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. 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.’[9]

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 provides 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.[10]

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.[11]

Explaining the challenges young people face today, Nick 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".[12]

Seeking to combat the rise in mental health issues, as well as anti-social behaviour, NMF launched its flagship initiative BoxWise in 2021, founded by Nick Maughan and Rick Ogden.[13][14] 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.[15][16]

BoxWise is currently active in fourteen locations across the UK, with two of its centres offering adaptive boxing classes to enable disabled young people to participate in the programme.[17] Its sites include five across London, as well as venues in Glasgow, Sheffield, Manchester, East Middlesbrough, Telford, Birmingham, and Wales.[18] Hundreds of young people have already graduated from its 13-week programme, however, as BoxWise quickly expands across the country, the organisation hopes to double the number of young people it currently reaches.[19]

BoxWise’s Advisory Board includes Mishcon de Reya’s Head of Mishcon Purpose Alexander Rhodes and Lord St. John of Bletso. 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.[20]

NMF’s other community philanthropy initiatives include supporting 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. [21]The centre is set to offer 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 has also donated £10,000 to the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital following a campaign led by professional boxer Tyson Fury.[22]

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.

NMF has committed £1m to support Tusk Trust, an anti-poaching charity of which Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, is the Royal Patron. NMF’s support helps Tusk further its mission to combat poaching, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflict.[23]

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.[24] 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.[25]

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.[26] 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.[27][28]

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.[29]