This year's fishing contest run by East Cheshire's Emergency Services has been called an outstanding success by the organizers and one young contestant in the finals described it as "the best day of my life".
This year's contest attracted a thousand entries from all parts of East Cheshire who fished 18 heats, followed by the finals at Bay Malton Border Fisheries, near Nantwich on Friday August 20th. Amongst the winners was Fabian Jaquimin from Handforth, pictured above with Chief Superintendent Mick Garrihy, who received a 'top novice' award.
Chief Superintendent Mick Garrihy, Commander of Cheshire Police Eastern Area, said, "This event provides a point of focus for a lot of young people during the holidays and is a real investment in the future. They meet people from the Police and the other emergency services on a one-to-one basis and see them as friends. This can shape their views in the years to come. They also take that home to their parents and other members of the family, who get a broader idea of how we fit into the local community.
"For the emergency services and Cheshire East Council it provides a great opportunity to work as partners to stage an event which really matters."
Assistant Chief Constable Janette Mc Cormick, who helped to present the awards at the finals, described the contest as "phenomenal". She said, "It has grown from an original entry of 200 just four years ago because young people have gained an enormous amount of fun from it. It is a really positive, constructive way for them to spend part of their holiday."
Since the contest began in 2006, reported incidents of anti social behaviour during the school holidays in East Cheshire have dropped steadily.
Mick Shaw, who set up the contest when he was serving as a Police Officer in the Macclesfield area said, "It introduces many young people to fishing. Some just enjoy it while the contest lasts; others take it up as a pastime which may last for the rest of their lives. Either way they get together during the contest, meet us and have a great time."
David Topping, Chair of Cheshire Fire Authority added "Once again this year, it's been a very successful competition, which has shown some great results both in the record attendance of young people from all parts of the area and with the weight of fish they caught.
"I enjoyed speaking to the contestants, who seemed to have learned a lot about fishing over these last few weeks. I especially recall a young person called Jake, who told me that the final was 'the best day of his life'. I think that says everything about this event."
