Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland, the medical fly fishing programme for ladies who have, or have had breast cancer, held its first retreat of 2018 in North Yorkshire from 20-22 April. The Coniston Hotel Country Estate & Spa near Skipton hosted fourteen ladies from across the country.
Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland is run by The Countryside Alliance Foundation (TCAF), the charity set up to increase access to the countryside and to use it for education, fun and therapy. It works on the simple truth that fly fishing is wonderful therapy for those recovering from breast cancer.
The programme takes ladies on a two day residential retreat where fly fishing tuition is part of a packed itinerary that also includes counselling, relaxation and medical advice. The residential retreat offers therapy for both body and mind with the medical and counselling aspects complimenting the gentle physical therapy of the fly casting motion.
We introduced fly tying into the programme which proved to be a massive success. All the ladies made two flies from artificial materials and some of them used the flies to fish with on the Sunday. This new element of the retreat is all thanks to Keith Passant who did some crowd funding on Facebook which enabled us to purchase all the necessary tools needed for this session.
We are extremely grateful to the fly fishing and medical volunteers who take time to ensure that the ladies all enjoy their weekend. We would also like to thank the Coniston Hotel for their fantastic hospitality throughout the weekend. But most of all we are grateful to the ladies for choosing to take the chance and apply for the programme. We hope they all enjoyed it!
Casting for Recovery’s Sue Shaw commented: “Our aim is to support these ladies who have been profoundly affected by cancer and to give them an unforgettable weekend, helping them to build confidence and move forward. If you could dream up the perfect place for a bit of outdoor therapy, then this beautiful estate is it. There were a few trout hooked on the Sunday although only three ladies managed to land the fish which were all safely returned to the water.”
