A popular boxing club is hoping to get its gloves on a share of a chunk of cash for grass-roots groups.

The Eastern Daily Press is set to launch the Community Chest campaign, a £100,000 giveaway throughout 2016 which gives community groups the opportunity to receive a cash sum between £250 and £2,500.

In January the first beneficiaries will be announced and Rob Wright, from Aylsham Boxing Club, is already looking forward to how a piece of the prize pot could improve his club.

He said: 'Youngsters need the club as a base to touch home, to know somebody cares about them and is looking out for them - and it has lowered burnt fingers on iPads too.

'The funding would improve the club no end. A lot of the parents can't afford to drive to other clubs and we end going in around six cars which isn't cost effective, so a bus would be ideal for the club.

'This will be a door to the rest of East Anglia for visits and it is paramount for the boxers to visit other clubs to learn new things.'

Estimating the cost of the van, tax and insurance at £3,000, boxers, parents and coaches will be asking local newsagents and businesses to donate their Community Chest tokens.

Mr Wright added: 'We don't have a magic wand to get what we want, when we want. So it is a labour of love but we wouldn't have it any other way - although a little help wouldn't be frowned upon.

'The Community Chest is a brilliant idea, it shows who is passionate about their cause because it is a challenge and competition between different groups to earn their tokens.'

The club welcomes youngsters aged between eight and 16 years old and sessions run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5.45pm until 7.15pm. It holds meetings at the Drill Hall on Cawston Road.

In January there will be £15,000 on offer. Sixty local organisations could get £250 apiece.

To put yourself in line for a cash boost, all you need to do is collect tokens printed daily in the EDP, which will start in January. When you have 500, you can put in your application which will be judged by a team of five 'dragons': Nigel Pickover, Graham Tuttle, Archant circulation director Darron Mcloughlin, Paddy Seligman and Julie James.

? Cut out the application in the EDP and keep it to send with your tokens. Or visit www.edp24.co.uk/communitychest