KIXX Martial Arts and Fitness of Granville Road, Maidstone has recently joined an exclusive group by becoming the first club of its kind in the country to receive Clubmark accreditation from Sport England. The club concentrates on the teaching of the Chinese martial arts.

KIXX Martial Arts and Fitness is affiliated to the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts that is a Sport England recognised governing body. However, the Club was accredited through its local CSP, Kent Sports Development Unit.

Clubmark, which was developed by Sport England, is a set of national standards for National Governing Bodies of Sport to adopt and their affiliated clubs to meet. It is designed to recognise the achievements of sports clubs in England in developing high quality and welcoming environments for young people. It is only awarded to clubs that comply with minimum operating standards in four areas, the playing programme, duty of care and child protection, sports equity and ethics and club management.

The decision to apply for Clubmark accreditation was taken in February 2008. The whole process has taken about 13 months to achieve and has proved very beneficial in endorsing the clubs high standards. All policies and practices have been reviewed so the club will be confirmed as a safe and effective place catering for children and young people whilst enabling it to grow.

Nigel Gilham, Chief Instructor of KIXX said, "We at KIXX are very keen to show parents that they can be assured their children belong to a safe club. It is important for us to know that our members can see evidence that their club is well managed whilst striving to offer the best in coaching and sports development opportunities. KIXX Martial Arts and Fitness has worked closely with their National Governing Body, The British Council for Chinese Martial Arts, Maidstone Borough Council and Kent County Council and has clearly demonstrated it follows best practice in everything it does."

Guthrie Miller, Club and Volunteer Development Officer at Kent Sport Leisure and Olympic Service said, "I am delighted that Kixx Martial Arts has achieved Clubmark accreditation. Working with the Club has been an enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is clear that they value Clubmark highly and have diligently applied themselves to meeting the standards. I would like to congratulate and thank Nigel and his team for all of their hard work as well as the Maidstone Borough Council Sports and Play Team for their valuable support."

The coming years will hopefully see the club grow ensuring that safe martial arts training is available in the town for many years to come.

KIXX Martial Arts and Fitness may be seen on Facebook and the Club has its own website and forum which is regularly updated with club news and also provides links to other main websites. www.kixxmartialarts.co.uk

For queries or more information please pop along to KIXX Gym in Granville Road, Off Boxley Road, Maidstone, ME14 2BJ or contact Nigel on 07941 340284 or via the website contact page on www.kixxmartialarts.co.uk