LONDON REGION FENCING
DRAFT Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Region
(In Respect of the Year Ending 30 June 2024)
Held at The Lansdowne Club, London W1J 5JD
at 11:00 am Saturday 3rd May 2025
| Attended in Person: | |||
| Sandy Sandford (Chairman) | SS | Hazel Herbert | HH |
| James Kneller (Treasurer) | JK | Chris Tidmarsh | CT |
| Neal Skinner | NS | Charles Henderson | CH |
| Attended by Proxy: | |||
| Mike de Bono | Deco Mitchell-Rowe | ||
| Clare Halsted | Graham Miles | GM | |
| Christopher Sandford | Andrew Nisbet | AN | |
| Charlotte Teeple-Salas | |||
| MINUTES |
| The Chairman opened by welcoming those attending and thanking NS and the Lansdowne Club for their generosity in hosting the event. He confirmed the meeting quorate, there being a total of 13 London Region affiliated BF members participating in person or by proxy. He extended apologies on behalf of LRF’s President, Len Harris, and Secretary, Rosemary Gilmour, each of whom was seriously ill and unable to attend. The meeting wished them well. |
| Minutes of last year’s AGM The minutes of the previous AGM (for the period ending 30 June 2023) were considered. HH proposed they be accepted as an accurate record. JK seconded the motion. It was passed unanimously and the minutes signed by the Chairman. |
| Changes to the LRF Constitution CT introduced the proposed changes. He explained that they were prompted by the current long-term illness of the Secretary, which circumstance could occur on any future committee. As the current constitution requires 2 officers present to enable a meeting to be quorate the first proposed change would provide for the additional office of Vice Chairman. The second proposed change allowed for elected officers to be replaced if they were no longer able to serve. And the final, administrative, proposal provided for meetings exceptionally to be held on-line as well as in person or by telephone. The amendment of the first sentence of existing clause 9.1 to read: “The Elected Officers of the Region shall be the Chairperson, the Vice Chairperson, the Treasurer, and the Secretary.” was proposed by CH, seconded by CT, and passed unanimously. The amendment to insert after the existing clause 9.6 an additional, new clause 9.6A to read: “If an Elected Officer dies, is unable or unwilling to act (whether permanently of temporarily) or wishes to retire, the Committee may appoint a person as a replacement Elected Officer until the next AGM. If the Chairperson is dead or is unable or unwilling to act as Chairperson, a meeting to make such an appointment may(in addition to the ways mentioned in clause 10.5) be convened pursuant to clause 10.5 by any member of the Committee. If there are not two Elected Officers who are alive and able and willing to act as such officers, such a meeting shall nevertheless be quorate if such Officers who are able and willing so to act are present.” was proposed by HH, seconded by CT, and passed unanimously. The amendment to clause 10.3 to read: “The quorum for a meeting of the Committee shall be four members of the Committee, two of which (at least) must be Elected Officers present in person or by telephone or online provided all those other members present are able to participate in the conference call.” was proposed by JK, seconded by CH, and passed unanimously. |
| The Chairman’s Report SS presented an overview of the year, starting with the disappointments and moving on to the positives. He reported as follows. After 2 years without an U11 Fencing Festival, St Benedicts School generously offered to provide a fee free venue. So, we had been able to offer a renewal on18th April. Unfortunately, despite the first Festival having been so well received by participants, nobody entered. Customer feedback suggested there was still interest, but lack of notice and the events proximity to the Easter school holidays, were the main reasons given for the lack of take-up. We were frustrated again in our efforts to secure a suitable venue for the CAPITAL OPEN. There remained a limited number that meet our needs. So, we had been unable to mount a renewal. Interest in our Intermediate Championships & GB Cup Qualifier continued to attract a modest number of entries. At 54, it remained the worst subscribed of our adult competitions but it was, none-the-less, self-financing. Our Summer and Winter Novice & Intermediate events had been well supported, attracting a total of 148 entries. This represented a year-on-year rise of about 3% on top of the previous year’s 11% increase. There had been a significant rise in entries for October’s Team Competition, from 20 Teams in 2022 to 32 in 2023. And the increase was spread across all three weapons, with 16 foil, 8 epee, and 8 sabre teams taking part. The largest event, as always, had been our Youth Championships & BYC Qualifiers, sponsored for the first time by St Benedicts School, who generously contributed one, fee free, day