Held Friday 4th October 2024

Apologies

Apologies were received from David M, Dan P

Minutes of the AGM 2023

The minutes of the 2023 AGM that are posted on the club website were accepted to be a true record of that meeting. Proposed Anne T, Seconded James K.

Chair’s Report

Our club continues to be a great place to come and fence. We’ve had the highest membership numbers that I’ve seen in the time I’ve been involved in running the club and our sessions are busy with all three weapons for the first time in a few years. This is a welcome change, and wonderful to have Sabre being practised in the club. 

James, Martin and Herman continue to build on the strong base that we have by introducing new fencers to the sport and developing those who are intermediate and advanced. We’ve also been lucky to have Shukuto from Japan with us over the summer both fencing and coaching, and are starting to see Valerie practice coaching on top of her strong foil skills. We’ll also have Aidan leading some sabre courses. Thank you for your efforts, we appreciate you.

As far as competition results go, we have some notable successes:

• Valerie managed 3rd at the BRC A Foil, 3rd in the BYC, 2nd in the public schools championship.
• Fin (Tuesdays) managed Gold in the commonwealth cadets (individual and team), plus junior team gold and 8th in the junior individual. 
• Margarita 3rd at the EYC Epee
• Tim managed 3rd at the veterans international in Guildford earlier in the year
• We’ve also been active in various Winton Cup inter-region competitions, including Adrian’s team that won the Vet Mens Foil.
• David M got bronze in 50+ Pentathlon World Championships 
• Zoe S was 13th in U19 Pentathlon World Championships.

In May welcomed a small delegation of fencers from our twin-town club in Leiden in the Netherlands as part of their centennial celebrations, and some of us visited Leiden in June. We all agreed that it was a really fun thing to do, and I’d like to try to arrange more of this in the future. I’m also looking to try to arrange some more local competitions for newer young fencers as a way to try and help some of you into competing. More to follow if I manage to engage with other local clubs.

One of the things that is particularly important to me is that everyone in the club feels welcome and safe. To that end I’d like to take a moment to remind you all of the things that we’re doing around this. The club (and I) believe that everyone has the right to enjoy their sport and be safe, have fun and feel welcome no matter what. Every one of us is responsible for making sure that your club mates abide by this statement. On top of that, we have a nominated safeguarding lead, who’s responsible for making sure that the rest of the club has a positive and enjoyable experience and are protected from abuse, no matter whether it’s inside or outside the club. 

Our Welfare officer this year has been John Williamson, who’s in the process of getting fully certified in this matter although he’s already very experienced because of his background in Rugby and other sports. The chairman and our three main coaches are also trained and certified by BF in this matter.. 

If you have a concern that someone isn’t safe or is struggling with something, even if it’s not related to fencing, you can report it to one of these individuals. We will respond appropriately to whatever you tell us, and will work to make you or the person safe as soon as possible. 

British Fencing have recently updated their code of conduct that covers how they expect everyone to behave, and the club anticipates that this will become more prominent as time goes on. I’d encourage you to take a look 

Finally, I’d like to take a moment to thank all of you for being part of the club and creating the welcoming atmosphere that I feel whenever I come into the hall. It doesn’t matter whether it’s putting out equipment, or my personal favourite of putting away equipment. It could also be saying hello to new fencers, helping someone out with a new move or just generally being friendly. This continues to be your club and you make it what it is. 

Treasurer’s Report

The increased membership in the 2023-24 year as mentioned in the Chair’s report has resulted in an increase in our income from membership fees.  The 22% increase was represented by a 5% increase in fees and a 17% increase in the average number of members over the year. 

Income from courses was similar to the prior year, with a £500 drop being attributable to the slightly lower number of people signing up for them.  Overall our annual income increased by £2k.

The hourly rate for hall hire increased by 11% but we had fewer sessions than in the previous year because of lower availability of the Rye hall, which resulted in our hall hire expenditure being 8% higher than in 2022-23.

Coach fees remained constant from one year to the next.

In 2023-24 we spent over £4k on armoury compared with just under £2k in 2022-23.  Investment in our stock of kit in 2023-24 included the purchase of 20 new plastic swords, 12 masks, 16 bodywires (where are they all?), 10 jackets with inbuilt plastrons, 8 foil blades, 7 gloves, 5 chest protectors, 2 épées, 3 lamés and three piste batteries, as well as paying for ongoing repairs.

Overall we had a surplus of nearly £900, compared with £1,100 in 2022-23.

Balance sheet shifts between amounts owing and advance payments have affected our final bank balance which is £700 lower than at the end of the previous financial year.

With a steady membership of 73 at the current membership fee, two full taster sessions and two full beginners’ courses, with the new hall hire charges we can afford £400 worth of armoury in 2024-25 and manage to break even. Alternatives would be to increase our membership fees, eat into our reserves, or a combination of the two, and this is something we need to decide on at the AGM.

Election of Office Bearers

Nominations for the office bearers were taken from the members present.

	Nominee	Proposed	Seconded
Chair	Tim Stephens	Wade E	Anne T
Treasurer	Anne Tester	Nick W	Aoife K
Secretary	Alfie Deere-Hall	self	Wade E
Welfare Officer(s)	John Williamson, Alfie Deere-Hall	selves	Anne T, Wade E

Hall Fees

As part of the transition from Rye to Headington, the fee structure has changed. We discussed how we would record the age ranges of those present, and thought that a simple headcount during warm-up would be the simplest option. 

Membership Fees

Following from the treasurer’s report, the committee asked what the club fees should be for next year. Many of those members in attendance were of the opinion that a modest rise in fees was acceptable, and this was voted for by majority. The fees for the next season will be 

Annual £220

Quarterly £61.50

Monthly £22

Master at Arms

We had great attendance at all our club competitions last year, with 33 fencers taking part in the senior competitions, and a further 8 U14 foilists. 

Our champions:

• U14 Foil: Kenix
• Foil: Shukuto
• Epee: Tim
• Sabre: Aidan

• Master at Arms: Aiden 

AOB

We discussed setting up a WhatsApp group for everyone to use to communicate outside of club sessions. The chair agreed to create a community and circulate an invitation link by email.