Using Martial Arts To Change Lives

Key Stats & Facts

The figures that highlight the priorities we set through our Charitable Programmes

Why The Facts?

We predicate all of our Charitable Programmes on the key facts surrounding the issue at hand.

Whilst a lot of our work is emotive and based on the collective experiences had by those who practice martial arts, we believe there should be a solid foundation and real demand for the core areas we try and improve in our society. We've consolidated some of the core facts that we believe highlight the issues we work to address.

  • Childhood Poverty

    • > A child is considered to be growing up in poverty if they live in a household whose income is 60% below the average (median) income in a given year.
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    • > Even before the pandemic, 4.3 million children were living in poverty in the UK, up 200,000 from the previous year – and up 500,000 over the past five years. That's 31% of children.
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    • > There were 4.3 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2019-20.1 That's 31 per cent of children, or nine in a classroom of 30.
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    • > 49 per cent of children living in lone-parent families are in poverty.3 Lone parents face a higher risk of poverty due to the lack of an additional earner, low rates of maintenance payments, gender inequality in employment and pay, and childcare costs. 
    •  
    • > Children from black and minority ethnic groups are more likely to be in poverty: 46 per cent are now in poverty, compared with 26 per cent of children in White British families.4
    • Work does not provide a guaranteed route out of poverty in the UK. 75 per cent of children growing up in poverty live in a household where at least one person works.5
    •  
    • > Children in large families are at a far greater risk of living in poverty – 47 per cent of children living in families with 3 or more children live in poverty.6
    •  
    • > Childcare and housing are two of the costs that take the biggest toll on families’ budgets. 
    • Between 1998 and 2003 reducing child poverty was made a priority - with a comprehensive strategy and investment in children - and the number of children in poverty fell by 600,000.7
    •  
    • > Removing the two-child limit and the benefit cap would lift 100,000s of children out of poverty.
    •  
    • > Increasing child benefit would substantially reduce child poverty as well as providing support to all families with the extra costs children bring.

    (Reference: Child Poverty Action Group)

     

     

  • Knife Crime

    > There has been a 29% increase in knife crime in England and Wales since 2011 alone.

    > 23 children aged just 17 or younger were murdered with a knife or sharp object in the 12 months to March 2020.

    > There were 275 Police-recorded murders involving a knife or sharp instrument in the 12 months to March 2020.

    > There have been 4620 admissions to hospitals in England for attacks by sharp objects between April 2019 and March 2020.

    > 42,549 offences were recorded in England and 1461 in Wales in the 12 months to March '21 with 10,150 in London alone.

    > 44,285 Police-recorded offences involve a knife or sharp instrument in the 12 months to March 2021. These are only recorded cases.

    (Reference: Benskinsella)

  • Violence Against Women & Girls

    • > One in five women has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 16 (MoJ, Home Office, ONS, 2013)

    • > Approximately 85,000 women are raped and over 400,000 women are sexually assaulted in England and Wales every year. (MoJ, Home Office, ONS, 2013)
    • Sexual violence is even more prevalent for younger women as one in three teenage girls has experienced some form of sexual violence from a partner. (University of Bristol for NSPCC, 2009)

    • > Coercive control or pressure is used much more frequently by partners than physical force, as 16% of girls have been raped using pressure and coercion and 6% have been raped using physical force. (University of Bristol for NSPCC, 2009)
    •  
    • > Young women and girls affected by gangs experience high levels of sexual violence including sexual exploitation, sexual assault, individual rape and multiple perpetrator rape. (University of Bedfordshire for the OCC, 2013)

    • > In 2013, the police recorded at least 1,052 reports of sexual violence in schools, of which 134 were reported as rape. (FOI, 2014)

    • > 31% of young women aged 18-24 report have experienced sexual abuse in childhood; 90% are abused by someone they know and 66% are abused by other children or young people under 18. (NSPCC, 2011)

    • > In 2012-2013, 22,654 sexual offences against under-18s were reported to police in England and Wales with four out of five cases involving girls. (NSPCC, 2014)

    • > Most women in the UK do not have access to a Rape Crisis Centre (Map of Gaps, 2007).
    • A third of people believe women who flirt are partially responsible for being raped (Amnesty, 2005)
    •  
    • > Conviction rates for rape are far lower than other crimes (Kelly, Lovett and Regan, A gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases, 2005). Only 5.7% of reported rape cases end in a conviction for the perpetrator.
    •  

    (Reference: EVAW)

  • Male Suicide
    • > In the UK, men are three times more likely to take their own lives than women. On average, 12 men in the British Isles take their own lives every day.

      > Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under 45. Yet, it’s not just young men that are at risk, as the highest suicide rate is for men aged 45-49 in the UK.

    (Reference: BEN)

    • > Middle-Aged men are at the greatest risk of suicide, with some struggling for years with poor mental health and suicidal thoughts and feelings. Despite experiencing many well-known risk factors for this group, many opportunities to help them at critical points before they reached crisis were missed. Importantly, the men spoken to didn't see community-based support services, focused on fostering connection and community, as relevant to them before they reached crisis. (Samaritans) 

     

  • Disability Inclusion
    • > Only two in five (40% of) disabled people feel they are given the opportunity to be as active as they would like to be.
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    > Disabled adults are twice as likely as non-disabled adults to be physically inactive (42% vs 21%).

    > Four in five (81% of) disabled people would like to be more active. Disabled people from lower socioeconomic groups are much more likely to be inactive than disabled people from higher socioeconomic groups (43% vs 28%).

    > Disabled people from lower socioeconomic groups are much more likely to be inactive than disabled people from higher socioeconomic groups (43% vs 28%).

    > In 2016, just 14% of non-disabled people were aware of having previously taken part in sport with disabled people. However, almost three quarters (73%) of non-disabled people said they were open to taking part in sport with disabled people.

    > Disabled people who are unemployed are much more likely to be inactive than disabled people who are employed (41% vs 26%).

    > In 2012-2014, disabled adults were much more likely than non-disabled adults to report being limited in leisure activities (28% vs 3%). Leisure activities include sport and physical activity, arts and entertainment, outdoor recreation, home-based leisure, visitor attractions and social activities.

    (Reference: Activity Alliance)