Fence Cornwall has won the
2009 BBC Power of Sport Award, supported
by Sport England, for the South West.
Fence Cornwall is a community outreach sports
project developed by Truro Fencing club which began in September
2007.
The project offers free fencing taster
sessions to primary and secondary schools in Cornwall.
Subsequently Fence Cornwall establishes fencing clubs and sessions
in schools who have taken advantage of these tasters. The
project aims to take high quality and low cost sporting activity to
communities who may not normally access such minority sports.
Ultimately this will result in increased participation in sport
across Cornwall.
Jon Salfield, the Project Manager, believes
that fencing can appeal to children and young people who are not
interested in main-stream sports. The opportunity to take part in
fencing has encouraged many non-active children to get fitter and
lead healthier lives. There are now over 600 children fencing in
school clubs every week in Cornwall.
Fence Cornwall has taken the sport to many
isolated rural communities and some of the smallest schools in the
UK, and since the project started in September 2007, 450 coaching
hours have been delivered free of charge. This has provided
fencing opportunities to 6,000 children across Cornwall and as a
result of the school club activities Truro Fencing Club’s active
junior section now has more than 50% female membership.
During the last year Fence Cornwall has
delivered over 150 free taster sessions in Cornish schools reaching
more than 2,000 children. Their response to these sessions
has resulted in 16 new after-school clubs being established.
Redruth Community College now has Fencing as part of their PE
curriculum. From established school clubs more than 30
children have gone on to train at Truro Fencing Club and take part
in youth competitions.
Josiah Haslam, a 14 year old from Helston,
joined an after-school fencing club which was set up at his school
two years ago. He then went onto to join the new community fencing
club in the town, where he trains regularly. Most recently he
represented the club at the British Championships, where he won
matches in the under 17 category.
Two years ago there were no Cornish schools
competitions for young Fencers. In July 2009 the second
Cornwall Schools Championships hosted 28 teams of fencers from
Cornish schools with over 100 children competing in a fun and
exciting environment for four different titles - the event
subsequently led England Fencing to take the model of Fence
Cornwall and begin planning to roll out similar projects
nationwide.
In 2009/10 Fence Cornwall will bring two new
coaches in to work on the project and plan to offer a further 100
taster sessions creating 10 new school clubs serving up to 200
young people.
Future plans include founding Cornwall’s first
disabled fencing club under the leadership of a Paralympic level
coach. This will only be the second disabled fencing club in
the South West. However, the single largest development for
the future is the plan to build a dedicated fencing centre in
Cornwall which will be the focal point of all the activity within
the County. The centre will also be a national training
facility for fencers, coaches and referees to international
level.
For more information please visit their
website: http://www.trurofencing.co.uk