The National Hotel held a 24 hour fishing match in aid of national charity, Help For Heroes, which saw 30 anglers battle it out at Emmotland Ponds, North Humberside, on three of its specimen lakes. The event was sponsored by Andrew Kitchen, who owns the ponds, and Jamie Martin, manager of the onsite tackle shop J&G Tackle.
The anglers arrived at the ponds on Saturday 18 September, and were greeted with breakfast and hot drinks donated by the National Hotel, before setting up camp for the next 24 hours.
Dave Armstrong, manager at the National Hotel, comments: “As a fisherman myself, I really enjoyed organising this event to help raise money for Help For Heroes, and I’m so pleased it was such a resounding success.
“Help for Heroes is a charity we all support at Sizzling Pub Co., and I’m so pleased we were able to raise over £2,000 for such a worthy cause. It was great to see all the local community join together and help such a worthwhile charity.”
In addition to the fishing match, the National Hotel also hosted a prize draw, where prizes, worth thousands of pounds, were donated by local businesses, including a mini cruise with P&O ferries, and fishing equipment donated from local fishing shops, including Erics Angling in Leeds, Hull Angling Centre and J& G Tackle at Emmotland Ponds.
On Sunday 19 September, 24 hours after the fishing match started, Mark Pitchers and Lee Birch were awarded first place with two fish caught with a combined weight of just over 38 pounds. Alan Atkinson and his team mate, Steve, came in second, with one fish weighing just over 15 pounds. The winners were presented with £100 in cash and a £50 voucher to spend at J&G Tackle, while the runners-up were awarded £50 in cash and a £25 voucher for J&G Tackle. All winners agreed to donate their prize money to Help For Heroes.
Dave continues: “I’d like to thank everyone who took part in this event, it means a lot to us here at the National Hotel that we can raise such a phenomenal amount of money. We’re looking to raise more funds for Help For Heroes over the next few months, including a Sportsman Dinner, to try and raise our total to £3,000 – so watch this space!”
