Marcellus Baz


Marcellus Baz is the founder and CEO of Nottingham School of Boxing and Switch Up. In 2016, Baz was named the BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards for his support of young people in Nottingham, UK. The same year he also received the British Empire Medal for services to youth boxing and the community.
Baz has been interviewed about youth violence, knife crime, and UK drug culture. He also completed a TEDxYouth talk in 2018 entitled Your Tribe is Your Vibe.

Early life

Baz was born and raised in the Meadows, Nottingham. As a youth he spent a lot of his time on the streets and soon turned to selling drugs and carrying weapons. He took up boxing at a leisure centre, however injuries from an attack ended his chance at a boxing career.

Charitable work

Baz set up the Nottingham School of Boxing in 2013. It is the sister organisation of Switch Up, a charity that uses sport, mentoring, counselling and education to deliver outreach services to young people in Nottingham.
Patrons of Switch Up include Olympic Skaters Torvill and Dean and Frank Bruno.

Awards and honours