The Bates Foundation

For every child who trains with us in the UK, ten more train on a scholarship

The Warrior Academy UK is one of the biggest supporters of The Bates Foundation, our charity bringing martial arts, character development and weekly meals to vulnerable children around the world. When your child trains with us, they are part of something much bigger than one club.

See how it works Visit the foundation
A Kenyan boy in a Bates Foundation uniform in a ready stance, looking straight at the camera
15,000+children taught every week on scholarships
10 to 1scholarship students for every UK student
10,000+children in East Africa, most in slum schools
8 yearsof character development, into adulthood
Watch the documentary

Into The Beating Heart Of Africa

Follow our founder into the schools and slums of Kenya where our scholarship students train.

A Kenyan class throwing high kicks together
1. How it started

Thirty boys in a Nairobi shelter

Our founder, Sebastian Bates, visited a shelter in Nairobi that was home to 30 boys taken off the streets. He started a Warrior Academy class there, teaching the same character development programme our UK students follow. Within months the boys were going to school more often.

Three years on, The Bates Foundation is the largest martial arts academy in Eastern Africa. It has taught a single class of 1,000 children at once, and it keeps growing.

2. What a scholarship gives a child

The same 3 C's your child learns, plus a meal and a future

Scholarship students learn confidence, conduct and concentration through martial arts, just like our students in Salisbury, Bath and Shaftesbury. For many of them it is the most stable part of their week.

A young child eating fruit at a school meal in Kenya

Food every week

Children in our scholarship academies are given food every week, so they can focus, learn and train.

A female instructor helping a young boy with his uniform

Local instructors and uniforms

Classes are taught by local instructors who run their own locations, with uniforms and clothing provided. Because we invest in local instructors, every child we support has the very best mentors on their side, guiding them through childhood and giving them a better chance in adulthood.

A Kibera student holding up his tournament medal

Belts, gradings and medals

Scholarship students grade and compete just like ours do at Summer Samurai, earning belts and medals they are proud of.

Two boys in Bates Foundation uniforms smiling on a school bench

An eight-year journey

Our character programme runs for eight years, taking children all the way into adulthood with mentors who believe in them.

Around 1,000 children in white uniforms training together in one class in Kenya

One class, around 1,000 children, in Kenya.

3. Where we teach

From Kenya to the Himalayas

East AfricaOur biggest programme. More than 10,000 children, most in slum schools in Kenya and beyond, with a local head of operations on the ground.
NepalRun with a local partner charity, with classes in orphanages, children's homes and schools.
PakistanAround 300 children in Islamabad and Chitral, in orphanages and schools, led by highly qualified instructors.
Brazil and beyondA small group in Brazil, with conversations underway to grow across East Africa and relaunch in Sri Lanka.
4. Your family's part in it

Training here helps a child train there

The Warrior Academy UK supports The Bates Foundation from what the business earns, so every membership plays a part. Our vision is to inspire a generation to make a global impact, and our UK students are part of that from their very first class.

  • Your child's training helps fund scholarships for children who could never pay for classes
  • Students hear about their scholarship classmates and what courage looks like around the world
  • We are building a leadership pathway that will invite our black belts to train alongside scholarship students at one of our scholarship academies

Want to do more?

Become a patron. Our patrons fund scholarships every month, get personal updates from our founder and are invited to foundation events and scholarship tours.

Watch the documentary. Into The Beating Heart Of Africa follows our work in Kenya.

Read The Vision, our newsletter with stories from the academies.

Visit thebatesfoundation.com info@thebatesfoundation.com

Join a club that gives back

Book a free taster at our HQ in Salisbury or one of our clubs near Bath, Corsham, Frome, Trowbridge and Shaftesbury.

Book a free taster at one of our clubs