New Substance Report Highlights Fishing’s Role in Helping Excluded Youth

Getting Hooked: Get Hooked on Fishing, Angling and Youth Inclusion

by Dr. Adam Brown

A new independent research report, released today by Substance, has highlighted the contribution that fishing can make in activity-based youth projects and programmes which target young people at risk.

The report, Getting Hooked: Get Hooked on Fishing, Angling and Youth Inclusion, by Dr. Adam Brown, focuses on one leading example – the Get Hooked on Fishing Charitable Trust. Angling, says the report, has most to offer when a developmental approach, such as that in the GHOF scheme, is placed at the heart of their programme of teaching young people to fish.

Released on the day of the Get Hooked On Fishing conference in Durham, the report suggests that angling, when tied to an educational, relationship-building approach, can help young people who may be underachieving at or excluded from school, at risk of crime or substance misuse, or causing ‘anti-social behaviour’.

The research, which began in 2005 and was part funded by the Countryside Agency and the Home Office, also says that angling can offer something different to mainstream sports in youth programmes and offers considerable potential as an educational tool.

The Executive Summary is attached to this press release.

The report is available as a free download from www.substance.ccop