Ruth Lockwood

Hi Budgie No need to apologise for your negative opinion, undoubtably it will be shared by many others! The main reason I have been involved in arranging this meeting is my previous position of SAA Vice Chairman, rather than my involvement with ECHO. The SAA was one of the merging groups that formed Angling Trust, and it is from that perspective that I am keen to see the job done properly, if you like. But it is easy to criticise. I would certainly be interested to hear any ideas you may have at this time of informing the AT board of what anglers want and need. Whilst I do not view your comments as a personal attack, I would respectfully suggest that in my line of work (I own a tackle shop) I have spent nearly 20 years "rubbing shoulders with Mr Average Angler", probably around of 250 a day. I certainly have no desire to alienate anyone, however I would respectfully suggest that if I had arranged a meeting for 7 of my customers or members of this forum to meet with AT.......the opportunity would not have arisen-I might be wrong of course, it has been known! The "names" I mention, did not need to be "brought on board", as they have all been strong supporters of AT's formation and whilst most remain critics of the present structure, we all want this to work and are prepared to offer our help. In addition, the "names", once satisfied that accountable financial management can be demonstrated, and a channel of communication established for "Mr Average Angler" to voice their opinions effectively, have a wealth of contacts that would provide endless opportunities for AT in publicity, marketing etc and all at no cost. I too "would love to see a body that truely represented angling that all anglers could accept and unify under" and would be interested in any "new formulae" you can offer. As usual, I think we have much in common.........I chose to get involved because I care......you wouldn't be posting at such length if you didn't too....the "names" may not be the right people to be involved in the future, and the very last thing we want is to run AT but one thing is for sure, we all have good intentions and will have tried our best to make them listen. Kindest regards

Your frustrations are widely shared, and despite remaining a staunch supporter of the principal of a single unified body and a member of the Angling Trust, I am looking for the board to embrace many important changes in the next few weeks in addition to cutting their overheads. They need to downscale thier expectations for AT and get back in touch with the ground roots of angling. This situation are often indicative of many emerging groups, as the process itself tends to swallow up the very intention for forming in the first place. I am not looking for a "supergroup" with unachievable asprirations, I am looking for an effective and transparent one that works on a local level, and undoubtably this will require huge support from the voluntary sector, certainly in the short term. With this in mind, ECHO has gathered together some influential members of the coarse angling community who feel the same, including John Wilson, Martin Bowler, Keith Arthur and Danny Fairbrass amongst others, and have invited the AT board to meet with us to offer guidance and our services (without charge) to assist in re-structuring and start to develop a single unified voice for anglers, together. I am pleased to say that the AT board accept this position and appear to welcome our invitation, and have agreed to meet with us on Mon 24th. Our main aim will be ignore specific agenda items at this stage and establish a clear framework of communication within the AT to direct anglers concerns effectively and allow the membership to shape the organisation and drive the agenda in the future. Kindest regards

Thanks Leon x