Grant Success! Christmas comes early to MFC!

 

When it rains it pours they say. Well it's been raining good things on MFC lately so I really don't mind!

Just as this year of surprises is drawing to a close the Club has been informed that we've been successful in a grant application we submitted in September. The total value of the grant we've been awarded is $5,625!

This Active Kids Grant supports volunteer-run community sports clubs with a focus on increasing sports participation. It prioritises sports clubs in regional areas and provides funds for equipment, kit and uniforms specifically for athletes under the age of 20. We thought it sounded like a perfect fit for MFC, and the Australian Sports Foundation agreed!

With this grant MFC will purchase 75 x FIE (800N) plastrons and 30 x fencing masks.

Plastrons are a crucial piece of safety equipment and the Club requested funding for these so we can upgrade our Club gear to the higher safety standards currently being introduced across the fencing world. While those higher standards are mandatory for competitions at state level and above, it's now recommended that 800N plastrons be used for all contexts, including training. The grant will allow us to equip all our young fencers with 800N plastrons to use at training. And to ensure that all our fencers have access to new standard in equipment, the Club will also purchase additional 800N plastrons for our 20+ years athletes to use.

The masks we'll buy with the remainder of the grant will more than double our capacity to equip our young fencers as the Club continues to grow dramatically. It will also allow us to run fencing programs in schools more easily – something the Club has been approached to do in 2021.

MFC will be working with the Australian Sports Foundation in the New Year to share our story with the broader sports community. It's certainly a story that's worth telling and once it's published we'll let you know.

We're on a bit of a roll right now! It's a wonderful time to be part of this MFC adventure – who knows where it could take us!