At the end of August I wrote a post about how our chance to get all anglers speaking with one voice was likely to fail with disastrous effects to the future of our sport. It made depressing reading and I apologise for that, but the one glimmer of hope in the whole post was a letter from a group that has now become known as the Magnificent Seven and I make no apologies for republishing it here.

The following letter was recently sent to the Trust and gives us a glimmer of hope:

OPEN LETTER DATED AUGUST 10th 2009
ADDRESSED TO BOARD OF THE ANGLING TRUST

Dear Sirs

It is with deepest concern that we contact you regarding the development of the Angling Trust.

For far too long, anglers have needed a professionally run, representative body, and the launch of the Angling Trust in January 2009 was a major step forward towards greater unity in angling.

We believe the Angling Trust has provided an initial framework to the path of true representation and the merging board has created a valuable structure, but news of overspending combined with a failing business plan is extremely worrying although not that surprising.

Our concerns at this stage arise primarily from the continuing lack of engagement with AT members, and the angling community as a whole, particularly on sensitive issues. There is a wealth of first hand angling, industry and media experience that appears to have been largely ignored by the current board. Therefore, it is with this in mind, that we all offer our support services, without charge, to the Angling Trust as a “collective” advisory board. The absence of individuals that anglers recognise, trust and respect is clearly apparent at all levels of the Angling Trust.

In addition, there is obviously and immediate need to review the failing business plan currently in place. Once again, where applicable, we would like to offer our experience in business development, marketing and finance at no cost, to help secure the immediate continuation and sustainable development of the Angling Trust in the future.

We trust that the current AT board will be addressing these concerns and await your earliest response.

Signed by:

John Wilson, Keith Arthur, Danny Fairbrass, Martin Bowler, Ruth Lockwood, John Everard, Tim Norman

This group - who I will in future refer to as the M7 - are all very busy people and it was decided that an advisory panel of fifteen anglers from all disciplines, under the chairmanship of John Wilson, was needed to spread the workload. I needed to be on that panel so I started to make representations to everyone I could think of. I made a list of ideas collected from many sources and I understand this was referred to on the first meeting of the M7.

Notes on issues facing the Angling Trust, August 2009

Problem #1
The Trust failed to publicise both itself and its aims sufficiently to reach the sort of angler who does not read the angling press - the vast majority it would seem.

Suggested solutions

  • Put up posters at fisheries with picture of a “big name” angler on them.
  • AT stands at all major angling functions such as big matches, sales and shows, actively canvassing for members, perhaps with a big name to draw a crowd.

    • Problem #2
    The Trust have relied and are still relying on anglers’ sense of duty to get members.

    Suggested solutions

  • This will never work with the majority of our apathetic brethren as they will leave it to someone else. We need to make the Trust more of a community so that anglers want to join and be a part of it, using the same marketing techniques that cause them to buy an expensive piece of tackle or bait when a much cheaper one will do the job just as well. Publicity of their memberships by as many big names as possible will help also. Put a photo on the membership card to enhance the feeling of exclusivity.
  • Scrap the Fish For Free promotion as most anglers either do not understand it or think it a cheap and worthless gimmick. Replace it with well-publicised discounts from major tackle and bait retailers and fisheries.
  • Install a regional network as soon as possible with regional organisers whose mission is to liaise with local tackle shops and fisheries to get them on side. Monthly regional, members-only meetings with suitable guest speakers could then be organised along with fish-ins and perhaps free tutorials, all to encourage the community aspect of the Trust. I believe that a functioning regional network is essential to the success of the Angling Trust and that the failure of the Trust to establish one before its launch was one of its major failings. Even a skeleton regional network would have been able to conduct surveys and research that would have had a massive influence on the business plan of the Angling Trust – it could have found out what the ground floor of the sport felt it needed from the Trust and of course publicised the Trust before its launch.
  • Make the AGM a big event, a whole day. Ask tackle manufacturers to attend to publicise their new products, get big names to give demonstrations and talks. There could even be stalls selling tackle with extra revenue for the Trust from the space rented to them.

    • Problem #3
    Many anglers claim they cannot afford the membership fee, they say £20 is too much.

    Suggested solutions:

  • Investigate monthly payments by standing order or direct debit, would running costs be prohibitive?
  • Reduce membership cost in the hope of encouraging more members, would running costs be prohibitive?
    I personally believe that the membership fee is about right and a lower sum would be too expensive to administer.

    • Problem #4
    The website has not got enough punch, too much text, it does not explain what the Trust does, has done or aims to do, in an easily readable manner. Many I spoke to did not read past the first page.

