Q. What does it do?
Q. Who Pays?
Q. Who benefits?
Q. How do you become involved?
As a participant
As a sponsor
As a Helper
Q. Future Plans
Q. The connection with Lodge of Opportunity No. 9777
A. What does it do?
Apart from ‘Catch The Smile’ the Charity has adopted the slogan of:
“The Masonic Trout and Salmon Fishing Charity’s aim is to bring an interactive fishing and countryside experience to people with Special Needs”.
It achieves this by running fishing events, both coarse and fly, at various fisheries and inviting participants from specialist schools and centres to come and join in.
The Charity provides:
- A fisherman or helper for every participant usually on a one-to-one basis. The fishermen will involve their charges in all aspects of fishing, to have a go at casting, retrieving, hooking and landing the fish. (All fishermen and helpers will have been required to fill out the disclosure form for CRB clearance.)
- Lunch typically consisting of barbecued burgers, sausages and maybe some fresh trout (at flyfishing events)! Soft, non-fizzy drinks, sandwiches, fruit and snacks. Lunch and tea, coffee and soft drinks is provided for all participants, helpers and fishermen.
- A ‘Certificate of Achievement’ for all participants.
- Medals for Biggest Fish, Best Caster, Best Retriever etc.
- Risk Assessments.
- Health and safety instruction to all helpers and fishermen.
- All game fish caught may be kept by the participants.
A typical days Itinerary is as follows:
| 7.30am | Organisers arrive to set up event |  |
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| 9.30am | Health and Safety talk to all helpers and fishermen | |||
| 10.00am | Participants arrive and are introduced to their caster | |||
| 10.15am | Fishing starts | |||
| 12.30pm | Lunch break | |||
| 1.15pm | Fishing resumes | |||
| 2.15pm | Presentation time | |||
| 2.45pm | Participants depart | |||
| 3.00pm | Debriefing session with fishermen and helpers |
All times are flexible and can be varied according to the participants needs.
There are often some other attractions going on including: Police Dogs and Trainers, Fire Engines, Falconry displays, displays from the Countryside Alliance, etc., etc.
A. Who Pays?
The Charity is a Masonic Initiative and is therefore funded by voluntary donations from Freemasons, Masonic Lodges and Provinces, Trust Funds or events organised by freemasons.
There is absolutely no charge to any of the participants or their Schools or centres taking part.
Many Masonic Lodges sponsor a whole days event whilst some may sponsor a smaller amount or share a day’s sponsorship with another lodge. Others will hold raffles or a charitable event and donate the proceeds to us from that. Masonic ‘Provinces’ (or Counties) have also donated funds to us to promote work in their area.
Some companies have donated items of merchandise, which have been used in ‘goodie’ bags to give to the participants at the events, but these cannot be guaranteed on every occasion.
Some money is also raised through raffles and the sale of merchandise in the form of polo shirts, hats, badges and other items, which are sold during the events and at other times.
Helpers, fishermen and anyone interested in our work can also become Friends of the Charity for a fee of £50. Please click here for more details of this.
It is emphasised that absolutely no charge is made to any of the participants, their carers, helpers or the Schools or Centres that they come from. The only cost to participants is to provide their own transport to and from the event and any specialist food that any of their charges may require. (We do cater for a vegetarian option.
A. Who benefits?
Everyone benefits from these days out.
Participants
Some of the pictures on this website are testament in themselves of the enjoyment that the participants get from their interactive day. The excitement is terrific and most are experiencing for the first time the joy of fishing which most of us take for granted but nevertheless makes fishing the number one participant sport in the country. A lot of the Schools and Centres also use the day as a basis for a project or scheme, creating IT projects, models and wall displays. One school has gained a ‘special award’ for sporting achievement and their attendance at our events was an important part of this achievement.
Casters and Helpers
All of our casters and helpers gain hugely from their experiences that they receive during these days. Many have not had the experience of witnessing first hand the problems that many of our participants face in their every day lives. Whilst it is not the policy of anyone to pry into the participants private lives it can be a real education to us when we spend this short time with them. We all become much more aware of the great amount of work that goes on in the specialist schools and centres that we are in contact with.
