There is a chance for you to help by visiting our GoFundMe Campaign and sharing it with friends and family
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Link to share: https://www.gofundme.com/manage/safari-mma-faces-collapse-sports-club/
It is no understatement to say that Safari MMA has literally saved lives, and this very platform which has taken 10 years of dedicated work to engage communities across the UK who ordinarily wouldn’t participate in sport, is on the brink of collapse. Before the first lockdown Safari MMA was spread across 11 locations in major cities in the UK.
Safari MMA is in critical need of financial support, with no idea of when lockdowns will lift, and when classes will be able to return without social distancing in place. The forecast for the next financial year, without support or a full lift of social distancing, is set for the company to collapse with a forecasted loss of £49,292 for 2021-2022, a debt that would cost not only jobs, but hundreds of members to lose the one thing that has kept them going for so many years.
Why Safari MMA needs your support?
The team’s main goal is to engage the disengaged groups in the community in sport, primarily, but not exclusively through Martial Arts, with specialist focus on trying to engage women and youth who ordinarily wouldn’t consider getting involved in sport, or more importantly have cultural barriers where sport is seen inappropriate for women to be involved in. Khadijah Safari has spent the past 10 years breaking down barriers by working within these communities herself, as a woman of religious belief she’s been able to successfully educate and lead a change in community’s understanding of sport and has brought about a shift in the way the sport is viewed by the BAME community and also women of religious belief. The work has since far extended part this to bring focus on out-reach work, helping with mental health prevention, socio-economic groups, victims of domestic violence, concern for youth, crime prevention and self belief in children. Safari MMA has been running online live sessions during this period at a cost, just to keep people active, however the period of needing to open when lockdowns lift will come at a further cost, as social distancing will mean that running costs are higher, with less members being able to attend class, meaning that classes run at an expense. If we can get support during this transition period then we can come out healthy on the other side.
Who you’d be helping?
For the majority of members at Safari MMA, there is no alternative. This is their only means to access sport in an environment that considers their needs, where they feel mentally safe and can unite and feel equal in society. To keep Safari MMA running would mean keeping the one place open, for many that gets them through their week, and more often than not is their therapy. You’d not only keep the company running but you’d also be assisting those members and potential members who due to current circumstances are not able to afford to train, from children through to adults, many of whom are extremely vulnerable.
Your contribution matters
As we see sports clubs crumbling by the day as a result of this pandemic, we will fight and do all that we can to keep Safari MMA open, and your contribution could bring reward for you for many years to come, as you’ll never know how much you really could have changed someone’s life for the better.
And if you can’t afford to contribute? Please just share with friends and family, your time is appreciated.