    Suggested solutions

  • The site needs pictures of big names and short pithy paragraphs explaining its aims and purposes.
  • There needs to be a members only area with features and tips by big names and special offers from bait and tackle manufactures.
  • A members only forum is also needed to allow members to feel they are able to contribute to the running of the trust and be listened to by the Board. It will need to be carefully and closely moderated, possibly by non anglers, to prevent it from becoming a platform for peoples’ egos as many other forums have become and to prevent petty bickering. These moderators will need to be able to quickly refer any points made or questions asked to the relevant board member or a particular expert.

    • Problem #5
    People, both on the FM forum and those I have spoken to, complain of lack of communication from the Trust and some have said “What about those of us who are not on the internet?

    Suggested solutions

  • Anyone writing to or emailing a member of staff who is on holiday or off sick must receive a fast (automated) reply informing them of the fact and offering another member of staff to help. All letters and emails should receive a reply within 48hrs, if only to explain the reason for the delay in a full answer. It must be made clear to all staff that the members are paying their wages and must be treated accordingly.
  • A regular, cheaply-produced newsletter should be circulated to all members, perhaps monthly. The Trust should avoid the glossy expensive style as produced by the ACA as I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering about the expense, when the money could have been put to better use.
    Significant advertising revenue could be generated from this as the membership grows and then its format improved upon.

    • Summary
    Many mistakes have been made in the launching of our last chance to have a unified voice for angling, the greatest of which and the one most likely to prove fatal is the failure to consult with the angling public and find out what they want. Instead, the board have come up with a product that they, with all good intent, felt that angling needed.

    Unfortunately this has little appeal to the vast majority of anglers and is, as it stands, doomed to fail.

    We, as angling Trust members and enthusiasts, must change the format of the Trust to make it more appealing to potential members and I hope that some of the ideas I have put forward will suggest the direction it should take.
    Anglers must want to belong to the Angling Trust.

    I am delighted to announce that I have been offered a place on this panel and amongst other things will be looking at the Angling Development Board with Mick Watson from Get Hooked on Fishing.

    This is my chance to help ensure that the Angling Trust does not fail and it is also your chance to make a contribution to the future of our wonderful sport.

    Let me know what you want the Angling Trust to do, where you think it has gone wrong and how we can make it work for the benefit of angling in general.

    Spread the word about the Trust amongst other anglers, clubs, fisheries and tackle shops - if enough of us are talking about it more people will join.

    Please don’t just sit back and let it fail and then say “I knew it would”.

    Do something positive for the future of your sport!

    The latest newsletter is on the Angling Trust website and things are beginning to look up. Here’s a snippet:

    Update from the Angling Trust and Fish Legal

    Angling Access
    We are increasingly concerned about the salami-slicing of angling access around the country. Our members have contacted us about angling being banned from several lakes, and about vehicle and parking restrictions preventing sea anglers getting to beaches they have fished for generations. We have written to the relevant councils to fight these bans at a local level, but we are keen to get a national picture. If you know of anywhere angling has been banned or restricted, or where such plans are being discussed please let us know.

    If we can’t reach the river, lake or sea and if we can’t park longterm, then who needs to ban angling to stop it?

    Membership on the up
    Individual membership has reached 12,547 (including life and junior members) and we now have 1,174 member clubs. Riparian owner and fishery memberships are also increasing. Encourage all your friends to join up, we need them all on board.

    Fundraising Appeal
    Thank you to everyone who has already donated funds to match the donation of £20,000 from one of our members. Please help us reach our target so that our donor will repeat the gift in 2010 and 2011.

    Angling Research
    If you haven’t already completed the online survey being carried out into the benefits of angling, please click here. The results of this ongoing three year study could be very useful for the future of angling.

    This is just some of the good work the Trust has already done for the benefit of anglers and the sport in general. Think what they could do if every angler was a member, they would have more money to work with but, more importantly, they would have greater pull in parliament. Two million members are a lot of votes for any political party to gain or lose. Join the Angling Trust online!

    Finally, just in case you think that you don’t need the Angling Trust take a look at this site and don’t just laugh. The site is maintained by PeTA and although they are mostly active in the US, they have loads of money and big names behind them and it is only a matter of time before they look across the Atlantic again. They already have a UK office. Ask yourself who will speak for us anglers - your local politician, the guy who runs your favourite commercial fishery or the guy in the tackle shop?

    PeTA can buy and sell all three!

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