Let's encapsulate our incredible year in 12 special moments, each representing a memory from every month. This year has been nothing short of spectacular!
January
We started with our usual members attending weekly to kick off the year.
Then on the bright and sunny day of January 19th, we had our busiest day with 4 of our regular young people and 6 adults attending which was a sweet surprise.
February
We prepared a special treat for our young people.
We had a special visit from Salman, the head coach from KO Southcoast. He assisted with our Sunday class and passed on his knowledge to our junior members.
March
Did somebody say Fake?
In March, we had a special moment during one of our sessions due to Ishan (centre) using his initiative to execute a little move that we had yet to teach.
April
On Sunday, April 23rd, we had a special visit from Claudia Telo, a videographer and editor from South London.
Funnily enough, we only had one member join us that day, so Albert and Coach Andre had a 1-1 session. Although it was quiet, Andre described this as a day of bonding with Albert. The training and conversations sparked a change in Albert from here moving forward. All it took was a little one-on-one time.
Here are some of the moments captured by Claudia.
May
Behind the lens of Harjeet Kalsi: Radojunkie's first Half-Term Camp
Coach Andre began teaching free Muay Thai classes in the community during the Summer holiday of 2022. So he always wondered why he had not done school holiday camps more often and set out to do just that. So during the early summer half-term between May 30th and June 1st, he was able to reach the wider community. In just 3 days of the announcement being made, the turnout could not have been better.
We had a total of 15 participants completely new to Muay Thai who came from the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham. Harjeet Kalsi, a Tech Industry Expert and Teacher, who happens to have a love for photography and Muay Thai captured the moments of our first term-time camp.
June
Growth meant it was time for a change in our Sunday schedule
The success of our first half-term camp resulted in the average size of our Sunday classes going from 6 to 12 young people per session. This was great but it was a lot for Coach Andre to do so alone with the varied skill levels and ages.
This was where he decided to split the classes in two. Which is where the Crane and Grasshoppers classes came into action. This divide helped him regain control of the classes whilst allowing him to deliver quality sessions to the young people.
Moments captured by Harjeet Kalsi.
July
Radojunkie's Community Project Turned 1
July 22nd is a special day in the calendar for the Radojunkie community as it is the day our Founder and Head Coach Andre hosted his first-ever session in London Victoria Park.
To mark the occasion, he prepared some homemade cupcakes and fresh exotic fruits for everyone to try. It's safe to say that they loved it and the vast majority of the group had never tried some of the fruits prepared. Which fired up ideas for Andre for the following month.
Moments captured by Harjeet Kalsi.
August
Radojunkie delivers its first 4-week Muay Thai summer holiday camp
After the success of the term-time camp in May, Andre decided that a 4-week summer camp was going to be the next big project to pursue as part of the company mission to Make Muay Thai Accessible. He thought if he could reach 15 young people in 3 days of advertising, how many could we reach in 3-4 weeks?
We opened up 4 weeks of classes enabling 80 young people to sign up and join us to learn the art of Muay Thai and boxing. A week before delivery we became fully booked and at the end of the 4 weeks, we had seen a total of 59 participants.
This could not have been achieved without the help of the community spreading the word, the volunteers that help deliver the classes and the donations to support the healthy eating initiative of the camp. A huge thank you to Roman Road Adventure Playground. Without them, we would have had no place to host the camp due to the terrible weather we saw throughout the month.
Moments captured by Harjeet Kalsi and Imaan Khan
September
Our busiest class to date!
Following the Muay Thai summer camp in August, we saw record numbers attending our weekend Sunday sessions. This was when Andre needed some assistance with teaching classes as the growth called for it. We introduced Coach Joana, Coach Imaan, and Youth Coach Lilli to the team. On Sunday, September 17th, our Grasshoppers had 18 students in attendance, the biggest class we have ever had and it was truly a blessing to see.
October
Through the lens of Mr Blindz: A special visit
On Sunday, October 29th, we had a surprise visit from Aaron Husbands AKA Mr Blindz, a photographer and music producer from East London.
We have been using the music he produces in our videos for social media. He attended the class unannounced just to see the classes first-hand and we were lucky enough for him to capture some of the moments from our Crane, Grasshoppers and Adult classes.
Moments captured by Mr Blindz
November
Service Expansion: Let us welcome the Wednesday Crew
Since September, we have been frequently asked by parents if we would offer any additional days during the week. This was to address the fact that parents would love their children to attend but Sundays were either already booked up or times clashed.
So we thought it was time to offer a midweek session to address this. Andre was hesitant at first as he did not know what would come from offering an additional day in a new venue at St Paul's Church Old Ford.
All I can say is that we are glad to have leapt to reach the wider community as it has allowed us to do just that. In just one month (4 sessions), we were able to meet 20 new members. Creating even more access to Muay Thai and boxing within the local community.
December
The end to a great year for the Radojunkie community
The journey we have taken this year has been incredible. We started with 4-6 young people per class in January and ended the year with 10-14 young people per class.
We started with just our Founder and Head Coach Andre to now have 2 coaches and a junior coach. From Sunday classes only to now offering classes on Wednesday as well.
