A Tale of Two Cities - Giving Youth a Fighting Chance

Description

About the event

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Two seemingly unrelated organisations are finding innovative ways to support youth in vulnerable situations, and promote community safety. We hear from a youth boxing therapy charity from Bristol and an office for violence prevention from Edmonton, Canada – both working to reduce violence an ocean away.

Empire Fighting Chance uses a powerful combination of non-contact boxing and intensive personal support to challenge and inspire young people aged 8 to 25 to realise their unique potential.

REACH Edmonton Council for Safe Communities is a non-profit agency that acts as a hub for coordination, action, and focus on community safety and well-being. (Think of them as the ‘glue’ that brings and holds collaborative partnerships together.) They’ve been touted internationally for their work as an office for violence prevention, which is an entity whose central mandate is to prevent different forms of violence.

After meeting at an urban peace conference in Columbia, the two organisations are bringing international lessons to improve support for youth in their respective cities. Now, Bristol is on the brink of creating its own office for violence prevention inspired by REACH. And in Edmonton, local not-for-profits are banding together to build a youth boxing program modeled after Empire Fighting Chance.

About the organisations

Empire Fighting Chance delivers four psychologically informed non-contact boxing programmes that help young people get back into education, exit gangs, and reduce youth violence. They also share the impact and methodology of their programmes to a network of boxing clubs, mental health services, and community based organisations across the UK and the world. And, they fight alongside their network for political and policy change to reduce social inequality and amplify the impact and success of early intervention sport based programmes.

REACH Edmonton Council for Safe Communities is a highly-trusted organization in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that brings together community, service agencies and government to get things done, with the ultimate aim of preventing violence to create safer communities. REACH plays a convening role, leading or supporting more than 30+ community partnerships in areas that have an upstream effect on community safety and well-being such as child, youth and family well-being; and mitigating addiction and mental health problems.

About Martin Bisp

Martin is the co-founder and CEO of multi-national award-winning organisation Empire Fighting Chance. He started his career within the financial and investment sector but, whilst volunteering at the Empire amateur boxing club in Bristol, him and his co-founder Jamie Sanigar witnessed a drug deal. They went over and intervened which eventually led to the creation of Empire Fighting Chance. Using a combination of non-contact boxing, therapy, and psychology they work on programmes that look to address the underlying reasons young people are referred. The work has been so successful that Empire now trains and supports organisations across the UK and globally to deliver their model. Last year this work impacted the lives of over 15,000 people.

Martin has also worked with national and city governments, is part of a global partnership network of only 30 cities and 40 organisations worldwide working towards the prevention and reduction of urban violence. He has also created international partnerships with organisations and cities across Latin and North America, working with them on innovative models of violence prevention. He was named as one of the UK’s top 100 change makers.

About Jan Fox

As Executive Director for REACH Edmonton Council for Safe Communities, Jan believes the best solutions come from community. She was a driver in establishing the Alberta Office to Combat Trafficking as well as the Provincial #NotinMyCity Provincial Network that she now co-chairs. She also served on the Alberta Human Trafficking Task Force. Outside REACH, Jan co-chairs the Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention (CMNCP), represents Edmonton in the global Peace in Our Cities network, and leads the new Rotary Indigenous Committee. She is also a consultant with Robcan Group. Previously, Jan managed labour relations issues with the Government of Canada, and was warden at the Edmonton Institution for Women where she founded Women in Police and Corrections.

Accolades include the YWCA Lois E. Hole Lifetime Achievement, Women of Vision Award, Association of Professional Executives Partnership Award, Institute of Public Administrators Teamwork Award, and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Programme

Accessibility

UWE Bristol welcomes all abilities/disabilities, ages, ethnicities, and genders to our events. If you have any questions, concerns or additional requirements then please let us know, by contacting events@uwe.ac.uk, so that we can make your time at this event as comfortable as possible.

Venue information:

• Disabled parking: No
• Step-free access: Yes
• Accessible toilets: Yes
• Assisted Listening: Yes
• Guide/assistance dog-friendly: Yes
• Quiet spaces available: Yes