We are proud to support Youth Sport Trust’s #PledgeToPlay for 60 minutes a day campaign.

Between Monday 19th and Sunday 25th June, British Fencing will be one of the organisations and individuals supporting the charity Youth Sports Trust in this year’s National School Sports Week.

The event raises awareness of the importance of activity in young people’s mental and physical health and is particularly urgent in times of limited funding for sports, the cost of living crisis, as well as broader societal changes, with trends such as excessive screen time.

Whilst Chief Medical Officers recommend 60 minutes a day of physical activity for non-disabled young people, only 45% of children in the UK are meeting that amount of time. For disabled young people, the recommendation is 20 minutes a day, including strength and balance three times a week.

Those 60 minutes don’t need to be completed fully at school. Another Government recommendation is that 30 minutes are practised outside of school. In a call for a joint effort towards more sports and play in the formative years of young people, the Youth Sports Trust is calling parents, teachers, carers, and organisations to make a #PledgeToPlay.

Anyone participating will be given access to supporting materials and resources tailored to all ages. These separate resources for schools, families and organisations offer affordable, creative ideas to include sports and play into the routine.

We Are Forging Futures and British Fencing will be participating by offering the Explore Fencing online CPD course for free. The course teaches the fundamentals of how to coach fencing and contains resources to deliver fun fencing-inspired activities, with no equipment required, and all accessed via the Explore Fencing app.

The offer is valid until 25th June 2023.