The Paula Heister Fund

In memory of former OUFC President and Blues Epeeist, Dr Paula Heister, the club would like to announce the creation of the Paula Heister Fund. This fund has kindly been set-up by Paula’s family to celebrate the connection between Oxford University Fencing Club and Paula, as well as the impact she had on the club and all those she encountered here.

Paula had a tremendously positive impact on many parts of the club, from joining as a beginner, to competing for the Blues team at Varsity, to taking the reins as president (2010–11). To honour this connection, the fund will be used to support all areas of the club and will help ensure OUFC continues to grow, as well as provide fantastic opportunities for fencers of all abilities.

The Paula Heister Fund is formed from the income received by the club from the Oxford University Sports Fund – a general purpose endowment fund at the university, which the club has joined through generous support from the Heister Family.

The fund will disburse to the club approximately 4% of the total amount contributed for OUFC, each year, so long as the club exists. The impact of this fund will therefore be felt long into the future, and support hundreds, if not thousands of student fencers at Oxford.

It is the club’s ambition to grow this fund over time, through additional supporter contributions, and for it have a key role in OUFC’s future success.

By doing so, the annual income provided from the fund will increase, providing a long-term, predictable, source of income for decades to come. With it, the club can push forward new initiatives, purchase new equipment and support our top fencers, while keeping membership prices affordable. For more details on the club’s future plans please see the club goals part of our website: https://www.oufencing.com/supportoufc.

We hope that alumni, supporters, and friends of the club who have the means to support this fund further, recognise the unique opportunity it holds for OUFC and the transformative impact it will have.

There is no upper limit to what can be contributed to the fund, but the University has asked that only gifts of a minimum £10,000 are able to be added to the fund.

As a club, we fully understand there will be interest in supporting other areas of OUFC. While we wish to priorities this unique opportunity and to increase the size of the fund, the club still welcomes and appreciate gifts of all sizes. Every gift to OUFC support the success of one of the most historic, largest, and successful university fencing clubs and we are very grateful for support, past, present, and future.