OLDHAM Boxing and Personal Development Club is set to help promising boxers in Oldham and Africa connect in their pursuit of glory.

They have selected a group of young Oldham-based boxers, cadets and police officers to travel to Ghana for a cultural and knowledge exchange, offering them a once-in-a-lifetime experience in a county more than 4,500 miles away tomorrow (Friday, October 26).

The project started when Superintendent Danny Inglis travelled to the West African country and heard that the Ghanaian police were interested in learning from British policing methods.

Supt Inglis, who had boxed in his youth, teamed up with the Oldham club which had already created a youth-led sports-exchange programme via the - The Hemmingway Programme - named after author Ernest Hemmingway, a keen advocate of the sport.

He once said: “Boxing is the most honest conversation two men can have’’.

As well as a literary icon, Hemingway was a boxer who praised the sport for its ability to inspire, unite and break down racial barriers.

The exchange will also serve as a celebration of Black History Month which taking place this month.

Club founder and director Eric Noi had worked on projects in the country before, when he linked up with Roy Mervin of Luton Engineering, an Oldham/Manchester based company to donate gym equipment to Ghanaian gym, when his organisation moved to a new premises in Oldham town centre.

Eric and his team of talented boxers will be joined by Supt Inglis and his police officers, together with a team of young cadets.

During the week-long programme the participants will live, train and take part in cultural activities together.

The project will leave a legacy, by setting up a community policing hub, help refurbish a gym, as well as building links with local boxing clubs, police and cadet forces, ensuring that the cultural experiences happens on a yearly cycle.

Eric said: “This project has been in the planning for nearly five years now and finally by collaborating with GMP we can start a truly symbiotic project in that everyone involved benefits.

“This is a great opportunity for the young people from Oldham. Some of them have never been abroad so it will be quite an experience for them and it’s a great chance for us to build on links that we first set up years ago.

Supt Inglis said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for everyone involved and this project will give us a great foundation to build on.”