Donate Your Fencing Gear! is back. The programme, launched for the first time in 2017 in Plovdiv and Leipzig, never failed to mobilize the members of the fencing family.
Olympic champions, junior fencers, athletes from all over the world, manufacturers, members of the FIE Commissions and Councils, retired fencers, fencing clubs owners — all have always answered with great generosity to the call in support of solidarity and grassroots projects run by the National Fencing Federations across the globe to expand the reach of fencing and bring it where it is most needed, sometimes in extreme conditions.
Expanding fencing in underserved communities and broadening access for all is one of the targets of the Strategic Development Plan. Donate Your Fencing Gear! is a unique tool to support your sport and back the quiet, determined efforts of many national federations operating far from the spotlight. So far, 34 National federations have operated thanks to the equipment collected by the FIE at the World Championships.
The suburbs of Lomé, in Togo, the refugee camps in Syria, the coastal villages in Mauritius, the areas closest to the conflict in Lebanon, the rural areas of Quito, Ecuador, the Unified Education Centre in Paraisopolis, Brazil and the dream of “Creando sangre de campeones” (Raising champions) in Venezuela fuelled by the passion and the experience of the Olympic gold winner Ruben Limardo have one thing in common: they are all populated by young people born in a context where development options are quite restricted. As they cannot go to fencing, then fencing must go to them.
By passing your gear to them you help to nurture a new generation of fencers.
Several contributors have already pledged to contribute to the DYFG Edition 2026: Vango Fencing is one of them. Azza Besbes also decided to continue her participation with a donation from Azza Fencing. The FIE HQ frequently receives emails such as:
I saw online that you collect and then distribute used fencing gear to help people who normally wouldn't have access to this sport. I fenced foil competitively many years ago, and it is now time to pass my gear along to someone who could really use it as I don't fence anymore. Kindly let me know if mine is of interest.
Or
We are very inspired by the FIE’s Donate Your Fencing Gear! programme and would love to explore ways we can get involved.
Ruben Limardo, Olympic Champion and President of the FIE Athletes Commission, expresses his support for the initiative: As a fencer, I understand that our sport is a school of life, and today I invite you to join a cause that unites us beyond the piste: donating your second-hand fencing equipment to those who need it most.
Many of us have equipment in good condition that we no longer use; that equipment, which for us is a memory, can be the tool that ignites the dream of a young athlete in a vulnerable community. True greatness is not only in their medals, but in their ability to open doors for others.
Donate your equipment and let's bring fencing to every corner of the world, raising champions!
This is why, at the eve of the Junior and Cadet World Championships, the FIE renews its warm invitation to act: bring your fencing equipment which you no longer use, to Rio.
Donate Your Fencing Gear! is a multifaceted initiative:
-It is “Fencing for the future” as it helps more children to discover the sport.
-It is “Fencing for hope” as it brings people closer, promoting concretely solidarity and universality.
-It is “Fencing for the planet” as it extends the lifespan of material that otherwise would become waste
Furthermore, on the April 5, during the “Fencing for the Planet” roundtable, a full session will be dedicated to “Donate Your Fencing Gear!”. You can come and meet the beneficiaries of the past editions and listen to their stories.
Offer your glove, your mask, your foil, your wire to the Donate Your Fencing Gear! Stand at the venue. You will see the ripple effect.
Download the list of the beneficiaries for 2026 and learn more about the projects you can support.
Download the program of the Fencing for the Planet Roundtable.