00:00 After losing a close relative, Mark found his grief difficult to handle.
00:05 After realising that going out fishing was helping him deal with the depression
00:10 he was experiencing, he wanted to help others who might be struggling.
00:14 For me it's a therapy, you know, medication, people go to the doctors for medication.
00:19 I won't lie, I was on antidepressants, I needed help, I needed some support.
00:25 I wasn't eating properly, I was, my fatigue, everything.
00:30 So it's not to be ashamed of, you know, a lot of people struggle on their own.
00:35 I've got lads sitting next to me, you know, talking.
00:38 I lost my dad, I've lost it, you know, and we get it off our chest
00:42 and you feel a lot better when you go home, you know, from opening up and speaking to somebody.
00:46 Mark started fishing the mine two years ago and the group has since gone from strength to strength.
00:52 We do social events and Meal Aim Fishery is one of them and also Hailstone Hall Fishery.
00:59 The funding raised so far has been used for fishing and safety equipment
01:03 for people to use on the group's sessions at fisheries and local parks.
01:07 It's not a money-making thing, it's every penny that is made from the t-shirt sales
01:13 goes into the project to help other people, you know, to get out fishing,
01:17 to help support people who are really struggling at home, social anxiety, depression, suicidal.
01:22 Get them out the house and the equipment's free to use, the bait's free.
01:27 I bought a defibrillator to bring along to our social events
01:30 because I thought, you know, we're in secluded places around fisheries across the country.
01:36 You can't get an ambulance straight away, you know.
01:39 As well as getting out in the fresh air, people can master a new skill
01:43 and also become environmental champions as they practice catch and release.
01:47 Obviously we look after the fish, we put them back, they don't get harmed in any way.
01:52 The likes of the local parks, we can see what's going on as well in the waters.
01:55 The local lads really look after the parks around Liverpool.
01:59 It keeps you very, very focused.
02:01 So another part of fishing is not just getting out, it's about what bait we're going to use,
02:08 what rig we're going to use, what waters are we going to, what's the weed like at the bottom.
02:12 What's the temperature like, you know, all these factors, you know.
02:17 What's the oxygen levels like, you know, what's this, what's that.
02:20 So it really does take a lot to get out fishing, but when you're there, it's a therapy.
02:27 In fact, Mark's theory that fishing is therapy has now been backed up by an academic study.
02:32 The research from Anglia Ruskin University shows that in addition to reducing the symptoms of depression,
02:38 fishing boosts social connections as well as helping with anxiety.
02:43 It's growing and growing and growing.
02:45 It's getting very big now.
02:46 I want to push it.
02:48 I want to get a vehicle, I want to get a seven-seater vehicle in which we can pick people up,
02:52 people who don't have the money to get to the events.
02:55 Can I get there on my bike, some people saying, I'm like, not really, it's miles away, you know,
03:00 and I feel really bad then, I think, do you know what, they want to come along and they can't get there.
Comments