Fly fishing challenge to raise money for charity

Charles Jardine fly fishing for trout

A flyathlon is set to take place to raise money for the charity Fishing for Schools.

The event - a fly fishing version of a triathlon - is the brainchild of world renowned fly fisherman, Charles Jardine.

Participants will attempt to catch a fish and then run the 12.5 mile (20km) perimeter of Bewl Water reservoir on the Kent/East Sussex border, and then catch another fish to finish.

Mr Jardine says he hopes the event will raise £12,000 for Fishing for Schools which uses angling as a teaching tool for young people to help them explore core subjects like maths, English, and natural sciences while learning outdoors.

Mr Jardine, who set up Fishing for Schools in 2007, said: “Once I discovered this route to helping kids that weren’t learning as well as they might, through fishing, through angling, and easing them into another educational path that they’d never even thought of, that was it. That was my life's ambition.”

Since its launch, the charity says more than 3,800 children and young people from 140 schools across England and Wales have benefitted.

'Tough times'

Katie Lloyd from the Orchard special school in Canterbury, said: "Each place we visit has got different wildlife, it's got members of the public, some places are also campsites.

"It's teaching them about the environment, about being safe around the water and being safe outside school and around members of the public."

The idea for the flyathlon comes from the Rocky Mountain Flyathlon, a conservation fundraising event in Colorado, USA.

Mr Jardine said: “Many have asked me why, at 71, I have decided to lace up my trainers and thread my fly fishing rod for this event.

"The charity sector has been hit with funding cuts especially hard this year, and many worthy causes need help," he said.

"Such tough times call for us to dig deeper in our fundraising efforts and do something a little different – as any bit helps.”

The event at Bewl Water will be held on 12 May.