Ultra White Collar Boxing raises £10m for CRUK in four years
Melanie May | 30 November 2017 | News
Ultra White Collar Boxing (UWCB) has announced it has raised £10million for Cancer Research UK in just four years.
Launched in 2009, UWCB was created to give people with no boxing experience the opportunity to train with a professional boxing coach and then take part in a safe but competitive three round bout. Then in 2013, Founder Jon Leonard, who had previously worked as a warm up coach at Race for Life events across the Midlands, decided to start using the boxing events to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Since it began, 36,000 people have signed up to the events held in 100 towns and cities across the UK, all getting sponsored to take to the ring. Each participant receives eight weeks free training at a local partner gym with professional coaches. At the end of the training they are matched with an opponent from their group to take part in a competitive bout at a special black tie event in front of their family, friends and supporters.
Leonard said:
“We really had no idea how successful the events would become, but over the last few years people have really embraced the event. To have raised £10million for Cancer Research UK is absolutely incredible. The support we receive from those taking part and their family and friends sponsoring them is magnificent. The amount of money raised at each event is absolutely staggering and it continues to get bigger and better.”
Leonard is now aiming to raise £20m for the charity and has just started ballroom and martial arts variations following the fundraising model of UWCB with the aim of raising £1million per month across the three fundraisers.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.