2025-26 ANNUAL REPORT - EVENTS
This article forms part of a series of reports which accompany the 2025-26 BF Annual Report.
Please note that all financial figures in this report are subject to final audited accounts.
- BF Portfolio Events List (1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026)
- Event Reports
- Summary Participation Statistics
- Media & Comms
- Event Feedback
- Entry Fee Support Scheme
- Our Volunteers & Officials
BF Portfolio Events List (1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026)
- 2025 British Senior National Championships (April 2025)
- 2025 British Youth Championships (May 2025)
- 2025 British Senior Open Championships and GB Cup (July 2025)
- 2025 U17 (Cadet) and U20 (Junior) National Championships (September 2025)
- 2025 British School Team Championship Finals (March 2026)*
*Contracted to be run by Leon Paul
Portfolio Event Reports
April Championship Weekend 2025
The British Senior National Championships took place in April 2025 at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield. The Championships included both Individual and Team events, with priority entry given to those at the top of the senior ranking lists. The aim is to bring the British Championships experience as close as possible to the experience that our athletes get when competing abroad.
The first day of competition saw 301 athletes (a slight increase from 293 in 2024) take part in the individual competition. Team Championships took place on day two, with the top two teams in each weapon qualifying for the EFC European Club Championships.
Alongside the British Senior Championships, a competition was held for D/E/U rated fencers, following the BF Rating Scheme Pilot being extended to all six weapons. The aim of the scheme is to provide incentives for fencers to compete more often, at more appropriate level competitions, and progress their rating over time. The opportunity to bring this event alongside an existing championship meant much of the logistical infrastructure was already in place, and the event gave the participating fencers a taste of the National Championship environment.
We also delivered the Para National Championships across this weekend, with 30 entries across the weekend.
Find out more about the British Senior Championships in our Club Digest
May Championship Weekend 2025
The British Youth Championships (BYCs) took place on its traditional first May Bank Holiday weekend. The three-day event remains the largest youth participation event in the UK competitions calendar.
BYC entry figures continue to increase steadily. Entry numbers rose to 1268 (compared to 1200 in 2024), making this the largest entry for British Youth Championships for many years, including pre-COVID figures.
38 pistes were laid out across the athletics track and netball courts in the arena to cater for a wide range of young athletes. The tournament had U12, U14, U16 and U18 fencers competing across all three weapons.
Each day consisted of eight finals, with the top eight fencers in each category being congratulated in individual award ceremonies.
Find out more about the British Youth Championships in our Club Digest
July Championship Weekend 2025
In its second year, the British Open Championships (Senior, Wheelchair, GB Cup and new for 2024 – U14) took place in July. The Open Championships were open to all Compete licensed BF members, including those not eligible to compete for GBR, plus international visitors, and attracted 563 (up from 473) entrants.
The Wheelchair Fencing disciplines were also open to athletes who were not internationally classified.
The 2025 GB Cup, a national competition for beginner and intermediate adult (16+) fencers, also took place over the same weekend. Similar to the BYCs, participants qualify through regional competitions, including regional senior championships, and specific beginner/intermediate events. There were a total of 115 entries (up from 93 in 2024) over the weekend.
Finally, over the July weekend, The British U14 Open Championships offered U14 fencers the opportunity to compete in the first U14 British Open event, as part of the new U14 Ranking Competition and Structure, as announced in March 2024. We had 139 entries, and it was great to see such young talent!
For the first time in 2025, we hosted a Veterans Open alongside these events. As the weekend clashed with a European Circuit event, numbers were low, and the viability of the event will be reviewed.
September Championship Weekend 2025
In September, the 2025 U17 and U20 Championships (the ‘Cadet and Junior’ Championships) were held at the University of Nottingham. The annual competition saw young fencers compete for ranking points, ahead of the international selection events commencing in late September. Alongside this, the first ‘A’ British Ranking Event (BRC) for U14s also took place. With an increase in entry numbers in the U14 A BRC event, and consistent entries into the Cadet and Junior Championships, the weekend saw an increase in overall entries – 700 compared to 687 in 2024.
March Championship Weekend 2026
In March 2026, 92 teams (up from 89 in 2024) participated in the British School Team Championships Finals. This took place at the Leon Paul Centre. Leon Paul were contracted to run this event on behalf of British Fencing.
Summary Participation Statistics
During 2025-26, there were 2950 individual entries and 130 team entries into all BF Portfolio events, an increase on the previous year. Event-by-event comparisons are as follows:
| Event | 2025-26 | 2024-25 |
| British Senior Championships (individual) | 300 | 293 |
| British Senior Championships (Team) | 42 | 42 |
| DEU (C+J’s Championships weekend) | 20 | 75 |
| British Youth Championships | 1268 | 1200 |
| British Open Championships (U14) | 139 | 154 |
| British Open Championships (Senior) | 563 | 473 |
| GB Cup | 115 | 61 |
| Cadet and Junior Championships | 599 | 554 |
| U14 A BRC (C&J weekend) | 81 | 133 |
| British School Team Championships | 92 | 89 |
| Veteran British Open (Pilot) | N/A |
Entry numbers are being maintained, with a slight increase/decrease in certain competitions (see table above).
Overall participation is increasing as we increase the number/type of competitions (e.g. DEU ratings event, U14 Ranking events) over an event weekend. By maximising the venue capacity and space in this way, we can increase participation across different areas of the community and limit the impact of increasing costs, especially in areas such as venue hire.
