Stradbroke Island gym tackles mental health in the boxing ring

The Supajai Gym is not only a place where Stradbroke Island residents can blow off some steam. It is somewhere they can feel at home in a welcoming community.

Owner Sandy Heilig funded the gym out of her own pocket and was inspired to open it after being impacted by suicide and seeing first-hand the wider effect mental health battles had on the Island.

"We lost one of my boxers for many years, Jai Burns to suicide in 2015, then I lost my nephew, Mitchell, to suicide in 2016," she said.

"I had to move away from the Island for a bit because things were getting too hard.

"I moved back in 2019 and I wanted to set the gym back up again because I could see that mental health on the island was getting worse with COVID and lockdowns.

"It is an outlet, where instead of hitting the drugs and alcohol in times of sadness and stress people can come down and hit me, a professional Thai boxer, instead."

The ex-Muay Thai boxer has put more than $60,000 into setting up the gym and buying equipment, and also facilitates free nightly meals for anyone in the community who needs food.

She said it was important that anyone could attend the gym for free to ensure the community felt they could find support there.

"Gym memberships are expensive and a lot of people have lost their jobs here, businesses are suffering, and I thought if it's money that's stopping people, that's no reason not to come," Ms Heilig said.

"We've also just partnered with Headspace Capalaba and the Wesley Mission to support people who might not be interested in physical training and just want someone to talk to."

The gym is open five days a week and kids as young as five, all the way up to a 90-year-old resident, come to train.

Ms Heilig used to run the gym out of her backyard, but an issue with council forced her to find a new location.

With nowhere to go, the Amity Point Cricket Club opened its doors, and has offered a space for Supajai gym to build a new shed.

Ms Heilig is now searching for funds to get the gym up and running in a new space as soon as possible, and a fundraiser last week raised more than $10,000 to get the ball rolling.

"We need a shed so we can set the boxing ring back up, put our weights in and actually function as a proper gym," she said.

"It could take a year, it could take five years, and I worry that during this transition period people could turn back to the drugs or the alcohol.

"We need to get into our permanent forever home to keep supporting generations to come."

Ms Heilig said her mission was to get other sporting clubs to offer similar initiatives to support the mental health of athletes and their communities.

"My wealth has dried up so I'm at the point where I have to ask the community for help," she said.

"We've just set up as a not-for-profit, so we will apply for grants to get our shed built but if we don't get those I'll go out and fundraise myself."