Northampton Nene Angling Club’s Fishing Together project – a huge success!

NNAC is a club that is committed to providing fishing activities for those who might not have the opportunity to try the sport, as well as supporting families to fish together. Knowing that fishing is therapeutic and relaxing, they deliver activities from a wellbeing perspective.

Speaking on behalf of the club, C.S. Galloway, Level 2 Coach, NNAC says:

“Our coaches have vast experience in working with children and young people with disabilities such as autism, dyspraxia, mental health issues, ADHD, attachment and learning difficulties. We try to do our best in matching up the coaches to the child/young person’s needs so that they can experience the best time when they are with us.”

From 25th September 2022 to 30th April 2023 NNAC delivered angling sessions for people from black & ethnic minority communities and children and young people with disabilities over a period of 7 days. The project was supported by an award from the Sport England Together Fund. The Fund is administered by the Angling Trust and Support by Sport England.

First time anglers hoping to catch fish on a cold day

A total of 49 participants attended the activities. 30 had fished before and 19 were trying it out for the first time.

“There were squeals of excitement as fish were caught, and I witnessed the smiles of success on the participants’ faces. It was the hardest time to be fishing of the year, but participants gave it their all and never gave up trying.”

Participants stated that the project had helped them to maintain and manage their wellbeing and physical health. They had built new friendships and felt more connected to their community. They had become more active in trying out a new activity and their confidence had been increased becoming more active. The project had helped them to be calm, patient, quiet, confident, relaxed, learn new techniques, focused, to be more sociable and less fearful of doing new things. All in all the project was a huge success!

Making pole rigs

If you want to find out how to get into fishing, we can help! Our Get Fishing events are family and beginner orientated have-a-go sessions where everything you need to get started is included on the day. Most events are completely free or very low-cost and are ideal for beginner anglers or anybody who wants to get back into angling after a break.

Find events at www.anglingtrust.net/getfishing or contact one of our Regional Angling Development Officers to learn how to fish at fun, friendly angling events near to you!

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.

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.