UPDATE FOLLOWING LGBT+ DIVERSITY LISTENING EVENT

Discussions and actions arising from the recent BF Listening Event where BF’s LGBT+ community had the opportunity to share experiences and views with BF’s Senior Leadership 

At the end of Pride month, a group of fencers from the LGBT+ community met with senior leadership in BF, including Georgina Usher (CEO), Virginia Bailey (Head of Participation) and Caryl Oliver (Director on the BF Board) to share their experiences in fencing.

As a result of the meeting, a number of areas were identified that could support the LGBT+ fencing community in their experiences in the sport:

Education – Two areas of focus were discussed under the banner of education. One agreed action was for BF to review the resources (particularly scenario based exercises) that are used in our education programmes to make sure they are representative of the LGBT+ community. Secondly, we will focus on improving our training and education opportunities for our workforce and clubs, to support them in ensuring their clubs are inclusive for the LGBT+ community. We will identify and work with clubs that have created inclusive environments to learn and share examples of best practices with the wider community.

LGBT+ Network Group –We will work with a number of volunteers from the community to establish a BF LGBT+ Network group, that will provide a safe and welcoming space for those from the fencing community to be part of.

Trans and Non binary community – We are committed to ensuring that Trans and Non binary fencers feel welcomed in the fencing community. This is an area where the BF team will increase their knowledge and understanding to enable us to provide better support.

If you are a member of the LGBT+ community and would like to get involved with the work that we are doing we would love to hear from you – please email us at [email protected].

Over the coming weeks and months, we will share our progress with the Community, giving members the opportunity to sign up to further updates through their marketing preferences on Sport80.

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