Paul Baddeley started his first full-time job in the potteries at age 19. His bosses saw he struggled to carry some items upstairs and asked him to get it checked out by a doctor. Paul had developed housemaids’ knee (AKA prepatellar bursitis or more simply bursitis of the kneecap) a condition that often causes painful discomfort and inflammation

Medical advice said a gym might help him recover so Paul started regular work out sessions – but difficulty with step aerobics led family members to get him  a consultation with an Orthopaedic Surgeon. Immediately the consultant recognised Paul’s issue was caused by Muscular Dystrophy – a hereditary condition with muscle wastage one of the symptoms

“When the doctor told me, I think you’ve got a muscular dystrophy I said, what’s that?!”

Muscular dystrophy is also known as MD. It can affect movement and make walking and other simple daily activity difficult, and can also impact on stamina if it affects muscles that the heart and lungs need to work. Although there isn’t an outright cure for Muscular Dystrophy, the condition can be managed with the correct combination of therapy and medication.

“My mum and dad burst into tears when I told them. Talking to my folks, they said I’d be in a wheelchair before I was 30. I’d led a normal life up to then, I was going out with my mates every night. I was at that stage where nothing really bothered me. I had a good group of friends around me. I carried on as normal. I was working, got married and had kids. It made no difference at all. But then I started to notice things. By the time I got to my mid-thities I was having trouble getting about because of the increase in symptoms in my legs – the spasms were happening more often. Over the next five years things the MD got worse and the only way I could get about was with a crutch”

Things got even worse and by 2015 Paul been hospitalised with a collapsed lung, heart failure and a broken femur! Paul continues:

“Ever since they told me it was MD I realised I would eventually need to use a wheelchair. Something I absolutely dreaded! But by now I realised I couldn’t carry on the same and started with a wheelchair at the age of 48”

And although he had dreaded using one Paul describes his chair as the “best thing” that has ever happened to him.

“I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me,” he said. “But the world opened up to me again. I could go anywhere I wanted without the fear of being knocked over. Before I was using a wheelchair, I depended on my wife a lot to go food shopping if I didn’t feel like it. Then I was able to do more for myself.”

Paul was a keen fisher before his diagnosis – an angler all his life but his physical disability left him unable to fish.

“I would go shopping on my own, go to the hospital on my own and go fishing on my own. It’s just been a rollercoaster, but I’ve always tried to see the positive side of things”

That’s why he helped set up the Neuromuscular Centre Fishing Club – a volunteer-led group who introduce fishing to people who have physical disabilities. The group made it their mission to make the sport more inclusive and have put measures in place to make angling more accessible. Fishing rod licence income from the Environment Agency goes back into the sport, and some goes into the Get Fishing Fund – an initiative that gives financial support to help introduce fishing to wider, newcomer audiences.

The Neuromuscular Centre Fishing Club has used funding from the et Fishing Fund to source new, accessible equipment including light rods, umbrellas and rod pods that help make fishing easier for those with disabilities.

As well as equipment, peer support – vital for those living with disabilities – has created opportunities for members to meet others who experience similar day-to-day issues. The group is now appealing for volunteers to join. For more information, contact [email protected]

The Get Fishing Fund has invested nearly £200,000 of fishing licence money to help get more people into fishing over the past year. The fund is provided by the Environment Agency and administered by the Angling Trust.

You can find information on the latest round of the Get Fishing Fund here,

What is the Get Fishing Fund?

The Get Fishing Fund has invested nearly £200,000 of fishing licence money to help get more people into fishing over the past year. The fund is provided by the Environment Agency and administered by the Angling Trust. The Environment Agency supports angling-based projects with grants of up to £2,500 to help purchase equipment, fishing tackle, resources and run fishing activities that give people the opportunity to get into fishing for the first time.

About Get Fishing

Get Fishing is the Angling Trust‘s campaign to grow participation in angling and get more people fishing more often. Annually, the Get Fishing campaign introduces over 30,000 people to angling at hundreds of fun, safe and friendly events 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 fishing licence, and fishing 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 fishing licence for the full year, for 8 days (ideal for holidays!) or just a day’s fishing.

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 NMC Fishing Club is going really well, and we have hosted 4 out of our planned 6 fishing days so far. All sessions have been completely sold out and we are so pleased to report this. The team at 23red have been working with us and have managed to get our lead volunteer Paul featured in the Manchester Evening News – I’m sure you’ll have seen the article.

An unexpected additional outcome has been the involvement of our 3D Printing team who have set about with a variety of challenges that some participants were facing around accessibility. Through consultation and a bit of trial and error the 3D printers have managed to produce a few bespoke items of equipment which help hold the rods in place on individuals’ wheelchairs as they don’t have the muscle strength to hold a rod throughout the course of a typical fishing day. This has been a brilliant bit of teamwork which has benefited all parties.

If you need more information at this stage let me know. I plan to prepare a report once all the sessions have been held for this year.

Kind regards,

Lyndsey Cannon-Potts

Grants and Contracts Manager

The Neuromuscular Centre

Woodford Lane West

Winsford

Cheshire

CW7 4EH

01606 861733 OR 07899 805949