This article forms part of a series of reports which accompany the 2024-25 BF Annual Report.
In this report:
Membership Overview
British Fencing’s (BF’s) individual total membership at the end of March 2025 was 11645 in comparison to 11312 in March 2024, 10939 in March 2023 and 10092 in March 2022. Through 2024-25, membership numbers were consistently higher than 2023-24, with a high of 11796 in November 2024.
Financially, membership income ended at £489,914. This figure includes both individual and club membership. Cash sales taken for individual membership increased again during the year (£382,527 to £405,719) and 40% (£163,297) continues to be passed on to Home Nation Associations to support grass roots development.
The total number of BF affiliated clubs was 393 at the end of March 2025, a small decline compared to that of 403 in March 2024, however, the split across Home Nations remained broadly consistent.
| England | Scotland | Wales | NI | Jersey | Guernsey |
| 325 | 37 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 5 |
The spread of membership types remains consistent with previous years’ figures, the Competitive category still being the largest category of membership:
| Membership Type | March 2025 | March 2024 |
| Compete | 7566 | 7441 |
| Recreational | 1844 | 1648 |
| Starter | 886 | 954 |
| Supporter | 546 | 542 |
| Introductory (Free, 90 days) | 690 | 692 |
| Northern Ireland Associate | 87 | n/a* |
| Other | 26 | 35 |
*Launched in August 2024, the Northern Ireland – Fencing Ireland Associate Membership allows members of Fencing Ireland who hold a Fencing Ireland competitive licence to enter unlimited BF-registered competitions in Northern Ireland. Our thanks go to Northern Ireland Fencing and Fencing Ireland for their collaboration and support in the creation of this new membership type.
The split of Home Nation affiliation in the membership remains broadly consistent with previous years, both across the Home Nations and within membership categories:
U18s continue to make-up around 47% of the membership and, irrespective of age, the gender gap remains around 68%/32% male to female.
The British Fencing Online Community Discussion Event series continued throughout 2024-25 with discussion or listening events held monthly, with over 600 sign ups across the year, including for Learning Week 2024.
The club admins and welfare officers sessions continue to be a regular quarterly feature and engage attendees. Thank you to all those who have taken part in the sessions.
Other events included the Pre British Youth Championships (BYCs) call to provide parents/carers and coaches new to the BYCs with an overview of what to expect and also an event covering the introduction of the new U14 Ranking Scheme.
Additional information and discussion sessions ran during BF Learning Week 2024. These included ‘Managing your membership’, ‘Seated Fencing: Widening our reach’ and ‘Completing Club and Competition Risk Assessments’, engaging over 50 BF members. Looking ahead to 2025, Learning Week sessions will be recorded and shared on the BF YouTube channel to create a library of information available all year round.
The Club Digest continued throughout the year providing BF affiliated clubs with information on a variety of topics including restarting fencing, funding opportunities and club volunteer training opportunities. The average open rate for digests within the year 2024-25 was 46%.
The method of distribution of the club digest has now changed, the digest is sent to the main contact on the Club’s Sport:80 profile. Clubs are reminded to keep their profiles up to date to receive important information and updates from BF. The Club Digest is also available on the BF website here.
The GB League is a recreational league without the traditional boundaries of age groups, gender and formal clubs, so that members (BF Recreational level or above) can fence each other in recreational and club environments and earn GB League points.
In Autumn 2024, the GB League was paused in order to address the challenges with the Playwaze platform which was having a negative impact on the GB League experience for all clubs and fencers.
It is expected that the GB League will resume in 2025-26, with an improved interface for club admins and fencers.
The Annual BF Community Awards continue to recognise some of the best clubs, coaches, fencers and volunteers for their contribution to fencing. Winners for the 2023-24 season were announced.
The independent judging panel was made up of people working in the sports sector from UK Coaching, ArcheryGB and ParalympicsGB. Nominations for the 2024-25 season will open in Autumn 2025.
Our additional focus areas in 2025-26 will be:
Click here for the full 2024-25 Annual Report.
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