Reading West MP Martin Salter who is also the government’s Spokesman for Angling will be joining members of the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) to celebrate the success of their pilot Youth Angling Project with personalities from the fishing world at a special event to be held at the purpose built angling centre at Wraysbury, near Windsor on Thursday 5th October.
RBFRS has been running angling activity days for young people aged 13-16 throughout the summer at the Wraysbury centre. The scheme gives youngsters who have never tried the sport before a fun introduction to fishing, as well as teaching them about water safety and rod licensing requirements. Young people are coached by RBFRS staff members Steve Carvell and Barry Ratchford, who qualified as coaches after undertaking a six-month accredited course.
Reading West MP Martin Salter, will be joined by Keith Arthur, well-known angling journalist and presenter of Sky Sport’s ‘Tight Lines’ and a group of young people from Maidenhead who will be taking part in an angling session on the day. Representatives from the Environment Agency and Reading & District Angling Association, whose organisations have both lent valuable support and resources to the project, have also been invited to the event.
After the angling session, Chief Fire Officer, Iain Cox, will talk about the success of the pilot project and the plans to expand the project next year. RBFRS aims to run weekly sessions of the Youth Angling Project from the Easter holidays onwards and hopes to extend the scheme to the west of the county.
Martin Salter said: “I am delighted that Berkshire Firefighters have been giving up their time to encourage young people to take up sports such as angling. I know that many firefighters are keen anglers themselves and it is good to see people putting back something into a sport that has given them so much enjoyment.”
Steve Carvell said: “We are thrilled at the success of the Youth Angling Project pilot and look forward to running more frequent sessions next year. As with all our initiatives for young people, the aim is to help them develop self-confidence, learn to work with others, and to teach them a new skill that will hopefully become a lifelong interest.”