at their venue. Given the previous year’s entry level, we scheduled the event over three rather than two days – two at St Benedicts School and the third at the Leon Paul Fencing Centre. Entries rose from the previous year’s 299 to a record 341. Of those, 222 qualified for the finals at Sheffield where London Region once again topped the table. SS emphasised that, throughout the year, we had enjoyed excellent support and he offered his sincere thanks to the Worshipful Company of Cutlers (who continued to host our Committee meetings), to St Benedicts School (for their generous sponsorship of the U11 Fencing Festival and the London Region Youth Championships), to our referees, armourers, and welfare officers who made our events run so smoothly, and to the Regional Committee, who had worked so hard to turn LRF’s plans into reality. A motion to accept the Chairman’s Report was proposed by JK, seconded by CH, and passed nem con [the Chair abstaining]. There followed conversation about fencing’s recovery since the end of the Covid pandemic (led by CH) and positive feedback (from NS) regarding London’s Novice & Intermediate Competitions and their usefulness in developing fencers not yet ready for more major competitions. |
| The Treasurer’s Report JK was pleased to report that the Region’s financial position remained strong. He summarised activity across the year. As usual, the sole source of income had been competitions. Receipts for the year had been £18643.37. The drop of £1371.62 from the previous year was largely due to British Fencing changing its process for taking competition entry levies from the Region and masked what had, in fact, been a small increase. Expenditure across the year had been the usual regional overheads plus competition costs: there had been no significant exceptional items. Bank balance details were: £ Opening Balance 01.07.23 34,503.81 Income (excluding accruals) 18,643.37 Expenditure (excluding accruals) (7,814.74) Closing Balance 30.06.24 45,322.44 Adjusting for: Income accruals 0.00 Expenditure accruals (6814.16) left available funds of £38,518.28 In addition, JK reported that the Region’s list of assets remained as per the ious year, viz – 2 Favero boxes 4 Favero spools 8 Fencing weights (4F, 4E) 8 Fencing gauges 3 ‘Penguin’ poster stands 1 Hot water urn 1 Printer 1 Portable piste template SS thanked JK for his report. CH proposed the report and accounts be accepted, HH seconded the motion and it was passed nem con (the Treasurer abstaining). |
| Election of Officers and Committee Members The Chair explained that there would be more elections than usual this year. An error in preparations for the previous AGM had led to members who should have been proposed for re-election being overlooked. The members concerned had confirmed they were again willing to stand and would be tabled at this AGM. Chairperson SS had confirmed he was willing to stand for re-election as Chairperson. No other candidates had expressed interest. CH proposed that SS be re-elected to the office of Chairperson. The motion was seconded by JK and passed unanimously. CT explained that, under the constitution, as SS had served for 6 continuous years, his re-election to the Chair required that his continuing tenure be formally and explicitly authorised by the AGM. JK proposed that such authorisation be given. The motion was seconded by CT and passed unanimously. Vice Chairman The new position of Vice Chair was discussed. HH proposed CT, who had confirmed his willingness to stand. The motion was seconded by CH and passed unanimously. New Committee Member SS commended Charlotte Teeple-Salas, who had previously supported LRF events in the role of Welfare Officer. Commitments at the BYC Finals had prevented her attending the meeting, but she was willing to stand for election. He proposed she be elected. The motion was seconded by JK and passed unanimously. Re-election of Committee Members HH had confirmed her willingness to stand for another term. Her re-election was proposed by CT, seconded by NS, and passed unanimously. GM had confirmed his willingness to stand for another term. His re-election was proposed by JK, seconded by CT, and passed unanimously. AN had confirmed his willingness to stand for another term. His re-election was proposed by CT, seconded by HH, and passed unanimously. |
| Any Other Business Regional Welfare Officer, Clare Halsted, was unable to attend but had submitted a written contribution. She drew attention to recent legislation which made it a criminal offence not to report cases of child abuse. This would apply both to clubs and competitions. BF would be publicising the change. She was, however, pleased to report there had been no welfare issues in the Region during the year. |
| There being no more business, the Chair thanked members for taking part and wished everyone well for the coming year. The Meeting then closed. |
| …………………………………………………Chairman …………………..Date |