Final Tier Guidance Available (England, 2nd December)

Following the publication of further guidance from Government and Sport England, BF updates tiered guidance for fencing activities in England.

Further detailed Government Guidance relating to sport is now available on the Government website here and here.

Sport England has also updated their FAQs and guidance here.

As a result, BF has updated its tiered guidance here and also published  a summary table Fencing Activity – Tiered Restrictions v2.0 December 3rd

Changes/updates from the previous version are marked in yellow.

In summary, we can now confirm:

• U18s are able to participate in organised indoor fencing following the BF guidelines in groups of 15 (excluding coach/welfare officer/covid officers) in all three tiers.
• For those age 18 and over in Tier 1 they will be able to participate in organised indoor fencing (sparring and lessons) following the BF guidelines in groups of 6.
• In Tier 2, those age 18 and over indoor can participate in socially distanced classes with no interaction between households/support bubbles (ie no actual fencing). BF will be publishing sample Tier 2 compliant activity sessions that clubs can choose to run.
• In Tier 3, those age 18 and over – no indoor fencing, except between members of households/support bubbles.
• 1:1 lessons can take place in all tiers at all age groups but restrictions apply with regards to interactions, travel and location.

Please note – this may change if detailed guidance from DCMS changes.

We continue to try and push for additional permitted fencing activity for those age 18 and over in Tier 2, recognising the work that our clubs are doing to reduce the risk of transmission in indoor environments. We will update this document in response to any update on this or relevant updates from the Government or Sport England.

There are no restrictions on travel for sport or exercise to Tier 1 and Tier 2, although in Tier 2 you should reduce the number of journeys you make where possible. You are advised not to travel into or out of areas that have a very high (Tier 3) alert level, including for sport, unless this is necessary to enable individual exercise (or exercise for people from the same household or support bubble). As of the 30th November, we do not know if this restriction applies to travel where it is necessary to enable disability sport, sport for educational purposes, or supervised sport and physical activity for under-18s to take place.

If you have any queries regarding this and other announcements please contact us using this form. Please note that we may not be able to answer your questions until we have received further clarification (which we will in the first instance publish on our website).

If you have a moment to help sport, please support the petition here which calls on the government to instigate emergency funding in the form of a Sports Recovery Fund to ensure sports clubs, fitness and leisure facilities can remain open and survive the coming difficult months.

The work our coaches, clubs, volunteers, partners and community do to keep our sport safe, fun and viable is vitally important and we want to thank our members for your patience at this time. We will as always, update our Covid-19 advice and guidance page with the current status for all Home Nations.

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