From Wales to Kent, Salisbury to Sevenoaks, Bristol to Northern Ireland. By any stretch of the imagination, this year has been a spectacular success for Fishing for Schools.
Also, one of change.
Any organisation, no matter what the area, only survives on absorbing the abilities around it – these can be new influences from colleagues, a new shared vison – a multitude of elements, which ultimately shape the path ahead. We at Fishing for Schools are no different.
We have been inspired by the success of the work we have been able to do in Northern Ireland, largely thanks to the professionalism and dynamism of The Ulster Angling Federation and Gary McCartney, the Countryside Alliance’s Director of Northern Ireland. The dual force has placed us front and centre of angling education in Northern Ireland – and that can only be beneficial for everyone connected with what we do.
We also have been working steadily on a ground breaking angling initiative which will ensure that we have a reach way beyond what we enjoy currently – sorry to be a little 'cloak-n-dagger', but all will be excitingly revealed over the course of next year. We are also planning different educational directions with different partners.
In summary, if there was a recent defining year for Fishing for Schools, then 2024 is most certainly it. But very special mention must be made of the people whom drive this initiative; the often unseen force behind our success, the coaches.
And we are growing; with more coaches joining our ranks, ensuring that excellence continues from classroom to waterside. But these rather amazing people are not just fishers who put on a show - they are empathetic, caring and outstanding characters who make us the organisation we are. Fishing for Schools owes them a great deal.
Never ever did I imagine that we would have grown in the way that we have. But we have, and we are determined to embrace the future with more gusto, more angling excellence and creative thinking.
The image you see is one taken on a CPD day on the glorious Lower Itchen Fishery in Hampshire – it even managed to look sublime and the water breath-takingly clear, sandwiched between two major storms… Bert and Darragh. We caught fish and ate an awful lot of mince pies…
So, I shall leave you buoyed up to face the year ahead with arguably more excitement than ever surrounding Fishing for Schools. I think 2025 will surprise even more people as Fishing for Schools journeys into even more unchartered territory.
A very Merry Christmas and hugely happy fish-filled New Year.