The “Donate your fencing gear! “ program was approved by the FIE Executive Commitee on 19th February 2017 in Nice (FRA).
The program had been promoted on the social networks and the official FIE site. Yuki Ota (JPN), Member of the FIE Executive Committee supported the project by providing the FIE with a promotional video at his own expense. The President of the Athletes Commission, Aron Szilagy, was also employed to promote the project and supported the project himself with a donation of second-hand equipment.
Second-hand equipment was collected in the course of a pilot trial and three FIE events:
- Junior and Cadet World Championships, Plovdiv (BUL)
- Senior World Championships, Leipzig (GER)
- World Fencing Day, Lausanne (SUI): during the World Fencing Day celebrations, Swiss Fencing encouraged the Swiss fencing clubs to donate equipment.
- Prince Takamodo men’s foil World Cup, Tokyo (JPN): the athletes taking part in the competition and the Japanese fencers were asked by the Japanese Fencing Federation to contribute to the program by way of making a donation.
- In Leipzig, 73 athletes and 5 suppliers donated a total of 816 pieces of equipment, distributed to 5 countries;
- In Lausanne, 30 athletes and 7 fencing clubs donated a total of 318 pieces of equipment, for Honduras;
- In Tokyo, 18 athletes, the Japanese Fencing Federation and 1 club donated a total of 167 pieces of equipment, intended for Colombia.
Donors:
All the donors received a certificate of participation and an “I donated my fencing gear” bracelet. In addition, an ad hoc album was created on the FIE Facebook page, with photographs of the donors.
The equipment was distributed to 6 countries each of which submitted 1 fencing solidarity and development project:
Brazil
Colombia
Honduras
Kyrgyzstan
Rwanda
Senegal
A SEMI representative was responsible for checking the donated equipment at each event to ensure that the items were safe.
The following persons were appointed:
Leipzig: Janet Huggins (GBR)
Lausanne: Janet Huggins (GBR)
Tokyo: ‘Atsushi Harinishi’ (JPN)
The “Donate Your fencing gear! “ project was the subject of a case study conducted by the IOC Department for Corporate Development, Brand and Sustainability.
On invitation from the IOC, the project was presented during the International Federations Forum, which was held in Lausanne from 8th to 10th November 2017