Fishing as therapy

It’s no secret to those who frequent the riverbank that angling is good for both body and mind. By offering our time and skills, we can help others realise its power, says Gabriel Stone

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YOU DON'T need to be a modern-day Izaak Walton to grasp that time spent fishing is often as much about the therapy as the catch. Even if nothing nibbles, the stillness of a day by the water, broken only by the flash of a kingfisher or plop of a water vole, is a healing — and relatively accessible — counterbalance to life's stresses. Many charities and government bodies now tap into the therapeutic properties of our country’s abundant water sources but there's plenty of scope for individuals to join this effort too. Whether your skills lie in casting or tea-making, they can make a real difference. But where to start?

If you'd prefer the support and structure that comes from a coordinated effort then contact the Angling Trust. As the English national governing body for angling, it uses grants from the Environment Agency (thanks to your rod licence) and Sport England (keep buying those lottery tickets) to fund access-broadening initiatives across the country. This year alone the Trust’s Get Fishing campaign will engage with around 20,000 people across 80 community projects. That means there’s very likely to be one near you that could do with an extra hand.

“We realised there were a lot of people in the angling community who were using angling as a force for good, but it was a bit Wild West; it wasn’t governed properly,” observes Clive Copeland, the Angling Trust's head of participation.