Key Details
Amount invested: £20,000
Type of investment: Below-market interest loan
The need
Fencing is often seen as an elitist sport played mainly at private schools. Curtis, who comes from a single parent household, wants to open the sport up to young people from lower-income and ethnically diverse backgrounds. Diamond Blade removes a common barrier to entry by buying equipment for young people who want to take part, rather than asking families to find the £300 or more it usually costs to get started.
What the investment will do
The £20,000 loan is funding new fencing equipment for 20 schools Diamond Blade plans to reach over the next year, opening the sport up to hundreds more young people across London. Curtis is stepping up his own time on the business too, moving from three days a week to four, with an ambition to reach an even 50:50 split between state and private schools by year two.
Impact in Camden
Diamond Blade currently works in 14 schools, reaching 129 young people every week, plus a Club for more dedicated fencers, around 19 young people twice a week, including in Kentish Town on Wednesdays. In total, 134 Camden-based young people are currently reached by Diamond Blade’s programming, and this is projected to grow to around 1,200 following the investment.
“What stood out most was how much the young people Curtis works with think of him. They spoke very highly of him, not just as a coach but as someone who genuinely shows up for them in a personal capacity, offering pastoral support and care that goes well beyond what you might expect. He does a lot to build confidence and discipline in the young people he works with, and it is evident that his commitment to this stems from his own experience of having been supported and invested in when he was younger”
Ifrah, Youth Panel Member
