Dean Macey, Commonwealth Gold Medallist decathlete and avid fisherman, who is kindly endorsing the initiative, has also promised to give up some of his precious time in order to spend a day fishing with ten lucky NFM participants.
Everyone who has a go at fishing during National Fishing Month and who fills in the required participation form will have their name put into a draw to win a fantastic prize of fishing with Dean for the day. The date and venue have yet to be finalised, but the winners will be notified well in advance so that they can make suitable arrangements to attend.
In addition to receiving angling tips from Dean personally, the winners will also win a bundle of tackle from manufacturers such as Daiwa, Fladen, Fox, Hopkins and Holloway, Maver, Leeda, Pure Fishing and Tricast, all of whom have donated tackle and product to National Fishing Month.
Dean said: ‘I am more than happy to give up my time to encourage newcomers into this wonderful sport. It’s such a great hobby – you get to spend time outdoors, appreciate Mother Nature, meet some great people and if you’re really lucky, witness some marvelous creatures. I’m also looking forward to meeting some new fishing friends.’
So for event organisers and potential winners, please make sure that the forms come back to the NFM organisers on time so that you can be entered into the prize draw.
The newsagent chain, WH Smith is also organising an angling magazine focus within a number of their stores across the country to coincide with National Fishing Month. The in-store promotion starts on July 7th 2011 and will run for two weeks.
Richard Paul, magazine buyer for WH Smith, said: “Specialist magazines are a core part of the WH Smith business and we pride ourselves on having the most extensive range of any UK retailer. We seek to provide our customers with titles that will be of interest to them and aim to run specialist promotions which group related titles together with information for the customer on why that category is on promotion. National Fishing Month has provided us a fantastic opportunity to put together a variety of different angling magazines and really provide our customers, whether they are experts, novices or somewhere in between, with easy access into the angling category.”
Naidre Werner, Chairman of the Angling Trades Association said: ‘A big thank you goes out to Dean for offering his time as a great competition prize. He is a fabulous advocate for the benefits of taking up fishing. We are also very grateful to WH Smith for it’s support – a national angling focus in such a well known high street chain will be a very powerful marketing tool and it’s support is greatly appreciated.’
National Fishing Month will highlight and celebrate angling, bringing the sport to the attention of the general public, generating positive PR in all forms of media and encouraging would-be anglers of all ages and from all backgrounds to try angling for the first time.
There will be hundreds of events all over the country organised by qualified, accredited coaches from the Professional Anglers Association and the Angling Development Board, on behalf of the Angling Trades Association, the Angling Trust, independent fishery owners, the Environment Agency, fishing tackle retailers and manufacturers who give their time, their fishery pegs and loads of products for free.
If you would like to take part and have a go at fishing, take a look at the events that are already listed on the National Fishing Month website www.nationalfishingmonth.com and enter your postcode. The events closest to you will then be listed and you can find out more details from there.
