BF Honours and FIE Awards presented at AGM

At the recent Annual General Meeting, President Hilary Philbin presented this year’s honours awards to their deserving recipients.  Whilst some were unable to attend in person each award was announced individually and greeted with applause.

Award of Merit

Connie Adam and Stephen Domek collected their awards in person.  The third recipient, Chris Gregory was not present.

Bronze Medal

Iain Aberdeen, Robert Kirby and Anthony Klenczar were unable to attend.

Silver Medal

Richard Bonehill’s posthumous medal was collected by his brother Michael who made a touching speech about how much fencing had meant to Richard.  James Davis’s medal was also presented and it was his mother, Yolander, who collected it on his behalf.  At the time James was at a training camp but his mother read out a message from him.  (See below.)  Pierre Harper also received this award but was away on international duty.  Pierre’s award will be presented at the Eden Cup in January.

Gold Medal

John Mason was awarded his medal in person and recalled some of the great moments that he had experienced in the fencing community and how he had made so many friends over his years of service.

FIE Awards

In its centenary year, the FIE created an international Hall of Fame, initially intended as a one-off, recognising those who had made significant contributions to fencing since the FIE’s establishment in 1913.  However they subsequently decided to add to the Hall of Fame each year, with each new recipient receiving a medal.  The FIE has therefore arranged for medals to be presented to all previous Hall of Fame members – of which Great Britain is proud to have four.

Former British Fencing President, Keith Smith had the pleasure of accepting the Hall of Fame medals on behalf of Bill Hoskyns and Allan Jay.  He spoke with great fondness about both Bill and Allan.  Peter Jacobs received his medal in person and Clare Halsted accepted Steve Higginson’s on his behalf.

A photo record of the presentations was made and all recipients should contact [email protected] should they want a copy of their photographs.  An album has also been posted on our Facebook page.

Here is James Davis’s short speech read out by his mother:

“Thank you for awarding me this silver medal for my contribution to fencing.  Unfortunately due to my commitments in the USA, I am disappointed not to be in the UK to collect it in person.  I very much appreciate the recognition for my achievements; the medal however really reflects all the hard work that has been instilled in me over the many years by my parents and my coaches. They deserve this as much as I do.  I thank British Fencing for all the support you have given me over the years and continue to do so.  I am not only honoured to represent my country internationally, but could not be more proud than to do so in the sport of fencing.”