Fishing “should work hard to be inclusive” – We Fish as One Campaign Champion Carl Nye on diversity in angling

About We Fish as One – #WeFishAsOne
We Fish as One is the Angling Trust’s long-term community inclusion campaign that aims to actively develop and profile local outreach programmes and activities. This will harness the power of fishing as a community building activity, so that people from all backgrounds can experience the life-changing benefits of the sport of angling.

Capitalising on the recent interest in angling during and since Covid lockdowns, the campaign promotes the sport’s community building opportunities, mental health benefits and consistently strong safeguarding record. Angling has a unique and timely offering to address key insights that speak of ongoing barriers to inclusivity.

Currently just 7% of people who fish identify as ethnically diverse and a recent OnePoll survey for the Angling Trust revealed that 1 in 20 (6%) respondents said they didn’t feel represented in angling based on their gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic diversity or culture. Seven We Fish as One pilot sites across England have been identified as places to generate community partnerships, with particular focus given to: Women, parents and carers, ethnically diverse groups, young people, disabled people, LGBT+ communities and those with long-term health conditions.

The Angling Trust’s We Fish as One campaign is duel funded by Sport England through its Uniting the Movement vision and the Environment Agency through rod fishing licence income.
For more information on the We Fish as One campaign please visit www/anglingtrust.net/wefishasone

The Angling Trust’s ‘Get Fishing’ campaign is proudly supported by
Shakespeare, Exclusive Tackle Partner and Angling Direct, Exclusive Retail Partner
as we all work towards getting more people fishing, more often.

The Get Fishing campaign to get more people fishing more often is funded by the Environment Agency from fishing licence income as part of the National Angling Strategic Services contract with the Angling Trust, and Sport England. Children under 13 do not need a licence, and licences for children aged between 13 and 16 are free but you still need to register and receive a licence in order to go fishing. You can get a licence for the full year, for 8 days (ideal for holidays!) or just a day’s fishing.

NOTE: Although young children who are under 13 year old do not need a licence to fish, the person supervising them needs the proper fishing licence to take hold of the rod or to help the child fish with it.