Countryside Alliance - love the countryside

We work for the interests and rights of anglers and angling across the whole spectrum, from coarse fishing to game and sea angling.

The Countryside Alliance's aim is to preserve this beautiful sport for generations to come by:

- promoting the huge contribution that angling and anglers make to the health, beauty, and prosperity of Britain's waterways. We work with and support of the work of angling organisations such as the Anglers Conservation Association, the Salmon & Trout Association, the Carp Society, the Atlantic Salmon Trust and the National Federation of Anglers, believing that a joined up approach from angling bodies is the best way to provide a sustainable future for our waterways. We also consult with government organisations such as DEFRA and the Environment Agency to ensure that anglers' views are heard by those who decide angling's future.

- protecting angling and anglers from the propaganda, threats and intimidation of animal rights groups. One glance at animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' anti-fishing site shows that there is a determined and well-funded lobby out to get angling banned. Their emotive argument is to talk about the "terror" that fish "endure when they’re impaled by a hook and pulled out of the water". The Alliance recognises that promotion is the best form of defence and counter animal rights propaganda where we find it, promoting anglings benefits for society, the environment and the economy without resorting to shock tactics.

- inspiring young people to take up angling to ensure its future contribution to our culture and countryside. We supported Durham-based ex-Policeman Mick Watson when he set up Get Hooked on Fishing in 2000. The initiative has successfully used angling to rehabilitate young offenders and fight social exclusion. The scheme has been widely praised by Government and the media. So much so that a sister organisation, Get Hooked Midlands, has been established in Birmingham. The Alliance also supports a similar scheme, Angling Projects in Berkshire, which aims to provide free access to angling for angling youngster who wants to learn. North of the border, the Scottish Countryside Alliance's Educational Trust has been set up to reconnect and educate people with rural Scotland - angling plays a huge part in this scheme.
 

 -Helping women who have or have suffered from breast cancer cope and recover from the disease. We support Casting for Recovery, the first programme of its kind in the UK which combines therapy and support for breast cancer patients with the gentle art of fly fishing – a proven gentle restorative exercise after surgery. Casting for Recovery originated in America and came to UK & Ireland in 2006. Co-ordinated by Sue Hunter, a keen fisherwoman and breast cancer patient, any woman who has or has had breast cancer is eligible to go on a weekend retreat cost free thanks to financial support from the Countryside Alliance. The weekend retreats incorporate counselling, educational services and the sport of fly-fishing to promote mental and physical healing, but most importantly it’s a chance for women to meet new friends, have fun and gain new skills in a beautiful and supportive environment. Casting for Recovery continues to go from strength to strength, receiving widespread media attention and the Alliance is proud to support this inspiring and ambitious programme.