New Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Sub-committee set up after review

England Boxing has set up a new Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Sub-committee to help it implement recommendations from a recently-completed Diversity, Equality and Race Review.

Reporting into the board, it will be chaired by Michael Norford and consider matter relating to gender, LGBTQ+, disability and race.

Other confirmed sub-committee members are Bevis Allen, Andrea Rankine and Charlie Ford, with further recruitment to take place.

The review was undertaken follow the setting up of a working group last summer to help England Boxing improve its diversity.

It set out several shorter-term action that have already been, or are in the process of, being actioned, as detailed below.

1. England Boxing has signed up to Sporting Equals Charter which, along with other NGBs and sporting organisations, commits it to work towards greater inclusion on an ongoing basis.
2. Diversity and Inclusion training has been given to all England Boxing Talent Pathway Coaches.
3. The England Boxing safeguarding course has been updated to include a section on anti-racism
4. A monthly England Boxing KO Racism online course has been set up and is being delivered.
5. The term ‘BAME’ has been retired by England Boxing as research shows the description is unhelpful. Instead it is encouraged that communities are referred to specifically, such as African, South Asian, Chinese, Jamaican, Nigerian, Romany, Somali and Irish traveller communities. In circumstances where this might not be possible, the terms ‘diverse ethnic communities’ or ‘ethnically diverse communities’ should be used.

Alongside the short-term actions, seven other initial recommendations have been made to help England Boxing improve its diversity, as detailed below.

1. Set up a regular working group or ‘Diversity Champions’ to ensure implementation of any recommendations from this review are passed.
2. Work with other organisations to promote equality, diversity and inclusion ‘best practice’.
3. Continually promote the diverse backgrounds of England Boxing members through appropriate messaging and communications.
4. Ensure all England Boxing staff receive diversity and inclusion training, alongside a national roll-out of the KO Racism Course.
5. Address the lack of ethnically diverse England Boxing staff members with targeted recruitment.
6. Adopt a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to racism
7. Recruit more coaches/officials/course educators from diverse ethnic backgrounds to better represent the membership.

“As part of England Boxing’s commitment to improve diversity, equality and inclusion and tackling racism, the recommendations presented to the England Boxing board will hopefully go a long way to achieving this,” said review author and London Club Support Officer Bevis Allen.

“This is a work in progress and will only be achieved by everyone in the sport playing their part. This is only the start of the journey.

“We know that the more diverse an organisation is, the better it performs. So we need the sport of boxing to perform even better than it has done, not just in the ring, but across all areas, from the boardroom and staff, through to all its wonderful coaches, officials, volunteers and boxers.

“We need the sport to not only be diverse, but truly inclusive and welcoming to all.”

“I would also like to thank all those who formed part of the working group, those who came forward with ideas and shared their stories and experiences.”

The full review will be published in due course.

England Boxing Ethnic Diversity Stats

The following shows the number of people from across a range of England Boxing activity who identify themselves as being from an ethnically diverse background.

These stats are from The Vault for the 2019-20 season, with 2020-21 figures not available due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Note that a total of 500 members did not specify ethnicity.

Boxers, coaches and officials

• 17% Competitive Boxers (2,760 of 16,204)
• 10% Qualified Coaches (428 of 4,276)
• 8% Qualified Officials (31 of 373)

Coach Education

• 9% Level 1 Coach Educators
• 0% Level 2 Assessors (active only)
• 0% Internal Verifiers (active only)
• 8% Regional Developers
• 7% Level 2 Coach Educators

Talent Pathway Coaches

• 11% Talent Pathway Coaches
• 0%   Talent Pathway Support (Lead Coaches, Team Managers etc.)

Sub-Committees

• 14% Medical
• 33% Audit
• 29% Technical Rules & Officials
• 30% Coaching
• 0% Club Membership
• 14% Compliance/Legal/HR
• 33% Communications
• 30% Championships (incl. Title belts)
• 20% Talent

England Boxing Board

• 25%

England Boxing Staff

• 14% (one staff member on contract basis).