Building Bridges Project
Over the past 10 years the Building Bridges Project has made huge progress towards the successful integration of migrant angling communities in England – providing positive education and advice to help anglers understand our angling laws and customs.
At ‘grass roots’ level, the Building Bridges team assist and support angling clubs and fisheries by translating their rules into different languages and offering free multi-lingual signage and leaflets.
Working together with key partners and clubs, our staff host integrated angling events, bringing together anglers from different countries and cultures in addition to organising school visits and coaching days within migrant communities – giving many youngsters from diverse backgrounds an introduction to fishing in the UK.
Download a copy of our Pocket Guide for Anglers – available in English, Lithuanian, Polish and Romanian
The Building Bridges team have produced a useful guide to help anglers understand the freshwater fishing rules in England. Funded by income from fishing licence sales, the guide covers essential information including where to buy fishing licences, the close season, fishing from boats, illegal fishing, enforcement and answers to frequently asked questions. The guides are available in English, Lithuanian, Polish and Romanian.
Watch: How Building Bridges are educating young anglers
Visit the Building Bridges YouTube channel to watch helpful videos on how to fish legally in England translated into several different languages.
Building Bridges staff also contribute to Voluntary Bailiff Service training and Fisheries Enforcement Workshops, providing an always well received and thought-provoking presentation.
Building Bridges is part of the Fisheries Enforcement Support Service which works with the Environment Agency and is funded by fishing licence income as part of the National Angling Strategic Services contract with the Angling Trust.
How the Building Bridges Project began
With the inclusion of many former Eastern Bloc countries in the European Union, many people from Eastern Europe came to live or work in England. In countries such as Poland, Lithuania and Romania, angling is extremely popular – but the culture there revolves around fishing for the pot, a practice largely discontinued in Britain after the end of the Second World War. Here, anglers practise catch and release in what is a conservation-based approach to fishing.
Understandably, British anglers have been incensed when valuable fish have been killed in England for the pot by Eastern European anglers – but information concerning UK angling laws and rules was hard to find for people newly arrived in this country. The Building Bridges project, provides a facility to educate and integrate migrant anglers and is an important part of our police-based enforcement strategy.
The Angling Trust has researched angling in Eastern Europe, visiting Poland and Lithuania to learn about angling law and rules in addition to setting up working partnerships with government ministers and enforcement agencies. This has helped provide information on British angling in those countries and we are supported here by the Lithuanian and Polish Ambassadors.
Any angling clubs or fisheries requiring further information or assistance from Building Bridges, should contact Project Manager Janusz Kansik at [email protected] or 07495 433615.