Tom, our senior instructor and co founder, worked with people with behavioral problems and learning disabilities for many years. Tom was already providing free fly fishing courses for veterans sent to him by the RBL and Combat Stress. Fishing for Heroes was born. What We Do
Fishing for Heroes provides fully expensed fly fishing courses as part of a Wellbeing package for veterans who are suffering from,
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, combat fatigue or any other emotional or psychological problem relating to them having been
involved in active service. Any veteran from any of the three armed forces of either s*x can apply for our help. Although the more recent campaigns are foremost in people’s minds, any veteran from any era or conflict is eligible to apply. Currently many of these veterans are being missed by the mainline services and although they may have no physical or visible disability they are suffering, some quite severely. At this moment in time it can take an average 14 years for a veteran to receive the necessary help they require. We want to rectify this! The part of the package we can do is to teach fly fishing. This is a well known and accepted therapy for people suffering from
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other emotional problems. To achieve this we will provide accommodation, transport
expenses, all tuition and fishing fees. The individual course is over four days, when we hope not only provide a respite break but more importantly we aim to give them a set of life skills which will enable the veterans to help themselves now and in the future. We then introduce beneficiaries to our Regional Get Together program which consists of events around the UK throughout the year. This year we aim to hold 45 events for up to 20 individuals at each event.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him today; teach him to fish and he can feed himself forever”