Event Media & Comms
For the 2025-26 season, BF continued to record and upload finals of portfolio events to the BF YouTube channel, with over 20,000 views for the season’s event content.
Supported by an extensive communications plan, event information and messaging were spread across multiple platforms, including the BF website and social media. In 2025-26, BF continued to use paid Meta advertising for events with a total reach of 122,553 across two events, compared to 29,334 in 2024-25.
BF continues to use a photo-sharing site to display the best images from BF events. In November 2025, BF shifted from the previous SmugMug site – used since 2021 – to the redesigned BF Digital Portal, in order to streamline the number of platforms we have. The BF Digital Portal can be viewed here. We are also currently trialling the process for event organisers to be able to upload their event photos to the BF Digital Portal.
BF is working to recruit more volunteers to the media team, allowing for more photos, video, social media content, and an overall enhanced experience at BF events. At the Cadet and Junior National Championships and DEU Event in September 2025, over 1000 photos were uploaded to the event album by volunteers and staff. The full album can be viewed here.
Find out more about media at BF events by clicking here.
Portfolio Event Feedback
When analysing Customer feedback scores for the BF portfolio events, the scores for overall satisfaction were (with 10 being ‘extremely satisfied’ and 0 ‘extremely dissatisfied’):
- Score 9-10: 48% of respondents
- Score 7-8: 27% of respondents
- Score 0-6: 19% of respondents
The team continues to welcome feedback on events so that we can work with key partners, such as venue teams, to implement improvements for future events.
Entry Fee Support Scheme
Designed to address the barrier of increased costs of participating in BF portfolio events, the Entry Fee Support Scheme provided 32 free entries to fencers from lower socio-economic groups (LSEG). The scheme continues to be available for all BF portfolio events.
Event Licences (events not directly run by BF)
To be covered by the BF insurance policy, all competitions and events must hold a BF Event Licence, whether competitive (ranking, open, closed) or recreational.
For the third consecutive financial year, there was a rise in the number of competitive events taking place to over 270, an increase of over 20 events (251 in 2024-25, compared to 233 in 2023-24).
There has also been a significant rise in the number of recreational events taking place within the community, with 42 registered events compared to 25 in 2025-25. The recreational event licence covers a wide range of events, from have-a-go sessions to recreational series events or charity events.
The event organiser zone continues to be updated with resources available to organisers to help plan their event, such as the addition of Creating Inclusive Environments and Setting up an Event on Sport80 section of the website.
Financial Reporting
Following the trend for the previous financial year, the events portfolio continued to face challenges due to the continuing impact of cost increases and inflation on areas such as accommodation, travel, catering and venue costs.
The financial objective for events is to achieve break-even performance before BF staffing costs and centrally apportioned overheads. For 2025-26, the events portfolio generated a surplus of £2k on this basis
Please note, the final 2025-26 figure is subjected to audited accounts.
Increasing participation (through increased entry limits, where there is demand, and adding additional competitions within the event weekends) are important in our goal of sustainable, financially viable events.
Club referee provision is also an important factor. We would like to thank clubs and club organisers for their support in embedding this method of referee provision which is common practice in other European fencing nations.
The ranking event levy continues to support the ranking automation work as well as allowing BF to provide free/subsidised additional event workforce training and education.
Our Volunteers & Officials
BF Events are managed by the BF Event Manager, supported by BF Competition Manager Jon Willis. Whilst the individual events are supported by many BF staff members, we continue to rely on volunteers who provide invaluable support, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience in running events.
BF would like to thank to our key volunteers, who enable competition weekends to take place:
- The armoury team, led by Andrew Goodier continues to problem solve equipment breaks on the field of play, providing quick fixes for fencers and educating those new to the sport.
- The DT team, including Jon Willis (BF Competition Manager), Francine Robb, Henry Youngblood, Marcus Messer and Arlen Veysey.
- The refereeing community and Head referees, including Adrian Speakman, Luke Deamer, Jennifer Sancroft, Mike Selig and Chris Farren for their commitment over multiple weekends during the season.
- Volunteers including welfare officers and floor walkers, who give up their time to support BF event weekends, working hard to provide a positive experience for fencers, their families and supporters.
We would also like to thank all the volunteer event organisers for their constant feedback and input, including attending online community discussion events, the running of local competitions and their involvement in the BRC circuit of events.
Looking ahead to 2026-27
Looking ahead to 2025-26, the focus for BF is to continue to run high-quality national level competitions, whilst continuing to manage the impact of increasing costs.
National competitions will continue to see multiple age groups within one championship.
Alongside the existing scheme for U17 and U20 events, we expect to see an increase in British Ranking Competitions for the U14 age group as it enters its second season, enabling the Ranking Scheme and Competition Structure to continue in its growth.
A review of the GB Cup during this time led to the launch of a new-look GB Cup for 2025-26, meaning the delivery of a National Championships event for DEU (Intermediate) fencers. This will increase the numbers of fencers who are eligible to enter and compete during a BF competition weekend, exposing more members to high quality fencing competition experience.
We will continue to support fencers from lower socio-economic groups (LSEG) to participate in BF portfolio events through the Entry Fee Support Scheme, with free places available at all BF Portfolio events.
We are also in the process of planning everything for the 2026 Para Fencing European Championships which are bring hosted in Cardiff in October. We have got a great event management team in MLS, who will assist our event manager in delivering what will hopefully be a fantastic event.
This post is related to the BF 2030 Strategy goals to Grow Participation and Deliver Positive Social Impact.