Investing in the next generation of anglers

Get Fishing campaign introduces fishing to over 43,000 people in the past year

Reel Education engages with 16,000 children in 70 schools - and continues to grow

Giving people the opportunity to try fishing for the first time is a major part of the Angling Trust’s work. Our Get Fishing campaign to “get more people fishing more often” has had another successful year, introducing over 43,000 people from all demographics to fishing in 2023-24.

Our partnerships with hundreds of community clubs and organisations across coarse, game and sea fishing supported delivery of over 1,600 engagement events in England and coincided with a 24.8% increase in junior rod licence sales.

The Get Fishing campaign is funded through our contracts with the Environment Agency and Sport England, and generous sponsorship from our trade partners Angling Direct and Shakespeare. In addition, the Environment Agency reinvested fishing licence income into the Get Fishing Fund to provide bursaries to train angling coaches and fund projects to help get people fishing.

Meanwhile, our Reel Education initiative to provide angling-related lessons to primary school children in maths, art and science, continues to grow. The Reel Education team engage pupils about the importance of our lakes, rivers and seas, and introduce children to the health and wellbeing benefits of fishing.

The joy of catching your first fish can live long in the memory. Our Get Fishing and Reel Education campaigns introduce thousands of young people to fishing every year.

Funded by our exclusive fishing tackle partner Shakespeare, Reel Education engaged with nearly 16,000 children in over 70 schools across England in the past year. In 2024-25, the Reel Education campaign will also receive funding from the Environment Agency who are reinvesting rod licence money to help provide opportunities for young people to try fishing.

Over coming years, the plan is to roll out the Reel Education project to over 400 schools and introduce an estimated 56,000 primary school children to the joys of fishing.

Clive Copeland, Head of Participation, said:

“Through funding from the Environment Agency and Sport England and the generous support of Angling Direct and Shakespeare, the Get Fishing campaign and Reel Education is investing in the next generation of anglers and developing opportunities and pathways for people who would never have considered fishing to get involved.

“A massive amount of work goes on behind the scenes every week for the benefit of all within the angling industry. We truly appreciate the support we receive from the angling community for our participation initiatives, and I want to thank everyone involved in helping promote angling to new audiences and to get more people into fishing.”

Thank you to our partners