BF held its fourth iteration of Learning Week between the 18th and 22nd August 2025, with some later session taking place this week. The event featured discussions from BF staff members and guest speakers, with the focus being on accessibility and disability inclusion.
We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone that attended this year’s BF Learning Week. 29 sessions were hosted, covering a variety of subjects. Over 240 people attended, and we hope that the insights from the week’s events informed your work in your respective role.
The week began with an introduction to the coach development opportunities available at BF, led by Chris Turner (BF Coaching & Workforce Development Manager) and Giulia Enright (BF Commercial Administrator).
The week began strong with the ‘Wheelchair Fencing Panel Discussion: Highest Performing Fencers’ session. We were joined by Paralympians Piers Gilliver and Dimitri Coutya, as well as Nik Diaper from UK Sports Institute, who talked about what it’s like to train and compete at the highest level of our sport.
The sessions on Monday afternoon included a short introduction to We Are Forging Futures, BF’s visual identity for our work in education, as well as a guide to completing risk assessments by Georgina Usher (BF CEO) and Abigail Dicks (BF Events & Membership Manager). We were then joined by Paralympian Gemma Collis, who spoke about the intersection between gender and disability, as well as balancing careers. Finally, Brian Brittain and Paul Abrahams rounded off the first day with a presentation on event ratings. Click here to learn more about the Rating Scheme.
Day two began with ‘We Are Forging Futures Journey’, led once again by Giulia. It was then followed by the first international team manager training session of the week, hosted by Lorraine Rose (BF Project Officer – Workforce Development). Grace Batey (BF Performance Athlete Support Coordinator) gave the first of her presentations about the importance of IADPs (Individual Athlete Development Plans), aimed towards coaches.
Our two guest speakers for the afternoon were Aimee Aronica and Helen Clayton. Aimee, a GBR para fencer, discussed her journey from a standing to seated fencer and coach. Afterwards, Helen gave an introduction to Sported – the largest grassroots sports charity in the UK – and how they can support fencing clubs.
Wednesday kicked off with an introduction to social media and branding by Heidi Januszewski (BF Media & Communications Officer). The first of two Buddle workshops then took place, exploring how to create an inclusive environment and how to improve accessibility. Grace then gave her second presentation on IADPs, this time aimed towards athletes and their parents. Finally, the week’s second international team manager training session took place.
Thursday began with a thought-provoking talk by Dr Jonathan Katz about psychological barriers when entering and progressing into disability sport. Afterwards, Virginia Bailey (BF Participation Director) hosted a discussion about the importance of BF hosting the Wheelchair Fencing European Championships in Cardiff next year.
Abigail and Sam Hepple (BF Membership Officer) hosted two presentations in the afternoon: one on event licensing and the other explaining how to use Sport:80, the BF membership platform. Thursday also saw the second Buddle workshop, this time on how clubs can raise money.
We were then joined by Joshua Morgan from ParalympicsGB, who gave an introduction to the classification system used by Paralympic sports, including para fencing. Later that evening, World Abilitysport referee Chris Farren hosted a seminar on para refereeing, including its differences from standing refereeing.
The final day of BF Learning Week opened with an insightful discussion by Dr Ellie Gennings on how to create positive environments. Later that afternoon, Rick Rodgers (BF Inclusion Manager (Disability)) and Daniel Mynott (The Change Foundation) teamed up to deliver ‘Coaching Neurodiversity CPD’, offering different methods of inclusion, examples of situations, and tips for coaching. Finally, Rick closed out the week with an introduction to the SwordSeat™ and how it can transform fencing activities, as well as how clubs can obtain and set up their own. Click here to learn more about the SwordSeat.
In the GBR Pathway space, four sessions were delivered to fencers of various age groups outside of the main BF Learning Week dates. The sessions, titled ‘Navigating GBR Selection’, were targeted towards U14, Cadet (U17), Junior (U20) and Senior and U23 fencers. Each explored the key elements of athlete progression, including selection policies, ranking systems, eligibility criteria, performance data and structured season planning.
The sessions that were able to be recorded are now available on the BF YouTube channel. View the full playlist below:
If you haven’t already, please make sure to complete the feedback surveys for the sessions that you attended. Doing so helps us to improve future iterations of Learning Week, and it only takes 5 minutes.
To provide general feedback about BF Learning Week, such as what topics you’d like to hear about in future, please click on the blue button below:
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