‘Fantastic’ participation campaign in UK is achieving record results says industry leader
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The UK tackle industry is being urged to get behind Take a Friend Fishing (TAFF), the participation campaign being led by the Angling Trust and the Angling Trades Association (ATA).
More than 3,000 people signed up to the campaign, which began in July. And after the period was extended to October 4th, 2020, more than 600 applied via www.takeafriendfishing.co.uk in the first weekend of the second window. The initiative is supported by the Environment Agency, which is supplying free one-day fishing licences to people fishing with a licence holder.
Chairman of the ATA in the UK Andrew Race has called upon everyone in the trade to support the ‘fantastic campaign’ that is helping to drive up participation in the country.
ATA Chairman Andrew Race wrote to association members on Thursday saying: “This fantastic campaign has achieved record results. So, as we head towards October 4th we need to push the awareness of TAFF as hard as we can.”
Race is urging anyone connected to the industry to drive recruitment by:
- Making space on social media to promote the campaign and the official TAFF site;
- Sharing the TAFF story on Instagram (476,000 followers so far);
- Asking reps, agents and other staff members to promote the campaign;
- Mailshotting retailer databases with information, posters and TAFF offers.
“It is in all our interests to make TAFF a success and prepare the ground for 2021 and beyond,” adds Race, who is also Managing Director of scales manufacturer Reuben Heaton. “This is not just an ATA endeavour, so please share this with members of the wider angling trade.”
“Anglers are fishing more often, lapsed anglers are returning and the wave of new anglers is exciting and momentous.”
The Brand Manager of UK brand Korum, Matt Woods, welcomed the extension: “Anglers are fishing more often, lapsed anglers are returning and the wave of new anglers is exciting and momentous. These remarkable times are providing a unique insight into how many anglers there could be. We have all dreamed of these numbers and our focus must now shift to retaining them. The extension of Take A Friend Fishing is superb news.”
Ali Hamidi, of Korda/Guru, said: “This scheme will really make a difference to peoples’ lives, so every major brand and all anglers should do their bit.”
• For information on how to get a free one-day licence to take a friend fishing, licence holders should go here
