Rachel Bowes is helping neurodivergent young people build confidence, focus and resilience through specialist boxing classes at Torfaen Warriors ABC.
I sat down in the gym for a coffee with on Saturday 7 March 2026, where we chatted about the journey that brought her to this point – running boxing classes for children with additional needs, coaching adults on Sundays, and supporting amateur and professional boxers with their mindset and mental health.
Rachel, an accredited life and mindset coach with qualifications in areas including autism, anxiety and neurodiversity awareness, also holds the WABA (Welsh Amateur Boxing Association) Boxing Leaders’ Award.
She runs weekly one‑to‑one and small group sessions for children with additional learning needs. The sessions combine warm‑ups, circuit work, and pad and bag drills.
Rachel first stepped into a boxing gym in 2012, during a period of personal struggle.
“I joined a boxing gym and that’s where my healing journey began,” she said. “I quickly fell in love with the sport and everything it brings – the confidence, the motivation, the drive to keep moving forward.”
That experience shaped everything that followed. She went on to publish a Welsh boxing magazine, which unexpectedly led her to work with the late boxing trainer Enzo Calzaghe, dad and trainer of the unbeaten world champion Joe Calzaghe.
Supporting neurodivergent children through boxing
On Saturday mornings at Torfaen Warriors ABC in Fairwater, Rachel works one‑to‑one and in small groups with children and young people with additional learning needs, helping them slow down, focus and build confidence.
“We start with a little warm-up on the ladders, then we work on some circuit exercises and then I introduce a couple of different exercises so perhaps maybe with cones or in the boxing ring just to keep it a little bit fun.
“We might do some skipping and then we finally finish on the boxing bags and in the boxing ring, going on the pads and learning the art of boxing, which is everybody’s favourite thing to do.”
Rachel said: “It’s so empowering, people feel so empowered, [and] inspired putting on the gloves.
“It’s controlled anger as well, controlled frustration for children who perhaps have additional learning needs, and they’ve got built up frustration that they can’t perhaps express themselves in the way that they want to.
“There’s no better feeling than smacking those pads in a controlled way and also learning at the same time, so it benefits everybody.
A welcoming space for adults
On Sundays, Rachel runs two community sessions – women from 10am to 11am, men from 11am to midday. The format is similar: circuits, fun exercises and boxing skills to finish.
“Sunday sessions are quite fun,” she said. “There’s no pressure, so anybody (adults only) of any age and any level of fitness. Nobody judges.
“People generally work to their own ability and then build on their fitness every week.”
Her sessions, she says, help develop communication, teamwork, listening and trust – skills that matter far beyond the ring.
Coaching fighters from the inside out
Rachel’s work also extends into the competitive amateur and professional boxing world. She supports fighters with mindset coaching, helping them manage nerves and pressure in the run‑up to fight night.
“People can be on top of the game… but when it comes to the fight night or training camp, the final week, the nerves jump in.” she said. “That can sometimes get the better of people on the day, so I help people with their mental health and support them with the coping tools to get them through the fight night.”
For the last four months, she has supported professional boxer Ellis Panter, who won his debut fight last week – a moment she describes with pride.
A life shaped by purpose
A serious sports accident at the age of 12 left Rachel unable to walk or speak and she had to rebuild her life.
“I lost my mind and now I help people to strengthen theirs,” she said. “I understand challenges from the inside out as well as the outside in because I’ve got the training and the personal experience.”
The EWC‑registered practitioner also works in school and feels everything she does is connected.
Rachel said: “It feels like my life is aligned to its purpose. I feel like I’m doing what I’ve always meant to be doing, you know from when I was a child and now I’m giving him back to the world, but it’s all serving. I’m serving in the schools, I’m serving and helping children and adults in the gym.
Her message to anyone nervous about trying boxing is simple: “The hardest thing is walking through that door [of the boxing gym]. Once you’re in there, not many people leave and don’t come back because the sport has so many benefits
“I would say to just try it because worst case scenario, you’ll never come back, best case scenario, it can change your life, literally.”
Contact Rachel Bowes
Email [email protected], call 07990 314560 or visit her website.