A NURSERY chef will step back into the ring for the first time in 15 years to raise cash for charity.

Neil Derry, from Bicester, was an amateur boxer at the Witney Amateur Boxing club during his teens.

He will exchange blows with a mystery opponent during the White Collar Boxing event at the Spiceball Leisure Centre in Banbury on May 9.

The event will raise money for national charity Promise Dreams which helps seriously and terminally-ill children and their families turn dreams into reality.

The former Bicester Community College pupil is among 40 voluntary boxers, including 10 women, who are currently being trained by former professional fighter Paul Hillman at the EP Gym in Banbury.

The 33-year-old, who works at Co-operative Childcare in Bicester, said he loves the adrenaline rush of the boxing ring.

Mr Derry, of Avon Crescent, added: “I don’t mind getting punched in the face because it makes you feel more alive and it puts you up ‘in the zone’.

“The rush of it is there because when you are doing day-to-day stuff you don’t feel quite alive until you do something that scares you. When you know the punch is coming there is nothing like it.

“When I was younger I was a bit of pain in backside, running round and fighting, so starting boxing forced me to mature.

“So when they put me in the ring and I was getting punched it is a different experience and it really matured me as a man.

“Promise Dreams showed me a video before I got involved and it just showed how lucky we really are because some of the kids in the videos had it really tough.

“There was this one girl who had finished school and she was told she would have to be tube-fed for her life, so it is nice to give back to people like that.

“I feel privileged to do this for them. When I go into the ring I’m going to be doing it for this young girl and the pain of being in the ring is nothing compared to what these children go through.”

Mr Derry’s trainer said: “Neil is a powerful boxer and a really hard hitter so he will go toe to toe, which will make for a really good fight.”

To donate to the boxer’s fund visit www.justgiving.com/company/WhiteCollarWarriors