Team GB will join forces with boxing and martial arts charity Fight for Peace as it continues its preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The partnership will look to encourage inspirational exchanges between Olympians, athletes, coaches and young people as Team GB look to make a positive impact on the wider community in Rio.
As part of the relationship, Team GB will seek to provide expertise and counsel for staff as well as facilitating visits from athletes and running training workshops for coaches at both of the Fight for Peace Academies in London and Rio.
Both organisations will also work together with Team GB’s youth engagement programme, Get Set; encouraging healthy, active lifestyles, communicating the Olympic Values and sharing content about preparations and plans for Rio 2016.
The charity’s founder Luke Dowdney MBE sees the partnership as a great chance to add the experience of Team GB to Fight for Peace, which perfectly complements the work the charity already carries out.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to have access to the expertise and talent of Team GB and we are really excited about the opportunities ahead,” said Dowdney.
“We believe the partnership will help to improve our sport performance programme, which plays a vital part in attracting young people to our Academies and away from an alternative life of crime and violence."
As one of the team’s charity partners for the Games, Fight for Peace combine sports with education and personal development in communities affected by crime and violence in both London and Rio.
Founded in 2000 by former amateur boxer Dowdney, the charity began with the aim of providing an alternative to the armed violence and crime that can affect young residents in Rio’s favelas.
Today Fight for Peace support over 2,500 young people each year and by the end of 2015 will have trained 91 organisations and helped more than 100,000 young people living in communities affected by gun crime around the world.
Bill Sweeney, CEO of the British Olympic Association, believes the common values that Fight for Peace and Team GB hold will lead to a lasting legacy in Rio once the Games themselves are over.
“Team GB and Fight for Peace share a core belief – that sport can transform lives,” said Sweeney.
“This partnership will enable us to share expertise and resources, helping Fight for Peace to continue their great work and helping us to have a presence and voice in Rio as we prepare for the Games.
“We are looking forward to working with the team to ensure that Team GB has a positive impact in Rio and Brazil in the run up to, during and after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.”