It achieves this by running fishing events, both coarse and fly and inviting participants with special needs to come and join in. This includes anyone over 11 with mental or physical disabilities, the disadvantaged or those who have suffered trauma.
We hope to ‘Catch The Smile’ along the way.
The Charity provides:
A typical days Itinerary is as follows:
All times are flexible and can be varied according to the participants needs.
The Charity is a Masonic Initiative and is therefore funded by voluntary donations from Freemasons, Masonic Lodges and Provinces, Trust Funds or events organised by freemasons.
Some money is also raised through raffles and the sale of merchandise in the form of polo
shirts, hats, badges and other items, which are sold during the events and at other times.
It is emphasised that absolutely no charge is made to any of the participants, their carers, helpers or the
schools or centres that they come from. The only cost to participants is to provide their own transport to
and from the event and any specialist food that any of their charges may require. (We do cater for a
vegetarian option on request.)
Everyone benefits from these days out.
We have found that this is far more than a days fishing though! It enables mentally disabled people to gain
in confidence, meet new challenges and achieve tangible results; it helps disadvantaged people and those
from harsh backgrounds to renew their confidence in meeting people and interacting with adults from outside
their spheres; it helps physically disabled people (including war heroes and stroke victims) to participate
and experience something that may otherwise be unavailable to them.
A lot of the schools and centres also use the day as a basis for a project or scheme, creating IT projects,
models and wall displays. One school has gained a ‘special award’ for sporting achievement and
their attendance at our events was an important part of this achievement.
Whilst we are a Masonic Initiative the majority of our volunteers are not freemasons and there is no need to
be one to join in.
Being one of our team of volunteers will bring a lot of pleasure and fun for you and most will gain hugely
from experiences received during these days. Many have not had the experience of witnessing first hand
the problems that many of our participants face in their every day lives. Whilst it is not the policy of
anyone to pry into the participants private lives it can be a real education when this short time is spent
with them and much more awareness of the great amount of work that goes on in the specialist schools and
centres that we are in contact with is also learnt.
It also give a great opportunity to share our sport with those to whom it would be normally unavailable and
to give something back to the community.
Many of our sponsoring lodges come and spend the day with us as well. Our charity provides a focus for those who care to support us and they can see a positive and tangible result for the money that they donate. They are also safe in the knowledge that the entire donated amount is spent on providing events for the participants. The charity has no paid employees, no buildings to support or other overheads other than normal printing, stationery, specialist and insurance requirements that any similar organisation needs to operate efficiently.
In 2004 a Lodge was formed by some of the Charity volunteers and you can see more information on the ‘LOO 9777’ tab on this website.
