Nick Maughan Foundation

Committed to narrowing the educational attainment gap between wealthy and disadvantaged students, the Nick Maughan Foundation helps young people from families below the median-income level have the same opportunities as those from more fortunate backgrounds.[6][7][8]

Recognising that the educational attainment gap has only widened during the pandemic, NMF's Founder Nick Maughan explains in Conservative Home, 'All young people have been dealt a bad hand by the indirect effects of the pandemic: school closures, disrupted social lives, stifled educations, scuppered paths to university, the looming prospect of insurmountable debt, and diminished prospects for gainful employment.[9] However, some young people are more equal than others... as children from more disadvantaged backgrounds are more adversely affected by the direct and indirect effects of such measures.'[10]

Seeking to close the educational gap, the Foundation works to identify suitable opportunities to award grants and scholarships to high-achieving children from families below the median-income level, as well as provide funding for under-resourced schools. NMF also funds academically gifted children from low-income families to attend elite private schools in London, including Putney High School[11]

The Nick Maughan Foundation is dedicated to helping plug the gaps left by more than £500m worth of cuts to Britain's national youth work budgets since 2011, which have left vulnerable young people without safe havens through which to develop their skills and talents outside the classroom. NMF targets its funding towards organisations and initiatives that promote opportunity among disadvantaged young people.[12]

Explaining the challenges young people face today, Maughan writes in City A.M., "It's little wonder that the youth of today are unenthused about the promise of tomorrow, nor that their mental health is in a perilous state. The charity Samaritans has found a major spike in anxiety and depressive symptoms among this cohort. This once again will primarily be concentrated among the worst-off, who are more likely to have missed out on educational opportunities or had their fledgling careers damaged".[13]

Seeking to combat the rise in mental health issues, as well as anti-social behaviour, NMF launched its flagship initiative BoxWise[14] in 2020, founded by Nick Maughan and Rick Ogden.[15][16] Offering a 10-week boxing programme delivered entirely by England Boxing coaches, BoxWise helps young people with their personal fitness and mental wellbeing while also offering progression routes to help its graduates enter further education or step into gainful employment.[17][18] Many of BoxWise's students are referred by local police and social services, with which BoxWise works closely to maximise the social benefit of its impact. Other students are referred to BoxWise from a range of youth services, including the UK's leading youth homeless charity Centrepoint of which Prince William, The Prince of Wales is the Royal Patron.[19][20][21]

BoxWise is currently active in 42 locations across the UK, with two of its centres offering adaptive boxing classes to enable disabled young people to participate in the programme.[22] Its sites include five across London, as well as venues in Glasgow, Sheffield, Manchester, East Middlesbrough, Telford, Birmingham, and Wales.[23] Thousands of young people have already graduated from its 10-week programme, and the organisation continues to expand the number of young people that it reaches.[24]

BoxWise also operates in South Africa, Uganda, Ireland, and Brazil, with programmes launching in other countries including Tanzania in 2023. Amongst the programmes offered are a course in Eastleigh Boxing Club dedicated to helping Ukrainian refugees adjust to life in the U.K.,[25] and a number of female only courses that encourage young women to pick up the sport.[26]

BoxWise's Advisory Board includes Mishcon de Reya's Head of Mishcon Purpose Alexander Rhodes, Lord St. John of Bletso and English Boxing manager and promoter Frank Warren[27]. BoxWise is also represented by celebrity ambassadors that include professional boxers Hannah Rankin, Lawrence Okolie, Anthony Crolla, and Joshua Buatsi, as well as entrepreneur Ayo Gordon.[28] The charity is also actively engaged in researching the role that sports can play in the furtherance of civil society through youth crime reduction. In partnership with The Centre for Social Justice, the Nick Maughan Foundation led a substantial national research project.[29] In September 2023, the Nick Maughan Foundation led a further research project in partnership with The Centre for Social Justice,[30] focused on transforming young lives through sport. The paper details BoxWise’s innovative efforts across the UK.[31]

