Report A Safeguarding Concern
RAISING A CONCERN
** IMPORTANT **
Before raising your concern, please read these important FAQs to make sure you understand how and where we can help.
I have an immediate concern about the safety of a child or adult at risk
If you have any immediate concerns that a child or adult at risk may be at risk, you should report this to the Police on 999.
Whilst we will always escalate concerns to appropriate agencies, we can’t always ensure an immediate response so its important you escalate any immediate threats, concerns or worries to a competent authority who can act now.
If in doubt, call 999 and ask for the Police.
Can you investigate any instructor or club?
No. We can only investigate clubs who are registered with BMABA.
There’s no regulator in martial arts, and no singular governing body so it’s up to each individual organisation to oversee the conduct of clubs associated with them.
With this in mind, we can only oversee clubs directly registered with BMABA – British Martial Arts & Boxing Association (not to be confused with similar sounding organisations).
If you’re not sure whether or not an instructor is registered with us, please search here first.
Do you handle all complaints?
If your concern relates to a BMABA club, please raise it with us and we’ll do our best to help.
We have no authority over clubs registered to us as we’re a trade body, not a regulator – but that said, we can and do take action against clubs ‘flying the BMABA banner’ and acting in anyway that might bring our good name into disrepute.
We can’t always take sides or reach conclusions in matters that may occur outside of the martial arts setting or matters of a commercial nature, but we’ll do our best.
If it relates to safeguarding or compliance, we’ll always take prompt action.
Who at BMABA will handle my report?
All concerns raised are triaged to our specialist DSLs (Designated Safeguarding Leads) who are employees of BMABA and in place solely to serve our core missions and values. We never farm out any safeguarding information or cases to instructors or committees, so there is never a risk of politics or friendships getting in the way of prompt action being taken.
Raise Your Concern
E-Mail safeguarding@bmaba.org.uk directly.
Concerned About a Club or Instructor?
If you have any safeguarding concerns — no matter how small, uncertain, or seemingly irrelevant they may feel — we strongly encourage you to contact us. All concerns are taken seriously and are handled in line with our ISO 9001:2015-audited safeguarding governance, which is led by a qualified Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and supported by our senior management team.
Please email safeguarding@bmaba.org.uk directly with as much information as you feel confident sharing. We ask for email contact rather than an online form to help ensure data security and to allow us to reach you using your preferred method of communication, should we require clarification or need to follow up confidentially.
We can only take direct safeguarding action in relation to BMABA-registered clubs and instructors. However, if your concern involves a non-affiliated club or coach, we will do our best to signpost you to the correct governing body, and where appropriate, can recommend external statutory services such as the NSPCC, LADO, or Police.
To help us investigate effectively, please include:
The name of the club
A link to the club’s website (if available)
The full name of the lead instructor (if known)
A clear description of your concern or what you’ve observed
Even if you’re unsure whether something is worth reporting, we’d rather you reach out and let us take a look. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility — and your voice could make a crucial difference.