Friday 23rd April – A group of teenagers from the Reading area have graduated from a pioneering course this week, which uses fishing to divert young people away from crime and anti social behaviour.
The Entry to Employment programme is run by the national crime reduction charity Nacro, in partnership with Reading Borough Council.
Over the last twelve weeks, five teenagers have been casting their hooks out around Reading, alongside academic study in numeracy and literacy using angling as a theme. The group have also taken part in angling and environmental based work experience while developing their own fishing skills and knowledge.
Will Barnard from Nacro, who runs the project said: “People may think sports such as football or boxing are the best way to engage young people but our experience shows that angling is very popular and helps improve behaviour.
“Many of the young people who take part in our angling projects go on to become volunteers, compete in championships and some do on to achieve formal coaching qualifications in angling.”
In a special ceremony on Monday (19 April) the group received certificates and trophies from Reading West MP and Governmental spokesperson for angling and fisheries, Martin Salter.
He said: “I very much welcome this Nacro programme aimed at benefiting young people. I have no doubt that sports like angling, or indeed any other pastime that encourages a healthy use of their spare time is infinitely preferable to having youngsters hanging around on street corners and getting into trouble.
“Some of the angling participation programmes I’ve seen at work elsewhere have produced significant reductions in patterns of re-offending.”
The event was attended by the Angling Trust; members of the lottery funded angling research in Manchester, as well as Nacro volunteers who have helped deliver the course.
Reading and District Angling Association also attended after giving the young people free use of venues they control in and around Reading. The course has also been supported by Finch Farm Fishery near Maidenhead and Fox International Fishing Tackle who gave their assistance and donated equipment.
The project mirrors other successful courses in places like Stoke and Durham which have encouraged hundreds of young people to take up the sport and helped break patterns of behaviour that lead to offending.
• Nacro, the national crime reduction charity, works with disadvantaged people, deprived communities and ex-offenders to give them a positive stake in society. It has unrivalled expertise in developing practical responses to crime and stimulating fresh thinking on how best to reduce it through policy, research and campaign work.
• Nacro runs preventive projects to steer young people away from crime, provides housing, education and employment programmes for ex-offenders and people at risk of offending, resettles prisoners into the community and works with families and communities to prevent crime.
• Every year Nacro works directly with over 90,000 people and many more benefit from our work with local, regional and national partners to help reduce crime.
• To find out more and for access to online information resources, please visit: www.nacro.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @Nacro_ and @Nacrorachel
