Source: Angling Trust
Mike was awarded the gong for services over many decades and in particular for his role as Chairman of the Angling Trust for the first five years of its existence. He retired as Chairman in 2013, but remains as a director on the board of the Angling Trust and a committee member of Fish Legal, the legal arm of the Angling Trust in England.
Mike’s roles in angling are not limited to the Angling Trust and Fish Legal: he has been the secretary of Boxmoor and District Angling Society for over twenty years, secretary of the Colne Valley Fisheries Consultative for more than ten years, is Chair of Hertfordshire Angling Development, secretary of the Fish Welfare Group, secretary of the Predation Action Group, board member of the Angling Trades Association, he ran the Dacorum Angling Project for disadvantaged youngsters for some years, was past membership secretary of the Specialist Anglers’ Conservation Group and was secretary of the Specialist Anglers Alliance.
Commenting on the award Mike said:
“I am so proud that angling has again been recognised and I have felt humbled and honoured to be able to put something back into a sport I have loved all my life.
As a pretty incapable angler I was fortunate enough to be able to bring other skills to the game and hopefully have made secure what I had dreamt about since the days of Peter Tombleson and the NAC: a unified voice for anglers and their fisheries.
I would like to thank all those, including many no longer with us, who made what we have today possible.”
Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust and Fish Legal said:
“I couldn’t be more delighted that Mike has been honoured by the nation for all he has done for angling over several decades as a volunteer. He has given so much of his time to protect and improve fish and fishing and has done so with immense enthusiasm, determination and kindness that has touched thousands of anglers.
I am very grateful to Mike for the unwavering support he has given me over the past five years, which included some tough times in the early days of the organisation, and for all the hard work he has put in to make this organisation the success that it is.
He is without doubt one of the most kind and generous people I have ever had the privilege of meeting.”
