apologies if this has been covered but i couldnt find any information on whether or not the links to BFA and WP can be removed from the footer

Technically yes, but in that case: please DONATE. See the button on the top of this page. Developing this theme took (many) hundreds of hours, and still counting. Any amount is appreciated.

Thanks for asking.

yes of course - thank you for your quick reply - from a technical point of view would you advise a hack (im sure i can use css or edit the template file - i just havent looked at the code yet ) or is there a "proper" way to do it

You would have to comment or delete the links from the theme files. If you (or anybody else) need(s) help with this send me a PM.