THE UK MARTIAL ARTS' FIRST

Club Grants Scheme

A cash grants scheme, self-funded, to support our members.

The BMABA Club Grants Programme is the first of its kind in UK martial arts. Entirely self-funded from our own revenue, receiving zero external support, we're re-investing right back into our clubs. Crucial support - from cash grants to funded provisions - across club growth, crisis support, charitable endeavours and more.

Clubs can apply on a monthly basis for multiple £500 cash grants, or benefits in kind (services and equipment we supply at no cost) if its more effective.

Club Development Fund (CDF)

Our Club Development Fund is open to all clubs, regardless of style, size or setup. Funds can be used for any capital purchase - whether that's mats for the dojo, contributions to a company vehicle, expansion of your gym, investment in office equipment or just about anything else aimed at helping your club grow.

Charitable Projects

Whether it's tackling violence against women and girls, helping men's mental health through workshops, tackling knife crime and youth violence, championing inclusion, supporting veterans or providing a funded place for children in poverty; our charitable projects fund helps you and your club make a real, lasting difference in the community.

Crisis Funding

If your club finds itself in the position of a sudden, unforeseen crisis that threatens to close an otherwise viable setup, our funding can help step-in and provide immediate financial relief.

Misc. Projects

Whether it's research projects centred on martial arts or something completely outside of the usual funding categories, we'll hear out your project and fund it if we can.

Existing Member? Click here to apply for grants and find out more.

Award Winning Charitable Change

We're In Your Corner

We're On A Mission To Fund Some Of The Most Meaningful Martial Arts In The UK

Whilst upward of 85% of applications we receive every month are worthy of funding, we can only provide cash grants to a fraction of this figure. We allocate multiple £500 grant payments to try and get as much funding as we can ‘on the ground’ across the widest profile of clubs and communities.

Any BMABA club that has been with us for atleast 6 months and has an account in good standing is free to apply. If you’re unsuccessful you can re-apply the following month.

Whilst we can’t guarantee every club will receive funding, we will continue to increase the amount of funding available and the size of the grants we run to help as many clubs and instructors as possible grow and make an impact in their communities.

Click here for the full guidance on the grant programme, including what we will and won’t fund, and how it works >>

What's the catch, and where's the money coming from?

You'll find the full details here but in short, there isn't one. It's not that complicated. We're re-investing our own money - the revenue we raise through memberships, subscriptions and merchandise etc - back into our membership base. It's an effective and fast way for us to make lasting change across the United Kingdom. Ultimately, it's a good incentive to be with BMABA but we don't want clubs joining just for funding - partly because there's no guarantee every club will access the fund, but more importantly it's because we need our members to be behind the mission that BMABA is on, and to feel apart of the community. If that's the case and we can help inject much needed funds - all the better.

We've been keen on social change since day 1, and our Fighting Chance Foundation helps make that happen.

In addition to our day to day work growing the core association and supporting clubs, our Fighting Chance Foundation works hard to effect social change on a national level, impacting grass roots matters with martial arts at its core. We do this by investing our own revenue into our grant programme, to help make as much change as possible.

Some Of What We've Funded

All of our grants are 100% self-funded, without any external support, grants or funding.

Trauma Informed Self Defence For Survivors Of Sexual Abuse

A specialist collection of short-courses for women and girls with lived experience of post traumatic stress following sexual abuse and rape.

Purchase Of Equipment For Youth Martial Arts & Boxing Club

Purchase of multiple sets of otherwise unaffordable boxing gloves and martial arts equipment to assist a class aimed solely at local young adults, helping to provide safe and effective equipment to ensure the after club could continue to receive young people into safe, structured martial arts training.

Crash Mats & Floor Mats For Not-For-Profit Club

Assistance purchasing and fully equipping a dedicated martial arts facility for a not-for-profit dojo helping disadvantaged children within the community.

Funding Scholarships For Children In Poverty

Through both dedicated scholarship applications and via our requirement for clubs receiving non-charitable funding to provide a free place for children in need, we’ve secured dozens of funded placements for children of all ages, right across the UK. This offers a route through martial arts and the various benefits attached to it, as well as for those gifted a chance to become an instructor when 18, fully funded.

ClubManager by BMABA is our in-house, professionally developed Club Management solution. It’s free for all of our members and comes with a tonne of essential and groundbreaking features as standard.

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