BoxWise has been an incredible journey for us since we first came up with the idea at a close mutual friend’s funeral in early 2019. The three of us grew up together in the same part of London, went to the same schools and lived the same experiences. His death was entirely preventable and was the final result of a path that he took as a younger man. At his best he was kind, charming and an enthusiastic youth worker in the community. At times he struggled with addictions that young people often need help to avoid. We wanted his legacy to be what he was passionate about, youth work and the reduction of youth violence, so by the end of the funeral BoxWise was born. Four years later we have delivered it in 47 gyms nationally, a handful of schools and run courses in Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Brazil, Egypt and Ireland. We’ve graduated a couple of thousand young people, many of whom were referred to us by police, social services, youth homeless charities like Centrepoint and schools. We’ve run specialist courses for Ukrainian refugees to help them integrate into the U.K., for women escaping domestic violence in Egypt, for disabled children and other groups for which we can have a high-impact. At the core however we have always focussed on giving discipline and purpose to the most challenged youth of the U.K. Those who are so often both victims and perpetrators of crime. We’ve worked tirelessly with active members of county lines gangs, we’ve focussed on reducing knife crime and helping to remediate stabbing events in the critical moments after they occur by funding the charity Street Doctors to train the BoxWise students in first aid with a specific emphasis on stabbing. Most of all we’ve worked to try to put young people on the best path possible for them and for society once they come through our doors. Sport and more importantly boxing has long been a social glue to bond communities and bring people together. Boxing is the first step to engage our target demographic, it is the conduit to successful youth work. The wider aim is to provide hope, opportunity and tangible outcomes for young people. Through this lens, Boxwise was born, offering a 10 week program, free hot meals, mentoring and opportunity in the forms of further education and employment opportunities. Over the last four years we have evolved the offering nationwide, partnering with some extraordinary charities to deliver more to our young people such as Centrepoint, Great Britain Disability Boxing and Street Doctors. By the end of 2025 over five thousand young people across the UK will have graduated a BoxWise program. With a significant number entering into employment, apprenticeships and having gained valuable life skills at our sessions. As we move from being a ‘social enterprise’ fully funded by the Nick Maughan Foundation to spinning off as a registered charity with a diverse funding base we are excited at the expansion opportunities that we know to be down the track. We offer our special thanks to all those who have been so kind with their time and advice since we started BoxWise, in particular to the BoxWise and NMF boards and more recently to the legendary Frank Warren. Here’s to doubling and redoubling the services we provide to the young people that we work with in the coming years. Rick Ogden & Nick Maughan, January 2024