Held on 17th June 2022

Minutes of AGM 2021

Nominated, James Kingston

It was accepted unanimously by the members present that the minutes of the 2021 AGM were an accurate recording of the meeting. 

Chair’s Report

Despite the somewhat shaky start to the year with all the issues around our use of the hall and the various COVID restrictions, we’ve settled into what I regard as a very successful year. Membership is about as high as I can remember with approximately 70 members at the moment. Both Friday and Tuesday sessions are well-attended and we have representation from all three weapons within our membership, something that could not be said to be true in the last few years. 

On Fridays we continue to enjoy the presence of both James and Martin who are both doing an excellent job of helping you all improve, whatever your level or ambition. We are also lucky to have Graham attending to assist with repairing both your and the club weapons and equipment. This means that we’ve got rather more working equipment than we’ve had in previous years since it reduces the burden on those of us who have maintained the equipment in the past. 

On Tuesdays, we now have Herman Du Preez providing individual lessons for our more ambitious fencers. Herman is a highly-qualified coach who has helped many fencers to achieve a high level of performance, and we are making good use of his skills. Tuesday sessions currently have 15-20 fencers attending regularly, and we are making use of all six of our pistes to help everyone maximise their fencing time. If you’ve not been on a Tuesday for a while, then I really encourage you to come and see the difference from where we were a year or two ago.

Our beginners courses this year have been in exceptionally high demand. The Autumn course sold out within 11 minutes of tickets being available, and the Spring course sold out almost as quickly. From those two courses, at least half of the attendees are now members of the club. Welcome! 

We’ve also been able to capitalise on the additional cupboard space that we’ve got outside to add some extra masks and have been donated a selection of jackets and breeches to help our newer fencers get kit that fits well and is safe. 

As far as competition results are concerned, we’ve had fencers competing at all levels, from the friendly matches against Swindon (which we won) all the way up to the British Youth Championships and Senior British Championships. We also had Shaz attend a World Cup event in the spring, and have competitors entered into the Commonwealth Championships that are being held in London later in the Summer. Well done to you all!

Treasurer’s Report

The provisional accounts for the year were presented. We are relatively financially stable and will make a small loss this year. Our bank balance remains fairly healthy, so this is not of grave concern to the committee. Full accounts are available to members by emailing the treasurer. 

Election of Office Bearers for next year

Chair: Tim Stephens Prop: Ed Williams Seconded: Shaz Shahrani

Treasurer: Anne Tester Prop: Ava Tester Seconded: Tim Stephens

Secretary: Ed Williams Prop: Self Seconded: Shaz Shahrani

Welfare Officer:  Vincent Fuoco Prop: Self Seconded: Ed Williams

All office-bearers were voted unanimously by the members present. 

Membership Fees

Recommendation is to increase to £200 based on the expectation that the club will continue to eat into its capital reserves next year. This was accepted unanimously by the members present. 

Master at Arms

No Sabre result (one entrant)

Epee: Shaz, Sam, Tim

Foil: DanP, Shaz, Austen

Master At Arms: Shaz

Summer Fencing

We will move to Oxford High School from Tuesday 5th July. There will be no Friday sessions. 

AOB

We agreed that there was a requirement for an additional electric box to service the high demand that we’ve seen at our sessions recently. Ian Briggs at PBT is selling some secondhand, and we agreed to get an extra set. 

Safety of youngsters running around during warmup was raised since there are wires to cause a trip hazard. We agreed that we would remove the hazards by either constraining the game to a region of the hall where no boxes are present, or by removing the cabling whilst running is happening.