Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland, a unique outdoor-based programme specifically designed for women who have, or have had, breast cancer, has been granted charitable status by the Charity Commission.
Casting for Recovery provides fly fishing programmes at idyllic retreats around the UK and Ireland. It was granted charitable status by the Charity Commission at the end of March 2010. Its charitable objectives are to support breast cancer sufferers and “to advance the education of the general public in all areas relating to breast cancer and subjects pertaining to the conservation, protection and enjoyment of the countryside.”
Fly fishing is a gentle exercise which requires no strength and is exactly the sort of exercise in which recovering breast cancer patients can participate safely with total support from trained fly fishing instructors and medics. Casting for Recovery was founded in the United States in 1996 and has since helped over 3,500 breast cancer survivors. In the UK and Ireland it began in 2006 and over 160 women have now been through the programme over thirteen retreats.
The UK and Ireland Programme Co-ordinator is Sue Hunter, who recovered from breast cancer to become an international gold medallist fly fisher. Sue said: “The Casting for Recovery team is very excited that we are now a charity. We have enjoyed the backing of the Countryside Alliance and Orvis UK up until now, but now that donors who pay tax in the UK can receive Gift Aid on their donations we hope there will be a very healthy future for this unique and inspiring programme. In becoming a charity the structure is now in place to help many thousands of women in the coming years.”
