A COLCHESTER Team GB boxer is taking part in a national programme which aims to drive positive change.

Lewis Richardson, 26, is a silver and bronze medal-winning middleweight boxer taking part in UK Sport's ‘Powered By Purpose’ scheme. 

This initiative, which went through a successful pilot scheme last year, will help funded athletes use their platform to inspire, facilitate, and enable beneficial social change. 

The sportsman will be one of 21 athletes from 16 sports which will take part in the programme.

Each member enrolled will take on personalised workshops and support that will help them better understand the power of sport and how they can use their platforms for the greater good.

This whole programme was inspired after UK Sport, a government body that focuses on the investment of Olympic and Paralympic sport, conducted an athlete consultation. It found that 86 per cent of athletes on the “world class programme want to use their platform to make a difference to society whilst they are still competing”.

Speaking about his involvement with the initiative, Lewis states he has always wanted to play a helpful role within the community.

He said: “I have always been keen to play a role within the community and be a positive role model - for young people especially - but I have never really had a structure to help me understand the best way to do this.

“So I hope that Powered by Progress will provide me with this and give me guidance and advice on ways that I can make a real change in the communities that matter to me.

“I think it will give me an educational understanding of how you can present yourself and tell your story to inspire both the current and future generation, whether that’s people locally or nationally.

“I think this programme overall will support and push me on to becoming a better version of myself and with that, a better role model for others, particularly those people from a similar background to me.”

The ‘Powered By Purpose’ scheme is being facilitated in partnership with the True Athlete Project and will run until March 2024.