Chris Morris takes a punch for charity

Citation’s CEO Chris Morris swapped the boardroom for the boxing ring at the iconic Midland Hotel for a charity white collar boxing match, raising £3,295 to date for Factory Youth Zone.

Well-known in North West business circles, Chris, who is board member of the Factory Youth Zone, fought three gruelling rounds against Richard ‘Dickie the Dog’ Millman, CEO of Total Fitness. Chris’ six months of training paid off and he was crowned the winner by the judges after winning Rounds Two and Three.

Chris  and Richard were joined by eight other businessmen from across the North West at the event, which was attended by 500 guests and raised more than £80,000.

Located in Harpurhey, the Factory Youth Zone provides young people from deprived areas of Manchester with opportunities to make constructive use of their leisure time, raising their aspirations and ambitions. Through mentoring, training and personal development programmes, mixed with fun sport and recreational activities, the youth centre makes a real difference to thousands of youngsters who draw on its services.

Chris comments: “As a board member of the Factory Youth Zone I see first-hand how crucial the facilities and services provided are to young people living in the most economically deprived areas of Manchester.

“As with all charities these days the youth centre receives less and less support from central funding, and as I am hugely passionate about the cause, I decided to do something about it. For six months I have put myself through the paces training for my first white collar boxing match and as I took my place in the ring, prepared to take a few punches for charity, I felt elated and incredibly proud that I had raised a significant sum of money for the Factory Youth Zone.

“The event was a resounding success which was only possible with support of my opponent Richard, together with the eight other fighters, who all put on a great show for guests.”

For more information on the charity’s works, please visit the Factory Youth Zone website.