The Founder - Viv Mills

Introduction

Viv Mills is now in her 60's. She went into the Police Force straight from school in the early 1970's and reached the ranks of Superintendent before she was forced to retire in 1999, as a result of injuries sustained in the course of her duties.

Viv's voluntary contribution to life is extensive and includes expedition work in Belize, Botswana, Guyana, Uganda and Kenya, working with young people on behalf of Unicef, Operation Raleigh and Raleigh International, the Red Cross and other local charities. She has been a member of the Princes Trust since 1988, as a volunteer assessor.

Wheelchair Fencing

After a considerable period of recovery following her injury, Viv took up wheelchair fencing at the tender age of 54, becoming British champion at women's sabre in her first year and retaining the title for the next two years.

She selected to fence for Great Britain and went on to represent her county for four years, winning a bronze medal in women's foil at Montreal in 2010, and bronze medal in women's sabre at Hong Kong in 2012. After Hong Kong Cup Viv retired as an international athlete, but she retrained as a fencing coach and a development coach, and joined the coaching staff of the GB squad, as a volunteer.

In addition to her work with the national squad, Viv has also been appointed as an Ambassador on a voluntary basis for the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWASF), with the task of expanding wheelchair fencing worldwide. She has recently been appointed Secretary of the British Disabled Fencing Association (BDFA), the national governing body for the Paralympic sport of wheelchair fencing.

Viv is also an Executive Director of England Fencing, the able-bodied fencing federation, where her remit is to represent and develop diversity in the sport.