The Angling Trust has launched its new version of the Sport England club accreditation, Fishmark.
Fishmark replaces the national club award called Clubmark and sees the accreditation come more in line with angling instead of a generic all sport club award.
Fishmark is now the recognised angling club accreditation that is awarded to a Club when they achieve the criteria to demonstrate they have achieved nationally recognised standards of Club Management, Child protection and duty of care, sports equality and ethics and Management of Activities.
The main difference between the new Fishmark award and the previous Clubmark award is that Fishmark has been split into two levels, Standard and Advanced. This enables some Clubs that never achieved the strict criteria in Clubmark, such as high levels of fishing activities, to achieve accreditation at a standard level. With these Clubs being able to apply for the Fishmark award it means that they can ensure they are working at the required levels of child protection and club management because the minimum requirement is the same for these categories in both Standard and Advanced levels. The change ensures that ALL member Clubs have the opportunity to ensure they are delivering at a high level of safety and development.
The benefits of being a Fishmark accredited Club are:
- Easier access to Sport England and some local authority funding
- More professional management of your Club
- Support to develop and modernise your Club
- Improved integration between schools, community and your Club
- Increased publicity for your Club
- Increased membership for your Club
- Improved access to coaches and coaching at your Club
- More recognition from your County Sports Partnership(CSP), local authorities and schools
- Higher profile for your Club
- Increased safety for ALL your members
- Improved framework and focus on Club development
Accreditation is only accessible to Angling Trust club members and is FREE of charge.
Read the the new ‘Benefits of Fishmark’ PDF guide HERE to find out more.
If your Club is currently Clubmark accredited then this will continue with no changes at all until the expiry date on your certificate. Once you have passed your expiry date you will be offered reaccreditation under the Fishmark scheme.
If you would like more information or to apply for accreditation please contact your Regional Officer or Dave Evans at dave.evans@anglingtrust.net or for club membership of the Angling Trust please call 01568 620 447 during office hours or read more at www.anglingtrust.net/clubs
