Member blog: Unlocking the power of partnerships
28 September 2018
At Boxing Futures, we deliver non-contact Boxercise Programmes to young people and adults in both London and Peterborough. As a charity we’ve been delivering sessions for the last three years, and we aim to make an immediate impact, by improving participants physical and mental health and wellbeing through sport, building empowering relationships and building transferable soft skills. A core component of the 12 week programmes we run is for individuals to work towards earning their Bronze Boxercise Award.
In London we don’t have a club that we operate out of, which means all our work is done through our coaches, volunteers, and equipment travelling to wherever we are needed in the capital. The fact we are completely mobile in our delivery means that we have been able to build some fantastic working partnerships. So far in London our programmes have taken place in Wandsworth, Camden, Southwark, Greenwich, Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets, and we’ve worked with youth homelessness organisations, youth centres, schools, mental health hospitals/units and CAMHS services.
For us, London Youth has been pivotal in helping to support us in forming some of these partnerships, both directly and indirectly. Through the continuous training and network opportunities that are offered it has provided invaluable opportunities to meet other youth professionals in the same space, get to know each other, and start conversations about potential collaboration opportunities.
For example, when I was attending a Leadership and Management Course held at the Pitfield Street office, this was where I ended up having an impromptu chat with a couple of managers from Spotlight Youth Centre. It just so happened they had been looking for female boxing coaches to deliver to an all-girls group but had had no luck in their search to that point. From that initial conversation, we are now in full partnership and preparing to deliver a 12-week programme to the girls from mid-September!
At the beginning of the year, we also completed a programme with a group of boys who attend the activities organised by Generate UK, a London Youth member that provides opportunities for people with learning disabilities. Through an introduction made by London Youth’s Sports Development Officer John Jones we were asked if we would be interested in offering a taster session to the group, as they had expressed an interest in giving the sport a go to see if they enjoyed it. They got so much out of that session that we went on to deliver a full programme, and by the end of it, all members of the group had earned either a Certificate of Achievement or a Bronze Boxercise Award.
Another highlight for us was being asked to be one of the delivery organisations at the recent London Youth Inclusion Festival in August which was fantastic! We brought our portable boxing ring down from Peterborough for the day and all the young people and staff had the opportunity to put on some boxing gloves, step in the ring and give boxing a try. For us that’s what its all about, making the sport accessible and making it fun while also achieving something, whether it’s a new skill or earning an award.
It’s been a whirlwind year of growth for us as a charity and we are going from strength to strength as more people are hearing about the work we do, and we can’t wait to see what the next 12 months have in store for us!
This blog was written by Angela Gault, London Operations and Development Manager at Boxing Futures Ltd.
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