Lines On The Water
Improving Access, Restoring Lives: Community Payback in action at Moorside Fisheries
Moorside Fisheries, home to Stoke-on-Trent’s Disabled Sports Association, supports many ageing and disabled members. This makes day-to-day maintenance of the fishery particularly challenging, as fewer members are physically able to carry out essential works.
Keeping the fishery well maintained is about far more than appearances. Clear pathways, safe platforms and controlled vegetation are vital to ensure members can move around the site freely and safely, without the risk posed by overgrown plants, uneven surfaces or damaged access routes.
This winter, support arrived through the Community Payback scheme, which enables offenders to carry out unpaid work as part of a community sentence — repaying their debt to society by giving back to local communities.
A supervised Community Payback team attended Moorside Fisheries in Abbey Hulton, completing a range of valuable improvements. The group built new fishing platforms, erected fencing, cleared paths and removed moss to reduce slippery surfaces. As a result, wheelchair users and disabled anglers can now safely access two specially designed fishing lakes.
As the venue for Stoke-on-Trent’s Disabled Sports Association, the improvements also help showcase what inclusive angling facilities can achieve when properly supported.
Paul Gerrard, Trustee at Stoke-on-Trent Disabled Sports Association, said:
“Most of our members are disabled or elderly, so we are short of people to help maintain the grounds. It’s a massive help having Community Payback support, as it means we can keep the area clean, safe and accessible. Without them, we’d struggle a lot.”
The project also delivers positive outcomes for those carrying out the work. Participants gain practical skills in construction and grounds maintenance, helping to improve confidence and future employability.
Research shows that more than 60 per cent of offenders reoffend after serving prison sentences of less than a year — a significantly higher rate than for those given community sentences. Community Payback offers a constructive alternative, benefiting both individuals and the communities they support.
Courts can order offenders to complete between 40 and 300 hours of Community Payback, with up to five million hours delivered nationwide each year through projects like the work at Moorside Fisheries.
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