City lawyer launches boxing lessons for Parkinson's sufferers

A city lawyer has helped to launch therapeutic boxing lessons for people with Parkinson’s after the sport helped his own fight against the disease.

Nick Hazell, 45, of New Malden, found that boxing helped him with balance and co-ordination after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s three years ago.

Combining the physically taxing sport and the condition — which causes parts of the brain to become progressively damaged and has symptoms including involuntary tremors and balance problems — might appear counterintuitive.

But organisations in America offer specific non-contact boxing programmes based on research which shows that the sport’s combination of mental and all-body physical workout helps slow the progression of Parkinson’s — for which there is no cure.

Mr Hazell, general counsel at law firm Taylor Wessing, was able to pay for a personal trainer to give him solo boxing lessons, but the father-of-two wanted to ensure that others could enjoy similar benefits.

Through charity Parkinson’s UK, the lawyer teamed up last year with fitness experts who were trying similar sessions in the north and south-west of England in a bid to bring classes to the capital. This spring a weekly pilot programme started in Peckham with more than 30 attendees.

Lead coach Charlotte Kershaw plans to launch sessions around London from this summer after training others using a course developed with Parkinson’s UK.

Mr Hazell said: “When you get Parkinson’s it is very easy for people to assume you are written off and you can’t do anything. It is just astounding how the boxing affects people and improves their quality of life. For me it helps with balance and co-ordination, and makes me try.”

Academics from the University of the West of England have been studying the results of the country’s first classes, run by gym owner Dennis Stinchcombe in Bristol for a year. Reading University ageing experts plan to monitor Ms Kershaw’s class in Hammersmith.

Satpal Ghatora, area development manager for Parkinson’s UK, said: “This exciting new project will bring the benefits of boxing to people with Parkinson’s in London and we can’t wait to see its positive impact on people’s lives.”