Our Partners

The main partnership at the Centre consists of...

• Bulldogs Boxing and Community Activities, as the lead body delivering community focussed activities 

and 

• Port Talbot Boxing Club who train boxing as a sport.

Jobcentreplus

We have a major partnership with both Neath and Port Talbot Jobcentres. We have direct contact with JCP Workcoaches who refer unemployed 18-24 years of age onto The 5 Pillar Programme. Sian, our Encouragement Mentor works intensely with these young people and with local businesses identifying vacancies and placing suitable Bulldogs members into employment. We match the young person to a vacancy and pride ourselves on achieving excellent ratio’s of referrals to job outcomes.

Fight for Peace

After a rigorous process we have been selected as a  proud member of the Fight for Peace (FFP) Global Alumni Partnership (GAP) (www.fightforpeace.net) whose  Academies  create Social Impact within Rio and London using Boxing and Martial Arts, with a Theory of Change  based on assumptions that concrete changes in young person’s behaviour, activity or situation, are dependent on changes in perspective and  perception of themselves and of others, their motivation, and how they make decisions.

The GAP model integrates 120 organisations using boxing and martial arts as a tool not just as sport. Boxing is a powerful tool when harnessed into community development helping break down multiple barriers within areas of multiple disadvantage. Bulldogs BCA has adapted the FFP 5 Pillar methodology to suit the communities we work within. We have adopted and adapted principles, without losing the vision led from the initial FFP Academies.

  

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council (NPTCBC)

Bulldogs BCA  has worked hard to create stakeholder partners with a number of local based services, these include:

• ·      NPT Youth Service – a partnership helping us work with young people.
• ·      NPT YOT – (Youth Offending Team), a partnership helping the YOT team provide an exit route for young offenders. We work closely with the YOT team providing fitness based activities and integrating the 5 Pillar support programme to help young offenders into employment / further learning and to remove themselves from the criminal justice system.
• ·      NPT LACES – (Looked After Children Education Services). A partnership funded by BBC Children in Need providing respite activities based upon fitness for young children in care and their foster carers.
• ·      Hillside Secure Unit – A partnership working with young offenders.
•  ·    Sandfields Comprehensive School – Working with young pupils who are bordering disaffection, helping them develop motivation to work towards their GCSE’s.

Armed Forces Veterans Stakeholders

·      SSAAFA – The lead military charity organisations meet at the Armed Forces Drop In every Friday morning at 10.30am at The Bulldogs.  Working with Veterans and Veterans organisations providing free gym related activities and access to SSAFA and The Bulldogs 5 Pillar programme. SSAFA as the lead organisation act as the safeguarding organisation ensuring all activities for Veterans are conducted and regulated within recognised authorities.

·      Poppy Factory – Helping Veterans into employment.

·      Bulldogs BCA currently employs 2 Veterans and has 4 Veterans volunteering at The Bulldogs Development Centre.

Our Values

 

Mission

To produce Champions in the Ring and Champions in Life who fulfil their broader potential - by raising aspirations, making better and informed life choices, becoming more self-confident and progressing in education and employment.

Inspiring

Inspiring champions through courage, unity and respect. We encourage a belief and self-confidence in young people, boxers and staff through a combination of wisdom and imagination.

Champions

We are motivated to succeed by a champion’s determination, dedication and desire for achievement. Our champions exist in and out of the ring.

Courage

We show persistence and strength to do the right thing in the face of opposition. We strive to overcome adversity in life and in the ring.

Unity

We welcome all into our Bulldogs family, working together with a loyalty and trust that cannot be broken.

Respect

We encourage equality and opportunity without exclusion within our team, our communities and the young people we work with. We believe everyone has the chance to earn respect.

Exciting Terms - Our New Extension starts soon!!

Exciting times at The Bulldogs in Baglan! We have secured 

funding  from Welsh Government and Neath Port Talbot 

Armed Forces Covenant, to extend the Bulldogs Development 

Centre.

Work will be starting in January 2016 and scheduled to be 

completed by May 2016. The whole Bulldogs team has 

worked hard to get to this stage. We are so much more than

a boxing club. From humble beginnings to this. The artist 

impression shows how far we have developed.

Bulldogs - making a difference for the next generation!!

The Bulldogs has been formed to use the power of boxing as a tool to give the next generation of young people from Port Talbot and it’s surrounding areas a fighting chance in life. We have been honed by the fact that many of our staff and volunteers have had a tremendous amount out of sport. It is not just about boxing – we have competition sport and a ‘train like a fighter without the fight’ programme for those who do not want contact.

We believe it is now our chance to create something special for the next generation that not only provides a sporting context but also changes them as young people on their road to adulthood. As a partner of the Fight for Peace Global Alumni Partnership we have developed a 5 Pillar methodology that provides a mix and match programme suitable for all.

Using boxing and fitness as a hook to engage the 5 pillars are made up of:

1) Personal Development 

2) Mentoring 

3) Education / Employment

4) Boxing / Fitness 

5) Community / Volunteering

These Pillars are an adaption of the proven "Fight for Peace" methodology. We have adapted their model to suit our community and the problems associated with Port Talbot. The theory being if it works in areas such as the Favelas in Rio, London and  Belfast then it will work in our area. 

About Us

From humble beginnings as a small traditional boxing club formed in 2008, the Bulldogs BCA Partnership has evolved into a thriving community focussed organisation, that has harnessed the power of boxing to use as a means of personal development as well as a sport.

After securing funding for our new gym in 2012 from the Welsh Government, the Boxing club has gone from strength to strength. After wide consultation the Boxing club has evolved and on April 8^th 2014 the "Bulldogs Boxing & Community Activities" was registered as a Registered Charity. We aim to utilise our experiences to deliver community activities in addition to boxing to meet the needs of young boxers and young people in the community.

A partnership was formed between the two organisations known as Bulldogs BCA. It has secured further funding from Welsh Government and Ministry of Defence Armed Forces Covenant, to convert the boxing club into a community hub which will be completed by May 2016. 

We are now consolidating, integrating and scaling to deliver a permanent and ongoing holistic service for people from across Neath Port Talbot and the Swansea Bay Region.  The Charity is the main focus of the partnership on community activities and creating multi-agency stakeholders, whilst Bulldogs Boxing provides the sporting element.

As a member of the Fight for Peace Global Alumni Partnership, we are part of a network of over 120 organisations in 24 countries all using a similar 5 Pillar methodology.

www.bulldogsbca.org