The Organisation
Who we are
England Fencing is the National Governing Body (NGB) for the Olympic sport of fencing in England.
England Fencing is a company, limited by guarantee, responsible for developing the sport of fencing in England.
Our Vision
England Fencing’s vision is to be a caring, inclusive, supportive and proactive governing body for the sport of fencing in England.
What we do
England Fencing works to:
- Enable and encourage all participants to maximise their potential and enjoyment in a high quality and safe environment.
- Identify and provide the initial support to all young fencers capable of high performance before referral to partners such as British Fencing
- Increase participation by improving standards, developing the workforce and delivering support to regions, counties and clubs.
- Promote fencing to the general public and communicate effectively with members, partners and other stakeholders.
- Identify partners with shared goals and work with them to ensure the most efficient use of resources
Our Values
Approved by the Board 17 June 2023
The following table sets out our core values and how we interpret them firstly in relation to our own behaviour and then in what we expect from others.
| Â | Applied to actions and attitudes of EF directors, officers, volunteers and other representatives | Applied to actions and attitudes of EF members, partners and associates |
| Supportive | We will always strive to support our members and partners and to be helpful and positive in our approach. That means thinking how we can help and not why we can not.
When we receive an enquiry or request for help we will seek ways to support. |
We would like our members and people we interact with to get the clear impression that we are receptive to their ideas and are here to help if we can.
We would also like our members and partners to embrace that idea and be supportive and encouraging of each other.
You can even encourage us if you like 🙂 |
| Kind | We are here to help you and to build you up and not put you down. That means looking for ways to support and encourage you on your fencing journey. We will ask ourselves whether we are being mean or being kind and then we will choose to be kind. | Please be kind to each other and to us. We are committed to trying the best we can but we can’t solve everything.
As a minimum don’t be unkind. |
| Inclusive | Whatever a person’s background they all have their own journey and we need to make sure that we don’t exclude anyone and in fact actively look to include them. This may include being innovative and more informative and reaching out to communities outside of fencing so they can benefit from association with us. | We expect and demand that you do not tolerate any incidences of prejudice and bias and that you report it.
There will be mechanisms for doing this and we are committed to stamping out racism and intolerance in our community.
We also encourage you to think how you can include people who might not easily fit in with your preconceptions. |
| Learning | We recognise that we can make mistakes but we listen to feedback and reflect so we can get better by learning. We own up to our mistakes so we can learn from them and improve. | We hope you will give us honest and constructive feedback where we get things wrong in the knowledge that we are a learning organisation and will welcome the opportunity to improve. |
| Fair | We treat everyone fairly and without bias. Whatever their views of us we consider their point of view and, even if we disagree, we don’t hold it against them EVER. Where we have conflicts of interest we declare these and manage them appropriately in order to ensure we act fairly. | If you have a conflict or perceived conflict of interest we expect you to tell us. It doesn’t mean we will then dismiss what you have to say. It will just be easier to evaluate the context and ensure we are treating everyone fairly.
If you see instances of bias we expect you to report them. |
| Understanding | We recognise that every person’s journey is different and unique. So before criticising we will try to understand. And when we understand as best we can we will seek to find solutions to solve the problems others are experiencing. | Please tell us if something is unclear. We will try to make it clear. There may very well be aspects we have not considered fully or details we have missed. So please help us to help you understand so we can find the right solutions. |
| Listening | It is easy to talk and much more difficult to truly listen. We will try to listen actively so we can serve our members and future members in the best way possible and meet their needs. | Please listen to us as well as tell us things. It is important that we have a proper dialogue. |
As part of our evaluation of our own values we also considered how we interpret the values published by British Fencing.
England Fencing approach to British Fencing Values
| Applied to actions and attitudes of EF directors, officers, volunteers and other representatives | Applied to actions and attitudes of EF members, partners and associates | |
| Honesty | We are honest with ourselves about our shortcomings and we are honest with everyone external to our organisation too. | We expect you to be honest at all times both with us and with yourselves. |
| Respect | We realise that people have different backgrounds, different points of view and different needs.
We don’t demand or expect respect from them but we demand of ourselves that we respect each other and others. |
Respect each other and the rules and regulations.
Do not be rude or insulting to anyone.
Where you need to give honest but harsh feedback please choose the time and place with sensitivity. |
| Excellence | We strive to do the best job we can to serve our membership in the most effective way and with the highest quality. Where we lack resources to try to make up for it with our excellent attitude to give our members the best value for money we can. | We expect you to tell us kindly when we fall short and to be reflective when considering your own actions and performance on and off the piste. |
Grievance procedure
Our grievance procedure is currently being revised.
If you have a complaint please write to the President or to Complaints which will be received by the Deputy President