Meet England Boxing’s new Head of Community Development

England Boxing is pleased to welcome Charlie Ford as its new Head of Community Development.

He takes up the role having spent the previous 13 months as the Interim Chief Operating Officer for Basketball England.

That time notably included leading on all aspects of Return to Play following the outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic (which allowed for the 2020-21 season to go ahead within the senior National Leagues) and driving forward Equality, Diversity and Inclusion reforms.

In all, Charlie has worked for 11 years in sport at all levels including in community, participation and workforce and more recently England and GB Talent pathways and programmes.

Prior to that, he spent nine years within the financial sector with Citi Group and Prudential in commercial and corporate banking.

Outside of work, Charlie is a former basketball player turned volunteer with the Derby Trailblazers Basketball Club, helping from a club administration and development perspective, as well as coaching at all levels of the game, from grassroots to international level.

“I am really excited to bring my experience, desire and passion to help drive the sport of boxing forward,” he said.

“Boxing is unique… it’s positioned within the heart of communities, led by people within the communities and has the potential and credibility to transform the lives of people who may be experiencing marginalisation in other aspects of their lives.

“The initial period of my tenure will include a significant amount of listening, understanding and identifying opportunities both in the immediate and longer term to support the recovery from the pandemic.

“Ultimately, we want to ensure that we create the conditions for a ‘better normal’.”

He can be contacted by emailing charlie.ford@englandboxing.org.