Community Archivist: Champs Camp Archive Project

We are seeking a well organised and highly motivated Community Archivist to deliver this hugely significant project.

Champs Camp was the first successful Black boxing gym in Britain, with Phil Martin, its founder, the UK’s first Black boxing trainer, manager and promoter. Martin revolutionised British boxing during the 1980s and 1990s, introducing new ways of training and transforming the lives of thousands of young men and boys across Greater Manchester in the process. He deliberately challenged the public association of Moss Side with guns and gangs, helping to produce UK and world champions and make Manchester a centre of the sport.   

This project will preserve and make publicly accessible the records of a hugely significant but largely unknown episode in UK Black history. Its legacy will be the preservation of a unique and extensive archive of film, photography, and posters, the collection of a wide-ranging oral history, and the production of a permanent digital archive, accessible to anyone including educators, activists and the wider community. 

This role is funded by The National Lottery Fund grant and is run by a partnership of the Moss Side Boxing and Athletics Association (MSBAA) and Manchester Histories, with support from staff at the University of Manchester in History and the Research Data Management Support Service. The role will be located at both MSBAA and the University of Manchester and managed by the Manchester Histories team.