Fred French RIP

[Leon Roskilly]

Sad to hear today of the passing of Fred French MBE.

 

A relentless campaigner for angling, many will miss his stream of informative emails.

 

I will

Edited May 16, 2011 by Leon Roskilly

[Slack lines]

Fred French - MBE, FIFM. (Branch President)

 

Fred is a retired Registered insurance broker but has been involved in angling and fisheries activities for more than fifty years, first at club and association level and for the last thirty-seven of those years at regional and national level. He is a southerner but retired to Ambleside in the Lake District in 1985.

 

He represented London and the South East on the former National Anglers’ Council from 1969 to 1990 when the NAC was dissolved and also served on several Thames Water committees. He was Treasurer of the London Anglers’ Association which in the 1960s had a membership of 700 clubs comprising more than 48,000 members. Fred was a member of three Thames Championships winning teams and won a silver medal in the 1974 National Federation of Anglers’ First Division Champions when his Hertfordshire Federation team was placed third.

 

At the time of the reorganisation of the water industry in 1973 Fred was appointed by the then Secretary of State to represent angling interests on the Water Space Amenity Commission (WSAC), a position which he held until WSAC was dissolved ten years later. As the angling member of WSAC Fred was asked to organise an annual Water Industry Coarse Fishing and then a Game Fishing Championships and he continues to organise these popular and prestigious events almost thirty years on.

 

Fred is passionate about the work of angling and fisheries consultative organisations, has founded many of these over the years and is currently Chairman of both the Furness & South Cumbria Consultative and the North West Fisheries Consultative Council. He is a member of the EA North West RFERAC and is Vice President of the new South Cumbria Rivers Trust and a Vice President and committee member of the Anglers’ Conservation Association (ACA), he is also a member of United Utilities Conservation, Access & Recreation Advisory Committee

 

He is Member Services Officer of the National Association of Fisheries & Angling Consultatives (NAFAC) and is a long time active member and supporter of the IFM, he was elected a Fellow of the Institute in 1998.

 

Fred was awarded the MBE in 2002 for services to angling, conservation and disabled people.

 

R.I.P. Fred V.I.P.

[Tony U]

I am so sorry to hear this I spoke to Fred on numerous occasions, when seeking advice about liability insurance for KAPS; a true gentleman.