Open Letter to EB Clubs

Dear Club Members, 

It’s now time to launch The Locker – our new membership system will go live on 1st June. I’m writing to let you know how this will work, what changes we have made as a result of our consultations, and how you can get help and advice on how to use it. 

I believe that The Locker is more user-friendly than any previous system and I am very confident that our members will have more spare time, less administration, a better experience, and safer sport to engage with, thanks to the upcoming changes that are now possible under this new system.  

At the request of members we have put together  information and guidance including timelines for members to have clear sight of what to expect over the coming months, and this is available HERE. Please keep an eye on the England Boxing website over the coming days and weeks, both before and after The Locker goes live, when we will be announcing further workshops, video tutorials and guidance on how to get to grips with the new system. 

Over the last two months we have embarked on a national consultation process with members, clubs and regions. Our CSO’s, Senior Leadership Team members, Board Directors and sub-committee members have attended over 30 different meetings, both in person and online, with more scheduled over the coming weeks and months.  

In March, we also launched an online FAQ submission for you to ask us your questions and raise your concerns directly, and since then we have published our responses on our communications and posted them to our website HERE and HERE.  

We were greatly encouraged that the consultation process showed a strongly positive response to updating our system and moving many functions online, including the use of digital BCR1’s. At the same time we were made aware of a number of concerns, and I want to assure you that we have taken these seriously and have adapted our approach accordingly, including: 

• The proposal to charge £5 for Tier 1 members to cover insurance costs has been removed – we will keep it at £0 for all Tier 1 members, including recreational boxers 
• We recognise that competition fees are set by regions and need to reflect the different costs, so we won’t be introducing a new fee structure until we have had further consultation that takes this into account 
• We guarantee all EB member clubs that they will not be charged any extra for the use of the matchmaking system when it goes live. It will remain a free of charge benefit to our members at no extra cost in June 2025 
• And the England Boxing Refresher Course will not be rolled out as originally proposed – we will instead continue to consult with members and come up with a new way of providing development opportunities that our members are asking for 

We also know that many of you are concerned about the impact on doctors’ fees. Our medical experts have assured us that the introduction of The Locker won’t have an impact on the fees charged, doctors are used to online systems and generally prefer them. But we are aware that there is pressure on fees, largely caused by big increases in the insurance premiums required by doctors, and we are all actively looking at ways that we can alleviate this. 

We will continue to update our proposals and listen to our members to ensure that any changes have as little impact as possible. Most importantly, we still have time on our side with seven months to go before any changes are made to permits or championship entry fees, and 13 months to go before any updates are made to coaching course provision.  

Additionally, whilst some aspects of The Locker are essential to develop and improve our sport for the safety of our boxers and members, the system can still be updated, adapted and improved with your feedback.  

We want to hear from you to improve The Locker. We want to make your lives easier and reduce administrative processes. The development of a matchmaking and ranking system for example will save clubs time and money when it is launched in June 2025, whilst guaranteeing a far greater level of transparency and safety for our members for years to come, safeguarding our sport and its future.  

Whilst it will always be impossible to capture and implement the wishes of every EB member (almost 30,000 individuals at this time), England Boxing will always seek to operate with the sport and member’s best interests at heart.  

My message to you, the members of England Boxing, is to continue to talk and engage with us so that we can constructively and positively develop the sport together. At this time, we need to unify to ensure that the transition to The Locker is as smooth as possible for our members. The more we talk, the more we can understand each other and discover that what we have in common far outweighs that which divides us.   

Yours in Sport,  

                         Avoen Perryman (Head of Operations)