Clay & Sue Brendish join unique charity as Patrons

Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland, the unique therapeutic flyfishing programme for women who have, or have had, breast cancer, is very proud to announce that Clay & Sue Brendish, owners of the Kimbridge Estate on the world famous River Test, have become its first ever Patrons.

Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland has been providing fly fishing retreats around the UK and Ireland since 2007, and achieved charitable status in 2010. Clay and Sue Brendish have been immensely supportive of the programme since its inception, and three retreats have been held at their Kimbridge Estate on the stunning River Test. More than 200 women have taken part in a Casting for Recovery retreat, over 30 of them at Kimbridge.

The charity has a simple but powerful ethos: to provide support, fun and fly fishing to any woman who has experienced breast cancer. Clay has a lifelong love of fly fishing and a great empathy for the cause of breast cancer, as has his wife Sue who has personal reasons to support this breast cancer charity. Both are very enthusiastic about the charity's aims and as Patrons will be figureheads who are well placed to provide it with advice and support. The invaluable work of CfR was noted in Parliament recently by Jim Shannon MP.

Sue Hunter, Founder of Casting for Recovery said: "We are very honoured and excited that Clay and Sue have agreed to become our Patrons. We have held three retreats at Kimbridge on the Test and they have shown great empathy with our aims and been extremely generous with their time and estate. Clay has a great interest in Casting for Recovery growing and developing and for us there could be no better Champion than a lifelong angler who really understands what we are doing."

Notes to Editors

•Ladies apply to attend (with medical clearance from their doctor) and are entered into a ballot. Places are subject to medical clearance. Retreats take place over two-and-a-half days and all accommodation, meals, counselling, and professional fly fishing instruction are provided at no cost to participants. Trained female medical and counselling staff and fly fishing instructors are on hand at all times and the fishing tackle and appropriate clothing is provided by Orvis UK. The Countryside Alliance is a major donor to the programme, however the fishing and accommodation at Kimbridge has been generously donated by owners Clay Brendish and his wife Sue.

•Fly fishing is a gentle exercise which requires no strength and requires exactly the sort of movement recovering breast cancer patients can take part in safely. Fly fishing also offers those on retreat a chance to reflect and escape in tranquil surroundings. Casting for Recovery UK and Ireland began in 2006 and over 220 women have now been through the programme over 19 retreats.

•Places at retreats are allocated by ballot and are subject to medical clearance.

•More information and an application form at www.castingforrecovery.org.uk

Media enquiries should be directed to the Countryside Alliance press office on 0207 840 9220 or [email protected]