Who Are LHFC?

LHFC is a nonprofit, member-run Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) club and a registered charity (registration number: 1200898). We were established in 2016 with the goal of promoting HEMA through training, scholarship, community, and competition.

We train several different weapons and sword fighting styles. The historical sources that form the basis of our teaching range from the High Medieval Period through the Renaissance and into the Early Modern Era.

Unlike many historical fencing organisations, LHFC is a members run club run by a committee of volunteers with classes taught by a team of instructors. The strength and depth of our volunteers and members allow the club to be extraordinarily resilient and adaptable.

The Problem

At present LHFC trains five classes every week, split between two community halls in Kennington (KPC and KPCC). Both are quite small and therefore constrain our class size. In addition, if we wish to grow by launching a new class on a different night, we will incur further hourly rental costs and operate at a loss until this new class becomes established and later profitable.

Furthermore, despite both community organisations being incredibly helpful and receptive to our needs, we are inevitably at risk of cancellations of sessions, increases in rental costs, clashes with other community hall users, and the general unpredictability of operating from spaces that we have no control over.

Furthermore, the owning body of one of the community halls distributed a letter in July 2023, informing users of the hall of their plans to demolish the building and redevelop it. They aim to rebuild the hall and establish flats on the plot of land, but this is a long-term process and we’ll lose access to the space in the interim. Access to community halls is a diminishing resource—this further underscores our need for a permanent home.

Accessibility is an additional concern. By using community halls that do not have specific sporting facilities, we cannot offer space for our members to change privately, nor to shower after a session. This makes it difficult to attract and retain members, especially those of marginalised genders or sexualities who are uncomfortable without dedicated changing facilities.

Hiring dedicated sporting facilities initially seemed like the obvious solution. However, after extensive research, it became apparent that sports halls and similar facilities in south-central London cannot offer us sufficient, guaranteed, and regular space. During our enquiries, we were frequently told by sports halls that we were welcome to reserve specific dates, but our reservations would be cancelled if their home teams decided they wanted to use the halls during those times. We were also told that hiring out dedicated, regular time on a nearly nightly basis would be highly unlikely. Furthermore, the hiring costs of large, dedicated sports halls are far higher than our current venues and would necessitate increasing class costs—this runs contrary to our goal of keeping HEMA as accessible as possible.

The Solution

We also have plans to build a library of HEMA books and resources, free for members to use, to further our aims of promoting the study and development of historical fencing. Our venue will be a space for our HEMA book club to meet, rather than in the public parks where they meet currently—the venue will not just a place of practical application, but also of academic interest.

The increased community aspect of setting up this venue cannot be overstated. As a meeting place and hub for HEMA practitioners across London, the value of this space in building and maintaining connections and collaboration between clubs and organisations will be invaluable.

How You Can Help

The setup costs of such a project are expected to run to about £200–250k, followed by higher rental costs than we currently pay. Financial modelling based on current club attendance and growth indicates that this project will be self-sustaining within three years, but we will need funding to bridge the gap until then. Due to recent increases in interest in LHFC and HEMA more broadly, as seen in the growth in class attendance and LHFC social media interest shown below, we have no doubt that the club will be able to grow in membership and attendance with the physical space a permanent venue would allow—our only roadblock is getting started.

We are looking to work with charitable funders and granting organisations to turn this plan into a reality. For the larger costs, our preference is to build an enduring relationship with a single or small number of large grantors. However, we welcome contributions towards other expenses such as additional equipment, furniture and décor, as well as the individual projects and events we run.

If you are a funding body, small or large, please feel free to get in touch with us to discuss how you can help. Individuals can also make small donations through our donations link at the bottom of the page.

The Story So Far