Young Leo finds time fishing has positive outcomes – find an angling event for kids near youvent near you!

Mending Lines had two special guests recently: Young Leo who came along with Police Officer Hewerdine from Newark Police

Chris from Mending Lines had this to say:

“Well, let’s just say Leo had a really good time for his first time fishing! He picked things up really quickly, taking everything on board I was saying.

“Leo was soon putting his own bait on, dropping his float in correctly to get the best presentation, hitting his bites, unhooking and returning the fish safely back to the water. Leo earned his Angling Trust Get Fishing Bronze Award!

“Leo, mate, you should be very proud of your accomplishments today can’t wait to have you back buddy – Keep it up!

“I love working alongside PCSO Hewerdine; she is amazing, kind and funny and really cares about the youth of our community and is 100% behind the Mending Lines fishing project.”

PCSO Hewerdine had this to say about Mending Lines:

“Thank you so much, Chris, for introducing Leo to the basics of Fishing.

“Having known Leo from sometime, he regularly stops me for a chat whilst I am out on patrol, I have never known him be so quiet!

“It was clear after catching his first fish within five minutes that he was hooked! Watching his confidence throughout the session was amazing and all the way home he was so excited about being able to go back and do it all again and top his record of 21 fish.

“Thanks again for the gift you have given to the youths in the local community by creating Mending Lines, I cannot wait for the new generation of young anglers to emerge!”

The benefits of getting outside and learning a new skill such as fishing are becoming increasingly important to parents and carers who have become increasingly aware of the need to find opportunities for youngsters to get outdoors away from screens. These are often common goals supported by angling clubs and fisheries who run events that welcome new anglers.

Helping young people get outdoors, into nature and to provide a distraction from social issues such as anti-social behaviour, drug, knife and gang related crime are all becoming more widely recognised as the positive outcomes of simply spending time fishing.

Find a Get Fishing event near you by clicking here! – they’re all over the country – a great way to spend the day in the school summer holidays!

The Get Fishing campaign is funded by

The Angling Trust’s 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 before you 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 to have the proper fishing licence before they take hold of the fishing rod or help the child fish with it.

Get Fishing is Proudly Supported by

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

If there’s something that you cannot find here to help you start fishing or return to angling, please contact your local Regional Angling Development Officer – you can find the nearest one to where you want to go fishing here.