Floyd Steadman, former captain of Saracens FC, made OBE in the Kings’ Honours List 2023, serves on the BoxWise advisory board said that the solution to knife crime lies in “…creating the environment to stop people from turning to a life of crime in the first place. That’s why I’m proud to support BoxWise, a non-profit social enterprise launched by the Nick Maughan Foundation that works with accredited England Boxing coaches nationwide in a safe and controlled environment to provide young people with professional training in boxing, guidance and mentorship".[32]

As an example of its work with communities internationally, the Nick Maughan Foundation is also actively involved in developing and funding social infrastructure projects in Africa.[33]

NMF Maternity Centre

The Nick Maughan Maternity Centre is a new purpose-built medical facility specialising in childbirth, infant and women's health with the capacity to safely deliver more than 3,000 babies every year. The Centre strives to dramatically reduce the rates of neo-natal and maternal deaths in Uganda – currently one of the highest in the world. Along with the NMF Medical Centre, these facilities ease the high pressure for healthcare services, improving the quality of life of local residents.[34][35]

The foundation has funded the construction of a large new secondary school developed with operating partners Spotlight On Africa. The NMF Riverside School has capacity for over 1,250 children in the Namatala region, hugely increasing the number of primary school students that proceed to secondary education.[36]

The school includes a state-of-the-art IT centre to teach valuable technology skills, dormitories for children who need to board and first-class sports facilities.

In August 2023, The Nick Maughan Foundation announced the creation of the first purpose-built technology training academy in Mbale District, Uganda. Teaching staff are provided by the IT Department at Livingstone University and the centre provides seven different levels of courses – from basic IT skills to coding classes. The centre is powered by its own solar panels which are fitted to the roof of the building and it boasts the record of having the first Starlink in Uganda.[37]

NMF's other community philanthropy initiatives include funding the Glasgow based Charlie Miller Football Academy, founded by the former Premier League footballer. NMF is also a major donor to the youth support charity Berkshire Youth Trust, through which the Foundation has contributed to the Trust's reconstruction of the Waterside Centre in Newbury.[38] The centre offers a range of activities from sport to music, as well as counselling services and vocational training to help young people make successful transitions to adulthood.

NMF donated £10,000 to the Alder Hey Children's Hospital following a campaign led by professional boxer Tyson Fury.[39]

The Foundation is also committed to reversing the climatic effects brought on by the accelerated pace of fossil fuel use for power, industry and transport. By donating to organisations effective in carbon reduction, sequestration and wildlife conservation, NMF works to build a safer planet for future generations.[40]

NMF donated over £1m to support Tusk Trust, an anti-poaching charity of which The Prince of Wales, is the Royal Patron. NMF's support helps Tusk further its mission to combat poaching, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflict.[41]

Specific initiatives NMF has supported include the Tusk Lion Trail – an international street art exhibition aiming to raise awareness of the magnificence of lions and the threats facing them today.[42] Sponsoring life-sized lion sculptures designed by the likes of actor John Clease and Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood, the global art installation raised £1.1m for conservation projects.[43]

NMF also sponsors Tusk's annual Conservation Awards, including the Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award, which seeks to recognise an individual dedicated to protecting Africa's wildlife.[44] Previous winners include Amos Gwema from Zimbabwe, a wildlife intelligence officer that works with local communities to dismantle poaching networks, and Suleiman Saidu, a park ranger that works to protect elephants in Yankari National Park in Nigeria. Recognising the unsung conservation heroes of today, the award hopes to inspire the environmental leaders of tomorrow.[45][46]

In addition, NMF sponsors the annual Tusk Conservation Symposium.[47]

NMF has also matched all donations up to £150,000 made to Tusk through The Times newspaper's 2020 Annual Christmas Appeal, with the additional funding going towards protecting endangered animals and the livelihoods of thousands of local farmers.[48]