Author: Hazel Herbert

London Region Intermediate Championship and GB Cup qualifier will be held on 26th April at St Benedicts School Ealing. Entries are open on Sport80 and full details are here. Entries to the competition are restricted to those who have London Region identified on their BF membership record. The top 2 in each weapon will qualify to represent London Region in the GB Cup on 8-10 May in Birmingham.

NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF LONDON REGION FENCING

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the London Region of England Fencing will be held on
Tuesday 30^th March 2021 at 7:00pm

The meeting will be held online

The Meeting will be held for the following purposes:

1. to consider of the Minutes of the previous AGM held on 25^th November 2019,
2. to receive the Report from the Chairman,
3. to receive the Accounts of the Region for the financial period ended on 30^th June 2020,
4. to ratify the proposed amendments to the constitution
5. to elect or re-elect Officers and Members of the Committee to replace those who retire, and
6. to consider any other appropriate business.

*London Region is defined to embrace the City of London and all other areas covered by the 32 Boroughs represented on the London Assembly.

Any fencer, coach, parent of a fencer, or others involved in, or interested in Fencing in the London Region may attend the AGM. However, the only persons entitled to vote and, unless invited by the Chairman, to speak at the Meeting are those individual members of British Fencing who are formally affiliated to London Region, who are at least 18 years old at the time of the Meeting, and who have been a registered member of British Fencing for at least three months prior to the date of the Meeting.

If you would like to attend, please let us know by sending your name and BF Membership Number to the London Region Secretary, Rosemary Gilmour, whose details appear at the foot of this notice. The meeting link and online voting instructions will be sent closer to the time to those who say they wish to attend.

If you wish to vote by proxy, you must use the Form of Proxy which is available on the London Region Website . It must be completed as instructed thereon and received by the Secretary not less than 48 hours before the meeting.

If you wish to put yourself forward for election to the duties of any committee post that might fall vacant, you must provide the London Region Secretary with written notice of such by no later than Monday 23^rd March 2021. The minutes of the last AGM and the proposed amendments to the constitution  are here

The London Region Fencing AGM and elections are subject to the provisions of the London Region Fencing Constitution, a copy of which is available on our Web site.

Rosemary Gilmour
Secretary London Region
secretary@londonregionfencing.org.uk

Team 2019 -Through everyone achieve MEDALS

Maybe it was imagination.  Maybe it was the extra hour in bed from the clocks changing.  But the competitors seemed somehow more awake than normal at Sunday morning check-in for our All Weapon Team Competition, Sunday 27 October at St Benedict’s, Ealing.  And most were early, even those from Canterbury, Leicester, Oxford and Nottingham.

Twenty-five teams entered.  Would’ve been twenty-six if we’d been able to match individuals keen to fence but lacking team mates.  It’s something we’ll explore next time.  One team scratched with illness.  Northampton scratched with a Saturday pm puncture they couldn’t get fixed.  So, twenty-three intrepid teams made it to the piste for a day’s fun fencing. 

They fought through the day in a varied programme of short format matches to fifteen points and full-format fights to forty-five.  Some fought ‘till their legs turned to jelly.  Some fought beyond that.  They certainly earnt their medals.  But no matter the tiredness, they were still smiling when they left.  Or was it cramp?  No!  They were still smiling.  Take a look at the photo gallery below and you’ll see for yourself.  And if you want to check the results, go here 

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Cutlers’ Hall, home to The Worshipful Company of Cutlers who were awarded their Charter by Henry V in 1416, has been home to London Region Fencing’s quarterly ‘board’ meetings for the last 3 years too.  It’s given us a great sense of stability, endorsement, and focus for what we try to do.  And when the Cutlers invited us to be a part of their ‘London Open House’ event on 21 September we jumped at the chance.  It offered us the rare opportunity to promote fencing to people who’ve never experienced, maybe never even thought about, fencing before.  

We built our story round fencing “In Our History & Culture”, “In Our Fantasy & Fiction”, and “In Our Community”.  Three screens of PowerPoint and video presentations were backed up with ‘touch and try’ kit and weapons, and ‘poster’ displays of some of London’s many successful fencers on the British, European, and World stage.  This led on to the opportunity for visitors to experience a mini have-a-go session or watch a splendid fencing display by coach Andrew Nisbet and one of London’s up and coming young fencers, Harry Roberts.  And to round everything off, a London Region ‘flyer’ explaining what we do, why fencing’s a brilliant sport and who it’s for, and giving access details and QR codes for ‘Find a Club’ facilities on the LRF and BF websites.

We were in great company throughout and across the day the footfall was fantastic, with over 1200 members of the public getting exposure to our sport.  Interest and engagement were high.  Even Cutlers’ Assistant Clerk had a go.  And feedback was positive.  So let’s hope over time it converts to some new faces at London club’s beginner sessions.  In the meantime, you might like to have a look below at some of the ‘snaps’ we shot in our spare moments (which weren’t very many!).  Or go to the Worshipful Company of Cutlers’ website to get their take on the whole day.

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This year’s All Weapon  Team Competition will be held on 27th October at St Benedicts School Ealing.  Open to fencers across the UK, British or foreign, who are compete members of BF and over 15 on 1st October 2019.  Teams of 3 or 4, Epee, Foil, Sabre, Mens,  Womens and Mixed Teams. Full details are here.  Entries via Sport80 are now open

Why not make up a team with club-mates, family or friends?   We can’t guarantee you’ll win, but we can guarantee some fencing fun.

We hope you all had everything you hoped for over the Christmas and wish everyone a Happy and Successful 2019.

December was a pretty busy month on the Fencing front too, so here’s a brief update of some news items.

The CAPITAL OPEN 2018

Our second ever CAPITAL OPEN went ahead as planned on 1^st December at the Jean Brown Arena in Redbridge.  Over 100 fencers entered this year, the most far-flung entries being one from Germany and one from Switzerland.  There was a great atmosphere throughout the day and we’re already looking forward to the first Saturday in December this year.  We published the results soon after the event, but for photos of winners, medallists, and some of the action see below.

New Club Opens in London

Always good to hear of new clubs opening: this one’s in South London.  It’s a sabre club based in Brixton and called, appropriately enough, Brixton Sabre.  For anyone from beginners to internationals, it takes members or accepts people for one-off sessions, meets on Tuesday evenings, and is very close to Brixton tube and rail stations.  Details can be found at www.brixtonsabre.com .

London Region Team Wins Cadet Winton 2018

Congratulations to the 24 young fencers who represented the London Region at the 2018 Cadet Winton Competition.  Held at Millfield School on 15/16 December, the event featured teams of boy and girl foilists, épéeists, and sabreurs, from each of the ten English regions.  Everyone involved had a fantastic weekend, and the fencers performed tremendously well throughout, delivering a splendid victory for London as overall winners.  Below is a photo of the winning Team and their trophy.  And plenty more photos can be found on the Cadet Winton London facebook page

THE CAPITAL OPEN 2018 in pictures