Accusations that the governing body for recreational angling in England was failing are roundly denied today.
“It is working and it will go on working,” said Mike Heylin who was appointed chairman of the Angling Trust in August when it faced financial problems.
The trust was now larger than the six organisations which merged to form it January (2009) and he predicted it would become “a great success for anglers and angling.”
More than 1,200 freshwater and sea angling clubs are affiliated to it and there are just over 13,000 individual members.
Mr. Heylin admitted membership was less than originally planned but it was now a solid base on which to grow and to improve the experience and rights of anglers “whatever they fished for and however they fished.”
In September Sport England recognised the trust as the governing body for sea, coarse and game angling.
During 2009 it took more than 50 steps to improve angling from campaigning against restrictions on the sport and to ban commercial eel fishing, appointing an environmental campaigns officer and successfully protesting over threatened EU control regulations on sea angling in England.
In its newsletter Mr. Heylin calls on members who joined earlier this year to renew their subscriptions to continue to qualify for benefits including public liability insurance.
