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Project is delivered by Boxing Futures, which supports young people at the margins of society
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Four out of five participants reported benefits after being involved in the scheme
ACTION
Young people who are struggling with social isolation are being supported with their self-esteem and confidence as part of a project built around the therapeutic benefits of boxing.
Brothers Through Boxing targets young men aged between 16 and 25 who are not currently in employment, education or training and may have suffered trauma, have special educational needs or experience mental health challenges.
The six-month programme which runs at sites in Peterborough, Cambridge and Bedford, involves boxing-focused sessions that aim to build physical and mental fitness, as well as group discussions which encourage young men to open up and challenge the traditional masculine stereotypes that can have a detrimental impact on mental health.
The aim is for the group to bond with each other, make new and lasting friendships, and to support each other through difficulties.
The initiative is run by Boxing Futures which was founded, initially as a company, in November 2013. Brothers Through Boxing, which launched in 2017 with funding from the Movember Foundation, is one of a number of projects run by the charity.
Boxing Futures co-founder Anthony York is a foster carer and has previously worked for a national mentoring charity as head of operations. There he met fellow co-founder Andy Burley.
“I was training him to be a mentor, going into prisons and work with young adult offenders, and offering them support when they were released,” York says.
“We just got chatting and had boxing in common and became good friends. He had been telling some of the lads at the boxing gym about his mentoring and they would like to get involved.
“He said it would be great for some of the young men coming out of prison to have people they could train with that could mentor them, to keep them occupied and use boxing for their wellbeing and keep them focused.
“We kept the idea bubbling for about another year or so until one day I was watching a webinar given by an entrepreneur who said he comes across many people with great ideas, but they just talk about it, they don’t do anything about it, and that hit me like a straight right hand.
“The very next day I registered Boxing Futures at Companies House, then myself and Andy hatched a plan to try and set up this organisation.”
Yorke says the aim was to use boxing “as a conduit to engage the hardest to reach young people and everybody in between”.
Boxing Futures’ first project was a 12-week programme based on the boxercise award system, which involved learning eight basic punches, as well as footwork, combinations and how to hold pads. It was first delivered to the Prince’s Trust in Peterborough, as well as in Cambridge, with the charity working, until recently, without permanent premises.
Yorke says the fact they had no fixed base led to them doing outreach work within the community, approaching organisations such as psychiatric settings to find young people who needed support.
“That was an important aspect of our work because traditionally people aren’t going to walk into a boxing club and say ‘can I try this? I think it might be good for my mental health or might keep me from getting into trouble’,” York says.
The Brothers Through Boxing project was developed in response to a call from the Movember Foundation for organisations to come up with innovative ideas of how to combat loneliness and isolation, with Boxing Futures winning funding for the concept.
The groups, made up of around 15 young people, run for 24 weeks, with a two-hour session each week. There is a 50/50 split between boxing, and support sessions. Support sessions include work on relationships, physical health, and mental health. The charity also brings in guest speakers such as relationship experts, people to help them on employment and training. The boxing sessions themselves are non-contact.
“There’s 1,000 amateur boxing clubs run by England Boxing, and they are for boys and girls and young men and women who want to compete,” York says.
“England Boxing are not about the therapeutic nature of boxing and how it can be used in that way. They are still quite an old-school organisation.
“I set up Boxing Futures to work with everybody else – those people who would like to box or like to train, find out about the sport, but are not ready, or don’t want to compete, which is a huge marketplace.”
Some weeks, participants will not do boxing, instead doing another activity such as going for a meal, to a trampoline park, archery or cooking.
“We also take them away on a two- or three-night residential which cements the bond they have with each other. The aim is for them to develop peer support within the group.”
York says the groups can be made up of young people from a range of backgrounds. “Some who have soured relationships with family due to crime, but there are others who maybe struggle to socialise, who are more likely to be victims of crime.
“They maybe haven’t been out of their house for a couple of months and are happy to sit at their computer and engage with the world that way. Our programme is designed to get those people back in the community.”
The charity is currently working with organisations to identify young people who may benefit, including schools, universities, and psychiatric hospitals. It also receives referrals from children’s homes, children’s services departments, youth offending teams and mental health services.
“We get some young people within the care system who present with very complex issues,” York says.
“Their backgrounds can be very traumatic in terms of abuse and neglect. We take a holistic approach to our work. You could call it cognitive behavioural therapy, but it is just honest discussions.”.
IMPACT
The charity use a range of measurements, including the Duke Social Support Index, to measure participants’ progress in relation to loneliness, Outcomes Stars, which measured the “journey of change” in relation to wellbeing, as well as Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales, and lifestyle questionnaires.
Overall, 78 per cent of young men feel the programme has improved their social support network, while 80 per cent reported reduced feelings of loneliness.
