Draft Tiered Guidance England from 2nd December

Following the parliamentary vote on Thursday 26th November, BF issues draft guidance pending additional clarification/updates expected from Government and Sport England.

Following the publication of the Government Winter Plan here, BF has updated its tiered guidance which can be found here – Fencing Activity – Tiered Restrictions v2.0 December Draft. Changes/updates from the previous tier system are marked in yellow.

In summary, from 2nd December we anticipate:

• U18s will be able to participate in organised indoor fencing following the BF guidelines in groups of 15 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 classes 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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