Thank you to all the BF members who joined us to discuss how we Return to Fencing during this week’s Welfare Officers’ Community Discussion Events . The sessions continue to be useful to all involved and we were glad to welcome some new faces this week.
The discussions covered a lot of detail relating to the logistics of returning to fencing including the advice around face coverings and activity bubbles.
Face Coverings;
We do not state that face coverings must be worn whilst fencing. However it is strongly advisable that they should be worn and used in accordance with the club and venue risk assessment (which MUST exist) to protect individuals. There are no specific age or fencing activity exemptions indicated by BF. As government guidance changes in this area (specifically around age of participants) it is up to clubs to make an appropriate risk assessment for their club environment based on all the relevant factors.
If some participants are exempt from wearing face coverings then please ensure that they are wearing mask liners.
Activity ‘Bubbles’;
Under current guidelines, a maximum of six fencers can be grouped together; the number will be determined by the space you have in order to maintain social distancing.
You can have more than one group in a hall, however, this will depend on the space available and your ability to maintain social distancing and appropriate welfare standards. Indoor space must allow for 100sqft/9.29m per person. Fencers cannot change groups within a session, they must stay within their allocated group but are able to change groups at the next session.
Useful Links
For more FAQs please see our information page here.
Please note that clubs operating within a local lockdown or outside of England will need to check the latest government advice relevant to them. We have updates and links to pages here in our COVID-19 Zone.
All information surrounding the discussions can be found here, along with the sign-up forms, and we will publish an official calendar with upcoming discussion events soon.
As always, we will continue to update our COVID-19 advice here, with dedicated pages for clubs and coaches.
Don’t forget you can also subscribe to our weekly summary email – The Fencing Digest – featuring all the previous week’s latest news and announcements. Sign up here.
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