With a world now rejoicing in warm air, hedgerows bursting with green and life, Easter beckoning, it is truly difficult imagining times, only weeks ago, when the country was gripped by uncertainty, escalating health problems and schools closed to all but children of essential workers and other specialist cases.
What a difference a few rays of sunshine make.
Strangely, and as I have been reporting, Fishing for Schools has never, in all of its fourteen-year existence, known a busier time. Extraordinary.
Throughout the darker days of lockdown, we have both maintained our association and interactivity with both schools - and most importantly, the students. The young people whom are our oxygen and complete focus.
How, you might well ask?
By embracing and using modern communication methods. Just as Teachers have been able to support children away from the classroom we, too, have been able to reach, similarly, through our computers and into classrooms and young people’s lives.
You can see one session on our website or Facebook page…. And what fun it was, too.
F4S Coach Richard Winser, his wife Pip and that doyen of the Eastern region, Sally Acloque, must take huge credit for developing that operation so effectively.
Similarly, in the South East, Warren White and his team have been stoically driving their courses equally hard and working and liaising with schools the entire time.
Frankly, I do not know any other angling initiative that has done this or been in a position to embrace the difficulties that have been thrust at it. The work EVERYONE has done, has been phenomenal.
The culmination of all this, has been that the global angling industry giant Shakespeare has asked to support what we do into the future with product and promotion - on all fronts - in all spheres and ensure that the company gurus such as Matt Hayes, Zenia Drury-Gregorek - already part of our fabulous F4S Ambassadors - and others, to assist us on all fronts.
But more than that, to have an endorsement of Fishing for Schools by such venerated and globally large concern such as Shakespeare is testament to how we have grown in both reputation and stature over recent years. Read more here.
Fishing for Schools has never recognised barriers…not concerning teaching methods; the people whom we reach out to and help or the environments we work with - and in. We just simply see what we do as a calling…as an important component in children’s future aspiration, be that: a stepping stone on to further education, learning basic skills, to interacting with their peers, embracing problems in the classroom and learning basic educational skills through angling or, catching a fish.
We are, will be, and dedicated to that young person’s progress and process very, single, step of the way.
Our mantra?
Everyone learns differently
Happy Easter.
Charles