The Bates Foundation

We've raised $662,996 for charity in just 8 weeks ?? It’s the most important/life changing work I’ve done ?? These funds will be used to take 10,000 underprivileged children across 6 continents (mostly orphans/homeless) in developing countries on a 3 year life changing journey and provide full time employment to dozens in some of the worlds largest slums How did we get here? ?? 2 years ago I started The Bates Foundation to support underprivileged children We used our current business assets and team to maximise our impact and keep costs super low ? We didn't do any fundraising.?Zero spent on marketing I put all of our attention on growing the charity, not fundraising. > We grew FAST; 4,000 children per week sponsored within 2 years. For every paying member in The Warrior Academy we now had 2 sponsored children in a developing country. A HUGE 65% of our student count are in slums, orphanages and homeless shelters. BUT... The charity was personally costing me $100k+ per year to run, we slowed down and I knew in order to reach our goal of 10,000 per week we had to raise funds. ?? To make the level of impact I wanted to make, I needed money ?? Quite a lot of money. $1M over the next 3 years. 1?? problem I was new to fundraising. I've learnt that there are so many skills an entrepreneur develops that can be carried over to philanthropy. Most charities would spend a fortune on marketing to get close to $1M of funding. It’s a mistake I see loads of business start ups making. Of course I understand why huge charities need to do this but at this level as a start up, it feels like a waste. It didn’t feel lean enough. One of my goals with our charity was to be as lean as possible… just as I would if starting a business. How can we maximise organic fundraising? We kicked it off with an auction on a ski trip that helped us get the word out about our charity but also generated a massive $30,000. I then designed an incredible 3 year adventure for purpose driven entrepreneurs who were smashing it in business and wanted to make an even bigger impact. This journey is going to be life changing for the patrons. It includes... ?? Yearly tours ?? VIP dinners ?? A 3 year documentary on groups impact! Check it out: www.thebatesfoundation.com Total raised by patrons? $362,996 Paid over 3 years. I created an agreement between The Warrior Academy + the charity; for every paying member we have we will sponsor a child through the charity, that equates to $300,000 over 3 years. As the business grows so will the donation. So... What's next? $1M in funding by the end of 2024 guaranteeing we reach our 3 year target. We're 65% through that target in 4 weeks, a mind blowing start that speaks volumes of the generosity and collective power of entrepreneurs united behind a cause. I'm on a mission to convince small businesses that they can triple their impact on the planet, just like this.

After a bumpy few months, with almost everything against us.... Finally.... ...Our brand new Warrior Academy Centre is LIVE!! Every single detail of this location has been carefully constructed to reduce anxiety for young people who are struggling with their confidence. So many Academies in the UAE are intimidating for young people, big empty, echoey warehouses. It doesn't work. 4 Years ago we partnered with an interior design company specialising in creating calm places that inspire creativity, reduce anxiety and help children (and their parents) feel at ease. Environment dictates performance. So, here it is... 4,000 square feet. ....2 x core boutique studios ...1 x community room and of course… 1 x Warrior Cafe. We are thrilled with the stunning fit out. A HUGE thank you to the entire The Warrior Academy Team for getting this project together, from the fit out team, to membership team and instructors.. this was a massive team effort. We have had 745 parents pre subscribed for this new location and are only allowing 100 founding members to join (50+ of which joined today). This Academy is going to become the source of strength, inspiration and transformation for families across the region who are seeking the very best in character development for their children. PS: If you have children in Dubai, the link to book is here www.warriortrial.ae

If you can’t run… Crawl. Those words of resilience have been etched into my mind the entire night. I spent the evening with Amit Ghose! Amit was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a genetic condition that causes tumours to grow along your nerves. He lost his left eye when he was 11 and wore an eye patch while waiting for a prosthetic eye, which lead to him being mercilessly bullied at school. Listening to Amit was both heartbreaking and inspiring. ??Human beings can be so incredibly cruel. ????But… we can also be so resilient. Growing up Amit faced so much rejection and isolation. His Father played a key role, refusing to let his condition get in the way of his life and his passion for cricket. The stories of his Dad really inspired me as a Dad myself and encapsulated the core essence of Fatherhood for me… with compassion + grit, mentoring his son into the warrior he is today. We talked about self love, self acceptance, body language, victim mentality, inclusion, celebrating differences and the power of a mentor. Amit shared his 4 steps to conquer self doubt: ??Embrace your personality ??Accepting yourself ??Believing in yourself/your future ??Celebrating differences We talked at length about bullying. The raw, dark reality of bullying, why, how, when, who and the long term impact. We talked about how to break the cycle It’s one of the reasons I wrote the book “Not A Victim” I shared our controversial approach focusing on removing a victim mentality and empowering the individual. Whenever I share this approach with people who have lived a life that’s had the dark cloud of bullying follow them for many years, the philosophy is fully embraced. Others feel threatened by the concepts, they haven’t learnt to overcome bullying, instead believing we have no control and the fault lies with everyone around us, that we are all victims. But uncomfortable conversations are worth having. We aren’t victims. It ultimately comes down to the following concept: “We attract bullying into our lives in the areas we are not yet empowered or the traits we don’t own and love about ourselves” Amit is on a mission. He’s currently flying around the world speaking on stage advocating for people living with disabilities thru 'Billion Strong'. Mind blowing chat, real, raw, relatable. Stay tuned for the release of this podcast episode. It’s hard not to be inspired. Parents, your children are more likely to be bullied then not. We need to focus on empowering our young people to face life’s obstacles so they transition through bullying rapidly and it doesn’t break them. The book I wrote “Not A Victim” has helped thousands of parents mentor their children through bullying. Some in as little as 2 weeks. ????WRITE: “Not A Victim” In the comments below and… …I’ll send you the Full audio book of Not A Victim, free of charge via DM. I hope it helps you, your family or your friends.