A former Peer Aid service user is raising money for Betknowmore UK as a thank you for helping him turn his life around when he climbs into the boxing ring for the first time at the end of the month.

Jack Lewis is taking part in Last Man Standing, an evening of boxing and kickboxing at Bedford Athletic International Stadium on Saturday 30 November, realising a dream that seemed impossible when he started his recovery journey back in April 2020.  

Former IBF welterweight world champion Kell Brook is a special guest, and Jack, who runs his own plastering business, admits it will be an emotional evening.

He said, “Preparations have gone really well. It has got a lot more intense the last few weeks, training six days a week, but I’m ready now to pull on the gloves and get in the ring.

“I first started boxing five years ago, just before I got help for my gambling.

“As well as the gambling, I was struggling with sleep and drinking too much. I was just under 120kg and now I’m fighting at 80kg [light heavyweight], so it shows how much things have changed for me physically as well as mentally.”

Jack insists he doesn’t just have his coach and close friend Tyler White, who works out of the A.R.D. Training Camp in Aldershot and has battled adversity in his life, to thank for his remarkable turnaround.

He said, “I first started gambling when I was 13, playing on fruit machines and playing poker with friends. Things got worse when I was 18 after my grandad died. I was spending every day in the bookies, lying to people about my debts and it had taken control of my life in a negative way.

“It wasn’t until I was 24 that I hit rock bottom. I had become  a person I wasn’t proud of. I wasn’t enjoying life and I was taking it out on others.

“I promised my partner I would do something about it and I did. We’ve been together for nine years and she’s stuck by me. She has been incredible.”

Jack will also have gym owner Andre Daltrey in his corner. The former kickboxing world champion is also a qualified psychologist and has supported Jack on his recovery both inside and outside of the ring.

As well as signing up for some 121 counselling, Jack registered with GAMSTOP, a free service that lets you put controls in place to help restrict your online gambling activities, and self-excluded from local casinos and bookmakers.

However, it wasn’t until he met the Peer Aid team that his recovery fully kicked into gear.

He added, “Peer Aid was recommended to me by my counsellor and I signed up for one of their online Health and Wellbeing sessions.

“Jean [Paterson] and Matt [Blanks] who ran the sessions were brilliant. Being able to speak to people who have actually been there, who have actually experienced what you are going through is invaluable. They helped me put things into perspective and I attended sessions for about 18 months.

“Thanks to the help and support I received, I’ve managed to build up my own business with six full-time staff and I am financially stable. I’ve bought a house, I got engaged last Christmas and my fiancé is expected a little boy at the end of February next year.

“I couldn’t have done any of this without the support from my fiancé, or the team at Peer Aid. Raising money through this fight is my way of saying thank you to Betknowmore UK, and it will also hopefully help raise further awareness of gambling harms so that other people don’t have to suffer how I did.”

To book tickets for the event, which are priced at £40, contact Jack directly via email (jacklewisplastering@gmail.com) or Instagram.

You can visit to Jack’s JustGiving page here.

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