
England Boxing is keen to keep the boxing community and stakeholders abreast of the progress made against its strategic plan for 2022-27.
Below is a quarterly headline summary of that progress under the four key objectives of a thriving boxing community, an inclusive, diverse and accessible sport, an inspirational and aspirational competition and talent pathway and a respected and valued NGB.
2025 – Quarter 3 progress:
A Thriving Boxing Community:
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Having peaked in the 2024/25 season with 1,086 clubs – the most clubs ever recorded in the history of amateur boxing – and over 36,000 Individual members, the sport is certainly growing at a pace.
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Our Community Department of CSOs have been busy visiting clubs and supporting them to get up to date with modern health & safety standards. With 820 clubs now having received a Club Health Check and a high number of those needing support with governance and funding since this time last year, EB has been very happy to extend our original deadline beyond June 2025 to work with clubs and ensure nobody is left without the support that they need to become compliant.
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EB continues to advocate for and highlight news stories and case studies of clubs’ amazing work in the community, whether it be showing support to Southend ABC and their need for new premises, or showcasing Anti-Knife Crime initiatives such as that launched by Untouchable BA in Bradford.
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True to our goal of reaching people from Ethnically Diverse Communities (EDCs) within our voluntary workforce, we are very pleased to have launched the EDC Coaches & Officials Development Programme earlier this year, providing CPD and learning opportunities to break down barriers and improve accessibility in our sport for all.
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We also celebrated EB’s 3rd Annual Awards ceremony in July this year, with 13 awards being given to volunteers and members who are well deserving of recognition. Our special guests and appreciation go out to Callum Simpson, Terri Harper and Wayne Elcock for joining us.
An inclusive, diverse and accessible sport:
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EB’s ‘Coaching People with Parkinson’s’ course has gone from strength to strength, including showcasing at the Parkinson’s Tryathalon and the number of courses being delivered increasing all the time. Special thanks to Richard Longthorpe and his fundraising efforts to help improve access to boxing for people living with Parkinson’s
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EB published its Diversity Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) on October 31st 2024, in preparation for its roll-out in January 2025. Significant progress has been made since the launch of the Locker to help us view accurate, inclusive data for the first time, and we are currently in the process of drafting our next plan that will be published later this year
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Following 18 months of hard work and efforts from our Community Department and EDI Lead, we were pleased to announce in July that EB was successful in securing £1.7m over 2 years from the Youth Endowment Fund to produce a groundbreaking research report to evidence boxing’s unique impact on crime prevention. The project will have a specific focus on EDC’s with 30% of young people engaged, coming from those communities over the next 2 years
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Delivery from the Women’s Aspire Programme continued this year with a monumental workshop and activity day taking place on International Women’s Day, March 8th. The event was followed by a closing celebration for the 4th and final cohort of the Women’s Coach Development Programme, having now achieved the goals set out to recruit 50 female coaches to make a lasting legacy of their own for women’s & girls’ inclusion in our sport
An inspirational and aspirational competition and talent pathway:
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With ‘The Locker’ having taken entries to the EB Championships since January 2025, and event permits being issued via the system since June 2025, we are now able to get a centralised national picture of entries and events for the first time, as well as provide our members with a national calendar of events taking place throughout England to boost engagement
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EB held its Annual Women’s Winter Box Cup in December 2024, with 300 entrants and a record number of bouts occurring across the weekend. We’re proud to continue this tradition in our calendar year and look forward to another great event at the end of 2025
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32 boxers from EB’s cohort continue to fly the flag as part of the GB Boxing programme, showing that England continues to produce excellent athletes capable of competing with the best on the international circuit
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Following a transitional period, EB has been very proud to take a firm step towards progression by ending its membership with the IBA and steadfastly standing alongside World Boxing as the International Governing Body of the sport
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EB has been immensely proud to host the World Boxing Championships, showcasing the best boxers that the world has to offer in Liverpool – the home of boxing in England. Working alongside Liverpool City Council, UK Sport and a wide range of partners, EB has worked in support to organise not only a monumental event, but also an ambitious and effective legacy programme, including Liverpool’s Unsung Hero Awards and Literacy Kicks
A respected and valued NGB:
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Moving in step with modern developments, we were pleased to launch the EB Online Safeguarding course earlier this year, enabling coaches and volunteers to access the essential training from the comfort of their own home
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Our monthly consultation calls with Regional Committees continue to be held, enabling us to give regions a direct and regular point of contact to communicate on behalf of clubs. And with our soon-to-be-launched annual training programme for Regional Volunteers, we are pleased to support and receive support from our network of Regional Association volunteers in accordance with modern good governance and best practice
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EB has scheduled a new series of workshops for Ringside Doctors, enabling them to receive important training and development that will help them be competition-ready and able to safeguard our boxers better than ever before medically
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With the transition to The Locker, EB is pleased to move to a fully digital licensing system for coaches by issuing QR code licenses that provide real-time, live and accurate qualification records. This has enabled us to retire the now-dated and less accurate ‘coaching lanyard’ system, helping to safeguard coaches and the sport for the long term.