‘That could have been me’: Clapham women’s boxing gym owner on Sarah Everard’s murder

A female boxing gym founder has told how Sarah Everard’s murder made her feel like “that could have been me” as she spoke out about women’s safety.

Kat Hamilton, who owns 12 Rounds Boxing, in Clapham, told how Ms Everard’s death at the hands of serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens shocked her community to the core.

The 46-year-old, who started out teaching women to box on Clapham Common, opened her gym eight years ago, where she offers women-only mindfulness and mindset classes.

Kat, who now lives in New Malden where she has a young daughter, said it was “hard to say” if there had been a rise in women taking up the sport since Ms Everard’s murder.

“As a female-owned gym, we’re a bit different from a lot of the ‘spit-and-sawdust’ type of gyms,” she told LondonWorld, adding that her gym has a 50% female client base.

“It’s a very safe environment and we’ve always had a big community of women.”

Of the murder, Kat said: “The first I heard of it was one of my clients, who was actually a friend of hers, messaged us asking us to share the post when she went missing

“An ex-member of ours was a friend of hers too… it felt like it was very close. These things happen and it usually feels further afield.

“You’re not used to things happening on your doorstep and you think, ‘that could have been me’.

“Everyone was really shocked.”

Kat added that the tragic murder, which sparked intense criticism of the Met Police over its vetting of cops and attitude towards women’s safety, had made her feel less safe.

“It makes you think a lot more about walking home,” she admitted.

“I come out of the gym at 9-9.30pm at night and get on a train. It definitely makes me more aware, more self-conscious.”

But she said that while boxing as a sport “makes people feel more confident” it can’t be considered a form of self-defence.

“It’ll build upper body strength, which women going to the gym tend to find hard to do, as boxing is so physical,” she said.

“Fitness-wise, it is going to help them build fitness and strength and confidence.

“But as self-defence, I would have to say if someone attacks you from behind or grabs your hair… boxing teaches you to defend against skilled punches.

“It’s hard to say how effective it would be.”

Kat said she was considering introducing self-defence courses at the gym, taught by a trained outside instructor.

12 Rounds also offers monthly women-only sessions which combine “mindfulness and mindset techniques to help women cope with the demands of life,” Kat said.

She added: “A lot of women prefer to be in a women only environment to be able to open up and talk about their own issues and concerns and just feel more comfortable.

“It’s also a personal thing. I’ve learned to manage my own anxiety with different techniques and I wanted to help other women who struggle with confidence and stress management.”

While she said the sessions had never been criticised for excluding men, joking: “They don’t tend to be that interested.

“I think women are more open to the emotional side of things and working on themselves.

“There are plenty of groups for men out there but, in my experience, they tend to be more into the physical side of boxing.”

For more information about women-only boxing, follow 12 Rounds on Instagram or visit the website.