Sponsors
Many of our sponsoring lodges come and spend the day with us as well. Charity is one of Freemasonry’s prime objectives and a conservative estimate rates the Masonic movement as second only to the National Lottery in terms of giving. Our Charity provides a focus for those who care to support us and they can see a positive and tangible result for the money that they donate. They are also safe in the knowledge that the entire donated amount is spent on providing events for the participants. MTSFC has no paid employees, no buildings to support or other overheads other than normal printing, stationery and insurance requirements that any similar organisation needs to operate efficiently.
MTSFC is not a profit making organisation or a money making venture. It has already been mentioned about the enormous effect that freemasonry has on charitable giving but this Charity represents the other side of freemasonry, which is to give time to worthy causes. The Charity has a big list of helpers who give their time freely to further the effect that freemasonry has on our community by way of practical help.
A. How do you become involved?
As a participant
MTSFC actively seeks out specialist Schools and Centres in the areas that we operate in but we also welcome any enquiries from anyone who would like to take part. There are no restrictions on disability and providing that their teachers or carers are happy that they can cope with the event that we offer they will be welcome. Participants must, however, provide their own transport to and from the event, be over 11 years old (or School Year 7), provide any special food or drinks required (other than normal or vegetarian) and bring sufficient staff to attend to their personal needs.
As a sponsor
It costs around £50 per day to take a single participant on these events, so the more sponsors we have the more participants we can take. As we are an organisation that is a ‘Masonic Initiative’ most of our money comes from Masonic Lodges and Freemasons who like to consider sponsoring a whole day or maybe an amount as a donation. Companies sometimes like to donate hats, shirts, souvenir items or items that can be used in ‘goodie’ bags or used as prizes in raffles or helping us with the cost of printing.
As a Helper
Helpers are always welcome, whether to help us in preparing the barbecue and lunch, taking drinks around the lake, setting up, clearing away, or generally helping to make sure that our participants are having a good time. Helpers also pair up with fishermen to help them on the bank and take an active part in the fishing.
Please email us at info@mtsfc.co.uk for more information
A. Future Plans
It has always been the Charity’s plan to become ‘Inter Provincial’ or ‘Cross County’ and more areas are becoming involved in our activities every year.
We are actively looking for people to become involved in all areas of the country to organise more events at more fisheries, involve more fishermen raise more sponsorship and thereby entertain more participants. Events can be Fly or Coarse Fishing occasions, the enjoyment for the particicpants is the same.
It would be normal for any new Province or County to form a small committee and set up a Branch of the organisation in their area. There are Health and Safety, Risk Assessment and other issues to be considered which each area will have full support with. There is some work to do in setting up a Branch but the rewards are enormous.
It only needs people who are keen and willing to get involved to make it happen.
Please give us a call if you can be one of those people or email info@mtsfc.co.uk.
A. The Connection With Lodge of Opportunity No.9777
It was intended from the outset that the Charity’s activities should be totally inter-provincial and the aim was always to spread the word to other areas. Physical and mental disabilities observe no boundaries – so why should the endeavours of the MTSFC?
So it was after discussions that the idea of forming a new Masonic Lodge, to be an ideal vehicle to spread the word of the Charity’s positive contribution to the community, began to germinate. As with the Charity, the idea of the new lodge was to be inter-provincial and it would be able to travel to any Province where an interest had been expressed in its activities. In this way it would raise awareness and encourage them to organise their own events, thereby spreading the word of this ideal opportunity for freemasonry to be a real part of the community.
In no time at all there were over 30 masons keen and eager to become founders of this ‘new concept’ of a Masonic Lodge. The Provincial Grand Secretary for Hertfordshire was quick to offer his support and very kindly gave his time and experience to guide us through the details and procedures which would have to be undertaken along with John Clark as the Founding Secretary.
Thus the Lodge of Opportunity was formed in 2004 and the idea caught on fast. The 30 founders became 34 and many new members have joined from the non-masonic fishermen and helpers who come along to the events. The Lodge and the idea is surely guaranteed to be successful. We certainly hope so.
Future meetings of the Lodge will be held in wherever in the country an interest is shown and the plan is to invite as many Masonic fishermen and other interested parties as possible to introduce them to the concept of the Masonic Trout and Salmon Fishing Charity. In this way we hope to introduce the fishing and countryside experience to many more ‘Special Needs’ people throughout the country.
Thank you for your interest!