Group kick-starts hospital fundraiser

Big-hearted students and instructors from a Larkhall taekwondo group helped to raise more than £6000 for charity.

On Sunday, June 9, a group from Belgacem’s School of Cho’s Taekwondo joined with others from Action International Martial Arts Association Scotland to take part in a four-hour training session to raise funds for the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity .

The group held the fundraiser to raise money to go towards purchasing a children’s dialysis unit at Yorkhill Hospital.

A spokesperson for Belgacem’s group said: “The children who require dialysis undergo it for four hours, three times per week, hence why it was four hours of taekwondo.

“These children often have to travel many hours to even get to the hospital.

“The mobile dialysis unit will take a bit of that stress away for those who live further away from the hospital.”

Four separate classes were held by different instructors, focussing on various elements of the sport.

The last of the of the four classes was taught by Karim Belgacem who, in his unique style, did a mixture of everything from squats and other cardio and basic punching and kicking, through to patterns.

He said: “This was an exhausting, but excellent, finish to the four hours.

“We raised a staggering £6430.60 for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity from sponsors and donations. “

Belgacem’s School of Cho’s Taekwondo have classes in both Hamilton and Larkhall, twice every week.

The martial arts school is family-run, with all classes being taught by husband and wife, Karim Belgacem and Tracey Belgacem.

Alongside the traditional taekwondo classes they teach a popular conditioning class (bag and pad work, kettlebells, battle ropes etc) as well as many different disciplines within the core classes, including kickboxing, boxing and grappling.

For more information on the club, visit www.chostkd.co.uk.