The Boxing Academy’s success in the last five years has come at a time when there is increased interest in the benefits of sport and alternative provision for young people. We have been lucky enough to receive an award from the Centre for Social Justice, be featured in a high-profile report from the Laureus Foundation and to have been externally evaluated by the University of California, Los Angeles.
Centre for Social Justice Awards 2011
The annual CSJ Awards recognise effective poverty fighting groups from across the UK.
Cash prizes of £10,000 are awarded to charities, small voluntary groups and other local projects that display innovation and effectiveness in addressing the causes of poverty, turning lives around and reversing social breakdown.
Seven winners were chosen from a total of 400 entries. Each winning charity was celebrated on stage before an audience of 300 key influencers, who came together to learn about and support the work of these highly effective and innovative organisations.
The Boxing Academy is proud to have been chosen alongside these excellent projects and grateful for the recognition that this prestigious prize brings.
You can read more about the work of the CSJ here.
Teenage Kicks: the value of Sport in tackling youth crime
The report ‘Teenage Kicks’ was commissioned by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and produced by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC). It was published in March 2011.
The Boxing Academy was used as one of three case studies and NPC calculated that our social return on investment is 3:1. This means that for every ￡1 invested in The Boxing Academy we return ￡3 to society in areas such as crime reduction, higher lifetime earnings and reduced needs for social services.
The report also found that the Boxing Academy costs half as much as a Pupil Referral Unit and has lower re-offending rates amongst the young people it works with.
New Philanthropy Capital is a consultancy and think tank dedicated to helping funders and charities to achieve a greater impact. They provide independent research, tools and advice for charities and funders, both in the UK and internationally.
The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is an apolitical charitable initiative that uses the positive influence of sport to tackle society’s most pressing challenges around the globe.
Click on the image (right) to download a full copy of the Laureus/NPC report
Understanding the Benefits of Participation and Mechanisms for Student Success in The Boxing Academy
The Boxing Academy commissioned an independent report from the University of California, Los Angeles. The study was carried out by the Choices Project in 2010 and interviewed a large number of our past and current students in order to evaluate the difference that the Academy makes in its students’ lives.
The report finds that, upon referral, our students are troubled and not likely to succeed but that their time at Boxing Academy helps them to overcome a plethora of negative experiences such as education and basic skills gaps, learning disabilities, and disadvantaged backgrounds.
These students who had been expected to fail then go on to achieve graduation and progression to further education, training or employment.
The key findings of the report are:
- Student satisfaction and happiness about their school and academic experience is significantly higher at the Boxing Academy compared to their previous school.
- Students confidence about their academic self-concept is a significant 39.2% higher at the Boxing Academy than their previous school, which leads to higher levels of achievement.
- Students demonstrate significant increases in academic self-efficacy, especially in key subjects of mathematics and reading, at the Boxing Academy compared to their previous school.
- The Boxing Academy builds upon their student’s prior interests in sport to both learn new athletic skills as well as connect athletic growth into academic success.
A copy of the full UCLA report is available upon request
