During a presentation ceremony held on Monday 3rd April, St Pauls Boxing Academy was awarded the prestigious Boxing England Clubmark accreditation which has been achieved following a rigorous process during which the academy worked closely with Matthew Williams, a national Sport England Clubmark Assessor.
Matthew said “It’s an honour to be presenting the award and certificate to the St Pauls Boxing Academy. This is truly a remarkable academy which has a rich history and a great future. The coaches, staff, boxers, committee and parents are fully engaged and have shown such passion for the achievement. I wish them continued success for the future”.
Head Coach, Mike Bromby, said “This is such a proud moment for the Academy and bears testament to the total hard work, dedication and endless hours of voluntary coaching and training carried out by all the coaches and support team. It is also an achievement for all the parents, boxers and keep fit enthusiasts who attend week in and week out to both improve their boxing skills as well as their fitness and wellbeing. I take such great pleasure seeing young people develop and take their place in the community. I like to think that St Pauls Boxing Academy through its amateur boxing programme and code offers a vehicle in which to do just that. It’s what gets me out of bed every morning”
Barrie May, The Academy Development Officer said “The St Pauls Management Committee took a decision some twelve months ago that we wanted to gain Clubmark status as part of our commitment to continuously improve the gym and the boxing programme we offer to the community. I was asked to lead the project and jumped at the chance. I worked very closely with the coaches, the committee, boxers and parents to help make the improvements. It was very much a collective effort. So hats off to everyone.
The gaining of Clubmark status is a guarantee to everyone that St Pauls Boxing Academy is a high quality gym that insists on high standards all round.
This specific award is a unique achievement as it is based on the new on line clubmark process which has been recently introduced. St Pauls is the first amateur boxing club based in the UK to achieve the award following this new and more comprehensive process. It was challenging at times but has been so worth it. I would advise any club who wants to improve itself to consider following this route”.
He added, “Clubmark provides assurance to parents and carers that the gym takes its duty of care seriously by ensuring it has up to date and effective child protection policies and procedures in place, it recognizes the gym delivers high quality coaching by fully qualified and experienced coaches, that it offers an inclusive, friendly and welcoming environment, and that the gym is well managed with links in the community”.
Sport England Chief Executive, Jennie Price, said:
“Clubmark is having a huge impact on grassroots sport across the country. Since Clubmark went online in May 2016, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of clubs applying for Clubmark to show their club meets high standards in playing programme, club management, duty of care & welfare and knowing their club & community.”
“It’s great to see St Pauls Boxing Academy join the list of successful clubs to become Clubmark accredited.”
Mike confirmed that the achievement of clubmark will now provide a further springboard for the gym to raise the funds it needs to make the improvements that are being planned for the building. He said “We have ambitious plans for the future development of the gym, with a membership of some 250 we are still growing and so we need to keep moving forward in terms of facilities, equipment and the coaching programme we offer.”