Countryside Alliance launches 'Shooters of the UK' initiative

The Countryside Alliance has launched an initiative designed to broadcast all the good news being generated by the shooting community in the UK.

The CA knows that shooting gets people out into the countryside, making new friends, contributing to the economy and doing some fantastic conservation work. But we also know that the vast majority of this activity goes on unseen, and despite all the evidence we believe many of the general public remain sceptical that it goes on at all.

As part of the solution the CA is launching Shooters of the UK, to capture all the great stuff going on across the country that might otherwise go unnoticed and spread the word as widely as we can using social media. No matter how large or small a story, be it a working party planting trees, a child going shooting for the first time, a beater marking 30 years helping out the same shoot or a huge habitat restoration, the CA wants to tell the world about it.

The first stage of the initiative is a Twitter feed, @CA_Shooting. From here we will be posting your news, highlighting all that is great about shooting and everything it does for the rural community. This will be followed soon after by a blog, allowing anyone from the shooting community, whether gun, gamekeeper, beater or picker-up, to post about the good work they are doing in their area. By the end of the year we will be running a programme of shoot walks, inviting the public to see the benefits of shooting for themselves.

Head of shooting campaigns Liam Stokes said: "Those of us who go shooting know about all the great stuff we do for wildlife and for our communities, and there is some solid evidence out there to back us up. What we have to remember however is that for many of the public shooting is an emotional issue, and while showing them facts and statistics is useful what we need to do now is show them the people who shoot and the actual results on the ground. Shooters of the UK will celebrate everything the shooting community does and help the general public to see and understand the benefits we bring to the countryside."