Young people from Monkstown Boxing Club will put on their dancing shoes for a special charity event this April.
The club is raising funds for a trip to South Africa later this year where they will spend time volunteering in three orphanages in the East London and Mthatha districts.
It will be the second time a group from Monkstown BC have made the trip, having previously visited the area back in 2019.
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As part of the fundraising initiatives, a 'Monkstown Does Strictly' will be held at the Clayton Belfast on Sunday, April 23.
Former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton is expected to be among the judging panel on the night, and Lead Youth Worker Amy Stewart admits the nerves are already jangling.
"Dancing in front of 500 people is a bit scary. It was my idea, and then I realised I will probably have to take part as well," Amy joked.
"Any staff or young people on the programme have to take part - that was the deal. I am not a very good dancer, I watch Strictly and Dancing On Ice, but this is going to be a different story.
"We are in the process of learning how to dance, which has been interesting. And then we have Carl Frampton who is going to be in the judging panel.
"It has been a really good team building for the guys, because it has pushed every single one of us outside the comfort zone. But it is good fun and a good fundraiser, and it is a different way to raise funds in a cost of living crisis.
"The tickets are £10, so people can contribute that way. We have corporate sponsors who have come on board to pay for the dance tutor, and things like that. They will get an ad in the programme, for example.
"So it has been thinking outside the box.
"We do have running fundraisers so if people want to support us they can do that. They can get in touch with the boxing club."
Monkstown's first visit to South Africa was back in 2019, with the Covid-19 pandemic stalling any future exchange work until now.
The initial visit came around thanks to the help of professional boxer Zolani Tete, who fought in two Frampton undercards at Belfast's SSE Arena in 2017 and '18 respectively.
"We first went out to Africa in 2019. The connection came through boxing," Amy explained.
"Zolani Tete was actually fighting on one of Carl Frampton's undercards. It was the year he had the six-second knockout in Belfast.
"He trained in our club up until his fight, and the energy and atmosphere he and his team brought was just electric. They were dancing and training at the same time, and it is something we have never seen before.
"The young people who access our services loved it. We then got chatting to Tete's promoter about doing some charity work in Africa, and they had linked in with orphanages over there previously.
"So we thought it was a really good fit, and we got to know them further during their subsequent visits to Belfast."
Amy added: "We took a group of eight young people to South Africa in 2019. We visited and volunteered at three orphanages in East London and Mthatha.
"We helped with daily activities and delivered sports sessions, a bit of boxing. But it was basically just mucking in.
"It was so enriching and a great opportunity for our young people, who you could say are privileged. It is the norm for our society, but when we go there and the young people are orphans and have very little.
"It puts things into perspective for you, and it was very humbling. I was 27 when I went in 2019 and it is the best thing I have ever done.
"Some of the young people in our group were saying they were so grateful to have something like free education over here. It is not as valued or free over there.
"Free healthcare is another thing. A lot of things we take for granted."
Nine young people will form part of the group travelling to South Africa in June.
They have all come through Monkstown Boxing Club's hugely successful leadership development programme and had to go through an application and interview process to qualify for the trip.
"We have nine young people going, so 12 in total. The ages range from 16 to 23 in our group, and they have all come through a leadership development programme with us," Amy said.
"They actually had to write an application form and do an interview to get a place on the programme. And we also spoke with parents about the fundraising.
"We don't put a charge on it, because we live in an area where that is not a reality. But we do ask for some buy-in from the parents to support the fundraisers, and they have been brilliant.
"We have a mix of our youth and boxing programmes. So we have two boxers and the rest are from our youth programme.
"The club has a full youth and education programme alongside boxing. It started as a boxing connection, but it is gravitated towards an international youth project.
"The hope is we can host a group from Africa in the future, and turn it into an exchange programme."
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