'I'd love to help people learn from my mistakes'

Clayton Batt says boxing transformed his life and is training for a competition to fundraise for mental health

A man who says he had a troubled past has said he would "love to help people to learn from his mistakes".

Clayton Batt, 27, from Kingswood, near Bristol, is raising awareness of male mental health after having a difficult upbringing, which he said often lacked stable role models.

He added that the challenges of his childhood led to struggles with drugs, that severely impacted his well-being.

Mr Batt, who spent time in and out of the care system, is now gearing up for a boxing challenge on Saturday to raise money for a charity that helped him.

"Boxing gives me routine, discipline, and the motivation I need to push through,” he told BBC Radio Bristol.

Mr Batt will step into the ring at Planet Ice, Cribbs Causeway, to compete in a charity boxing match for Mental Health Matters.

His involvement with the charity began during the Covid-19 pandemic when he found himself in crisis and reached out for help.

Through Mental Health Matters, he was connected to a support worker at Care in Bristol.

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Reflecting on his past, Mr Batt acknowledges he made many choices that hurt him, including experimenting with both legal and illegal substances.

“A lot of the problems were my own fault,” he said. “But you can either run from it, or you learn from it.

"I’d love to help people learn from my mistakes and my successes.”

His journey to boxing began with a six-week program with Empire Fighting Chance, a local organisation that combines boxing with mentorship.

Though he had always admired boxing and watched it with friends, he had never tried the sport himself.

“I’d always had a passion for boxing, but I was never brave enough to put the gloves on,” he said. “No one really wants to be punched in the face.”

The Bristol gym Empire Fighting Chance also provides mental health support

The program went beyond boxing, it included speech therapy, where he opened up to a mentor about his feelings and challenges.

Through these sessions and the physical discipline of boxing, Mr Batt developed a new perspective on life.

“Exercise builds resilience,” he explained.

“When you’re doing jump squats, sprawls, or burpees, your body screams, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’.

"It’s like depression. You wake up and think, ‘I don’t want to do this, I’ll just stay in bed’.

"But staying in bed won’t make you feel better. When you push through, even though it’s tough, you look back and think, ‘I did that. That was me’.”

'A daily fight'

He shared that the support he received during his lowest points was crucial to his survival.

“I think the stars aligned,” he reflected. “The support worker, the boxing, it all came together to help me.”

Now, with improved mental health, he has learned to navigate both good days and bad.

“With depression, it feels like a daily fight," he said.

"But if I can handle fighting someone bigger than me in the gym, I can handle fighting my own battles.”

Mr Batt’s goal for the charity match is to raise at least £1,000 to support mental health resources and give back to the community that supported him.