n

The queer-focused classes are the brainchild of instructor Amy Collins, who said the project was about people feeling comfortable in their own skin, and tackling loneliness.<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

While Amy Collins says traditional gym environments are improving, they wanted to created an inclusive space outside them. (ABC News: Kenith Png)<\/p>\n

“The idea was that often gyms can be spaces that might feel a little bit intimidating for people to walk into and join,” they said.<\/p>\n

“We’re thinking how do we create an area that people can learn those physical literacy skills?<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs help:QLife 1800 184 527<\/a>Suicide Call Back Service<\/a> on 1300 659 467Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 14Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN<\/a>\u00a0on 13 92 76Kids Helpline<\/a> on 1800 551 800Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 224 636Headspace<\/a> on 1800 650 890ReachOut<\/a> at au.reachout.com<\/a>MensLine Australia<\/a> on 1300 789 978<\/p>\n

“I also thought about what other communities might not feel so comfortable or confident walking into a gym, and that’s where I thought a queer boxing class could be a really beautiful way to bring those two things together.<\/p>\n

“I think gym and sports is really heavily gendered, here’s a space where I’m not checking anyone’s gender ID at the door.”<\/p>\n

Mx Collins said spaces like the boxing classes where people could come as they were, without expectation of paying money, were great places for people to connect.<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Attendees of any skill level are welcome. (ABC News: Kenith Png)<\/p>\n

“You can make your own [space] it could be for anything, it doesn’t have to be boxing, but it’s giving people space and the place to come together,” they said<\/p>\n

“For me personally, when I started coming here, it was a time in my life where I had just started uni.<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Half of the class involves stretching and chatting. (ABC News: Kenith Png)<\/p>\n

“I was in a whole lot of new environments where I didn’t know so many people, but on the other side of that, a lot of people I did know, my good friends from high school very rudely moved overseas or to a different state.<\/p>\n

“I found coming to boxing, it was the time in my week where I had a really good and genuine conversation.”<\/p>\n

The classes involve 45 minutes of non-combat boxing \u2014 which is focused on fitness rather than fighting and doesn’t take place in a ring \u2014 followed by a 45-minute group discussion.<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Ms Frossine enjoys the nature element of the class alongside the physical element. (ABC News: Kenith Png)<\/p>\n

“It’s a nice space for us to talk about things that are on our mind, things that we haven had a chance to talk about with other people in our lives,” Ms Frossine said.<\/p>\n

The danger of loneliness<\/p>\n

Dr Robbie Eres is a clinical psychologist and lecturer at Deakin University who researches how loneliness and social disconnection impacts minority groups.<\/p>\n

He said one in three Australian adults experienced loneliness in their lives, and people in the LGBTQIA+ community were four-and-a-half times more likely to experience “problematic” levels of loneliness.<\/p>\n

Survey finds loneliness has deep impact on mental health<\/a><\/p>\n

A new national report by Beyond Blue has revealed loneliness and social isolation has reached new heights.<\/p>\n

“We’re really realising how scary and dangerous loneliness can be,” they said.<\/p>\n

“It has an impact on our physical health in terms of cardiovascular disease and neurological conditions, but also immune responses.<\/p>\n

“In terms of our mental health … we see that people who experience more loneliness have higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidality.”<\/p>\n

Dr Eres said it was concerning that queer Australians were experiencing higher levels than non-queer Australians.<\/p>\n

“When you look at some of the factors that are contributing to that, it’s things like lack of family support, lack of sense of belonging, and minority stress \u2014 the stress associated with belonging to a minority group,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Dr Eres says connection around activities is helpful. (ABC News: Kenith Png)<\/p>\n

In addition, he said younger Australians were disproportionately impacted by loneliness.<\/p>\n

\"Dr<\/p>\n

Dr Eres says queer people are at a higher risk of loneliness. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

When it came to solutions, Dr Eres said forming social connections around place-based activities, where the goal of the meet-up was centred around a shared interest was helpful, as was strengthening pre-existing relationships with family members or acquaintances.<\/p>\n

Discrimination in sport<\/a><\/p>\n

Discrimination could see a whole generation of people walk away from sports they love, according to a researcher.<\/p>\n

He said the combination of physical movement and discussion in The Boxing Project were great foundations for meaningful social connections.<\/p>\n

“It’s creating a really safe space to practice some of the social communication skills that we often take for granted,” they said.<\/p>\n

For Ms Frossine, there are three words that sum up her experience.<\/p>\n

“When I come to classes … I feel confident, I feel powerful, I feel connected.”<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Ms Frossine says the volunteer-run classes give her strength, (ABC News: Kenith Png)<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amid renewed warnings about the negative health impacts of social isolation, a small boxing class in Perth’s inner-west…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[131982,2560,27569,15562,21861,131980,17352,131979,131977,131983,101,131981,131978,56,54,55,17285],"class_list":{"0":"post-339990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-amy-collins","9":"tag-boxing","10":"tag-lgbt","11":"tag-lgbtqia","12":"tag-loneliness","13":"tag-loneliness-epidemic","14":"tag-perth-news","15":"tag-queer-boxing","16":"tag-robbie-eres","17":"tag-sonya-frossine","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-subiaco","20":"tag-third-spaces","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom","23":"tag-unitedkingdom","24":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}