Children hooked on fishing school rather than life of crime
A former police officer has spoken of his pride after reeling thousands of youngsters away from a life of crime by getting them hooked on fishing.
The Fishing Academy charity - which was the brainchild of Darren Robbins from West Midlands Police - runs an angling and education programme which was set up for young people at risk of getting caught up in anti-social behaviour or exclusion from school.
Just two per cent of schoolchildren have broken their contract of good behaviour after attending the programme; with some going on to work in the fishing industry and waterways as a result of what they learned.
The scheme was initially started by Darren with just a handful of unruly youths from Brownhills in 2004.
Darren, who was a PC for 30 years and is now a staff member at West Midlands Police, said: "It is hard to believe how the programme has grown; it started off with myself working with a small group who were involved in anti-social behaviour in Brownhills.
"I then got a bit of funding from the police, council and Environment Agency to establish this site and now we have a purpose-built facility providing a high-level of angling tuition and learning.
"Fishing is the largest participation sport in Europe and is available to everyone, regardless of mental and physical ability.
"I saw there was an opportunity to use it to help keep young people on the straight and narrow; away from bad influences."
The initiative was immediately successful in encouraging secondary school pupils to develop new skills as an angler, learn about the environment and to speak to police in an informal manner.
This led to the launch of the Fishing Academy which now works alongside up to 30 schools in the West Midlands to offer support and guidance to young people - mainly aged between 12 and 16.
The Academy, based in Abbotts Bromley in Staffordshire, has a fishing lake and classrooms for mentoring and education purposes.
The programme is tailored to those who attend and has so far helped more than 6,000 youngsters.
Darren said: "Fishing is an enjoyable pastime, in tranquil surroundings, offering a period of contemplation while learning new skills.
"This can be angling but we also place a lot of emphasis on the education side; we cover all of the core skills such as English and maths; an example if this is calculating how many fish they have caught, the total weight and the average size of those fish.
"It is a great feeling when you hear about someone who was at risk of getting drawn into crime or anti-social behaviour but gets their life back on track as a result of the charity.
"It’s also great to see the demand for places from young people just wishing to learn how to fish in a safe and welcoming environment.
"It shows we are making a difference."
