After losing a close relative, Mark found his grief difficult to handle. After realising that going out fishing was helping him deal with the depression he was experiencing he wanted to help others who might be struggling.
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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.