England Boxing: Commitment to Safeguarding Statement

Boxing should always be a force for good. It is a sport that changes lives, unites communities, and is a source of strength and inspiration for all who take part. This force should be something we collectively protect and celebrate.

Sadly, there have been some occasions in the past where standards of behaviour, training, and education have not met the standards that England Boxing expects and that is entirely unacceptable within our organisation. We at England Boxing have always put the welfare of members as a priority, and today we want to strengthen that message and ensure that all our members know that we are listening. We take the safeguarding, wellbeing and protection of all of our members at all ages extremely seriously and we urge anyone who is currently in a situation they feel is not right for them to come forward to us so we can address it.

As CEO and Chair, we are committed to ensuring that England Boxing continues to strengthen its policies, procedures, and practices relating to the protection and welfare of our members. We want to make it absolutely clear that we take a zero-tolerance approach to any form of abuse within our sport.

England Boxing has been recognised for its recent successes on both the European and world stage and this level of achievement and performance must also be reflected in gold standard safeguarding practices.  Over the last 12 months we have committed to updates and changes to our documentation, policies, rules, codes, procedures and guidelines. These changes protect the wellbeing of all members and empowers the organisation to take appropriate and proportionate action when we evidence breaches of policy that place members at risk, or where behaviour brings the sport into disrepute. Some of these changes to date include:

• Establishment of a dedicated England Boxing Workforce and Safeguarding sub-committee of the Board
• A comprehensive review of safeguarding procedures and practices by a senior team reporting to the Board
• Updates to the suite of documents supporting both safeguarding and disciplinary case management
• The appointment of an independent Judicial Chair in April 2025

England Boxing are committed to continuing the progress towards a safer sport for all, and over the next few months commit to reviewing historic Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) approval thresholds for those members with previously approved content on their DBS.

We are proud of our sport, and we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure all our members operate in a safe, fulfilling and enjoyable environment at all times.  England Boxing staff and directors all support the measures taken to protect the sport of boxing.  We therefore ask the participants of England Boxing to support the organisation in upholding the standards of behaviour, training and education, which in turn preserve the welfare of our valued boxers, coaches, officials and members.

Richard Brooke, Chair England Boxing                     Jerome Pels, CEO England Boxing