Latest News
Temporary Closure Continues
I am afraid the shutdown triggered by the coronavirus has affected us
for longer than I had hoped. Unfortunately we still cannot set a date
for fencing to resume at the club.
The main reason is that we do not know when the premises at St Peters
will be available. The school has to give priority to reopening
safely for its students, and they have written to us to explain that
they cannot open for external lettings in September - the problem is
that they cannot clean to the standard currently required before an
external letting, or before lessons the following day. I still
hope that the risk analysis may evolve once the new term has started and
a "new normal" has been established, and that the blanket restriction
on external lettings will be relaxed sometime during the term.
When that happens, I expect the club will be able to re-start - you
might think that competition between fencers involves less close contact
than many other sports. However, the devil is in the detail, and
there are still risks that have to be considered - including with
fencers mixing while off the piste, and with the sharing of equipment.
The club will have to follow advice from the UK Government and British
Fencing in order to manage the risks. As an indication of what
this might mean, I know that a small number of other clubs in England
have premises which have already allowed them to resume, often
inituially in the open air, and typically the fencers are asked to
arrive already changed if they can, not to share equipment, to wear
face-coverings for certain activities and to stay in bubbles of 8
fencers. At GFC, these changes would impact some fencers more than
others. The committee have to see if solutions, such as (for example)
loaning equipment for the whole term rather than just the evening, would
be practical and affordable.
I will update the website again when I have more news. (I am conscious
that we also need to re-schedule the annual general meeting). In the
meantime, I would encourage all our members to keep up their fitness
levels with more general exercise and/or following some of the stretches
and training exercises you can find online: it will make a significant
difference when fencing restarts.
- Tim Schofield, Chairman
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When and Where
Guildford Fencing Club meets in St. Peter's
School in Merrow, on Friday evenings in term
times. See these links for details:
-
Times of junior
and adult classes
-
Dates when we
fence, including club competitions
-
Directions to the
sports hall.
Information for new
members
See these links for details:
The club is accessible from West Surrey and East
Hampshire - we have had members from Surbiton,
Woking, Aldershot, Farnborough, Leatherhead,
Esher, Cranleigh and Godalming.
For Existing Members
Who to contact on the
committee.
Membership forms and fees
- for adults, students, beginners and visitors.
Detailed results for the
past ten years
Winners of club competitions
for over 30 years
Copies of the club
newsletter from previous years
Pictures of fencing at the
Club
Club Hoodies for Sale
Hoodies for sale in the club colours - please
contact Lee Langridge for further details. Cost -
£22 each.
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has a statement on data processing and privacy. Please click here for details, and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
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