Charlie Wetere's Vision: Transforming lives, boxing for a better future

Charlie Wetere, foreground, as Nambour State College students Van Topham and Nathan Hensley spa in the background.

Charlie Wetere and members of the OneHeart Training Academy pictured on the top floor of C-Square car park.

Charlie Wetere’s ears have never been much good but his vision more than makes up for what he might not hear.

Charlie sees graffiti and the pain behind it. He sees people and who they could become.

He sees a carpark that could be a boxing ring, market stalls, and lives changing.

Charlie has been running OneHeart Training Academy on the lower level of C-Square, Nambour, for more than eight years now.

It started as an initiative to steer local youths who might have been on the wrong path on to a better one by teaching them how to box but has flexed to accommodate teens struggling to find their place in the world for other reasons.

“Often they just don’t feel like they fit in. Some of them are getting bullied,” Charlie said.

“They come and box here and they get respect from the kids on the street,” he said.

It’s a delicate dance Charlie does, saying the right thing at the right time.

“You learn to read them. You can ask them but you’ll only get what you want to hear,” he said.

Charlie grew up to be more observant than most to compensate for being born deaf.

He also grew up around a lot of violence and was in jail by 17 with 13 assaults to his name.

“I was angry and the thing is, I don’t know what I was angry about. I had no reason to be angry.”

Charlie works by gaining trust, offering positivity, and occasionally putting them firmly in their place.

“I’ve always had the view that you get the kids to trust you first. If you fight the kids, they fight back harder and they get more angry.”

Jayda Glazebrook, 20, is one of Charlie’s success stories. She started at One Heart seven years ago, now works part-time at a gym, and helps at OneHeart in her spare time.

Charlie is lining her up to train women who are struggling – with mental health, on the streets, or in domestic violence situations.

He has his sights set on putting a boxing ring in the top, under-used level of the C-Square carpark where Jayda could train the women and boxing events could be held.

Charlie’s vision for the carpark was previously blocked by costly council building certification requirements which the disability pensioner can not afford.

The complex has since changed hands and Charlie plans to start again, trying to get others to see the potential the way he does.