A PERFORMANCE coach from Davyhulme, has raised more than £23,000 in aid of Saint Mary’s Hospital Charity by hosting a charity boxing night, in loving memory of his niece, Soffia.

Soffia was born at Wythenshawe hospital on February 23, and after experiencing breathing difficulties was transferred to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Saint Mary’s Hospital, where she died on March 7.

Humbled by the level of care Soffia received, performance coach Ric Moylan wanted to do something positive in his niece’s memory.

To say thank you to the hospital, he organisee a charity boxing night to help raise funds for NICU at Saint Mary’s Hospital.

Ric said: “We are extremely grateful to the staff on the unit for all that they did for my beautiful niece, Soffia so we are delighted to be able to donate such a fantastic amount to help make a difference to other babies and their families.

“I wanted to organise a boxing match with a difference, so made sure that everyone taking part had never boxed before. Quite often competitors can be mismatched in terms of experience so this way everyone entering was on a level playing field.

"The evening was a huge success and it was brilliant to be able to put on such a special night in Soffia’s memory.” -

The charity boxing evening, held at the Hilton, Manchester was a sell-out event with 430 people attending. Ric wanted the evening to be a glamorous event and insisted on a black-tie dress code. Guests were treated to a red carpet reception, champagne arrival and 3 course-meal. In addition to ticket sales, fundraising on the night included a silent auction. -

Ric organised the event in just three months with Jordan Walker from events management company, ConnectIn. Every single penny after costs went towards the unit. Everyone who competed on the night received a six week training plan with some members losing huge amounts of weight during the training. One member lost six stone and another three stone.

Donna O’Reilly, community fundraising officer for Saint Mary’s Hospital Charity, added:

“We are incredibly thankful to Ric and his family for raising such a fantastic amount of money for our charity. It’s admirable that Ric wanted to do something to help other families going through a loss like his family suffered and we are very fortunate to have his support. The funds raised will make a big contribution to our Newborn Intensive Care Unit, and will go towards purchasing state-of-the-art equipment for diagnosis and treatment as well as providing facilities that make life easier for the families on the unit.”

Following the success of the boxing night, Ric has decided to host the event again this year on October 1. For more details on how you can be involved visit: www.charityboxingnights.co.uk