People

Board Members

The current Board members are

Secretary – Viv Mills.

Viv’s responsibilities include management of membership, organising the training camps and the National Championships, entering the fencers into international competitions, organising Board meetings and the AGM, and keeping records of those meetings and attending the Performance Management Board meetings.

Assisting Viv are the following people:

Jo Gilliver – Facebook and Twitter

Najib Coutya – Updating the website

Treasurer: Adebola Odeyemi.

Adebola has responsibility for setting the budget, providing balance sheets for the board meetings, preparing the Annual Report for the Charity Commission, and for managing the bank account

Member: Alan Sheriff.

Alan is the Development Officer and has responsibility for development and expansion of the sport. He runs all the taster sessions, the Spinal Games and the National junior Games. He also helps Wheelpower’s fencing sessions. Alan helped to write the coaching programme and he and Pater Rome hope to be running more courses soon. Alan is assisted by the following people:

Justine Moore – coaching wheelchair fencing

Shah Rashid – coaching wheelchair fencing.

Duncan Moyes – coaching children with autism in special schools in the North East.

Member: Adrian Speakman

Adrian has specific responsibility for making applications for funding from specific funding organisations like Sport England.

Member: Paul Marshall

Paul has just been co-opted onto the board and is currently without portfolio.

Peter Rome

WCP Coach

Peter has been qualified as a fencing coach since 1996, during that time he has coached members of the five nations national teams, gold medalists at junior and senior Commonwealth, British and Irish under 17 and Under 23 team, World and European medalists. Most notably he has coached and team managed medal winning performances at age group and senior world championships, with many firsts along the way. Double gold medal world cups, gold medal at foil, epee and sabre. Double world champions and the first Paralympic individual medal for 24 years.

He has also been an international referee, armourer and team manger to many major tournaments.

Competition performance coaching is Peter’s passion. Peter was appointed WCP Coach after the Rio Paralympics.

Email: [email protected]

Peter with Piers Gilliver

Three BDF members recognised by British Fencing

In November 2019 three BDF members were recognised for their contributions to fencing, by British Fencing.

Piers Gilliver and Dimitri Coutya were both awarded the British Fencing Silver Medal. In making the presentation and reading the citation, BF President, Hilary Philbin remarked on the extraordinary fencing achievements of both wheelchair fencers during the last four years, winning medals at every World Championships, Zonal Championships and World Cup. Hilary witnessed first hand their achievements at the World Championships in Cheongju, South Korea in September 2019, when each fencer won 2 individual medals and a team medal, and both had returned home as a World Champion. The award of the Silver Medal is richly deserved.

At the same ceremony Viv Mills was awarded the British Fencing Bronze Medal for services to fencing. In reading the citation, Hilary Philbin outlined Viv’s all-round contribution to fencing, as an Executive Director of England Fencing, being responsible for the organisation of the England Youth Championships, for four years, and acting as Assistant Manager and Coach to the England Veteran’s Team at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Christchurch and Canberra. As Secretary of British Disability Fencing, having responsible for the day-to-day administration of the GB Wheelchair fencers, and traveling to all the international competitions as BDF Team Manager, and coach. Viv also coaches at her local fencing club.