Not-for-profit founder hopes to point out energy of angling for psychological well being
T
he founding father of a not-for-profit with a deal with fishing hopes to focus on the calming energy of the game as a part of a marketing campaign with former goalkeeper David Seaman.
David Lyons, the founding father of angling organisation Tackling Minds, has teamed up with the Environment Agency and the ex-England participant for a brand new marketing campaign to coincide with psychological well being consciousness week, which falls between May 15 and May 21 this yr.
As a part of the marketing campaign, Seaman, Mr Lyons and Andy Beeman, one other member of Tackling Minds, made a brief movie to focus on the constructive affect fishing has had on their psychological wellbeing.
Mr Lyons described filming with Mr Beeman and Seaman as “incredible”.
“We connected on such a strong level and had a really open and candid conversation – a conversation I don’t think I could have had if it had not been for fishing”, the 39-year-old who is predicated in Hyde, Manchester, informed the PA news company.
“Through joining this campaign, I really want to show that there are outlets like fishing out there to help people manage their mental health and stress levels as bottling up emotions can have such a detrimental impact; and no one should suffer in silence.”
Seaman added that fishing has been a “great outlet” for him to chill out.
“With the general pressures of life, fishing has been a great outlet for me to relax, de-stress and enjoy the many benefits of the great outdoors.
“It was a real eye-opener meeting Dave and Andy from Tackling Minds to hear the first-hand impact angling has had on changing people’s lives for the better.”
The marketing campaign comes off the again of analysis performed by Angling Trust which confirmed that 86% of anglers have mentioned that fishing has helped enhance signs of stress or anxiousness.
Additionally, a survey performed by the Environment Agency in April discovered that solely 1 / 4 (25%) of males within the UK really feel as if they can talk about their psychological well being or the affect stress has on them.
Mr Lyons spoke candidly about his wrestle with alcoholism for greater than a decade, which led to him affected by main anxiousness dysfunction and despair.
“I would mask my feelings with alcohol, and I even moved to Australia in 2014 for a fresh start but I just ended up finding myself in a vicious cycle again”, he mentioned.
“At the height of my alcoholism, I was drinking so much that when I stopped my body would go into shutdown.”
He mentioned he moved to dwell close to a lake in Rochdale throughout that point.
“There, by chance, I reconnected with my old love of fishing – at that point it had been 20 years since I had last sat on the bank of a lake.”
From there, Tackling Minds was fashioned in 2020 to assist help different folks experiencing psychological well being points.
Mr Lyons mentioned that fishing modified his life and outlook “completely”.
“I found that being near the water helped to lower my anxiety levels and instilled a sense of calm within me.
“I find that fishing is a great way to clear my mind both on and off the water.
“When you’re fishing, while it’s a time to relax and unwind, there’s also lots of things to focus your mind on like selecting the right equipment, assessing what fishing method to use or what bait might work best.”
The not-for-profit has helped others to show their lives round, which Mr Lyons mentioned has been a “real joy”.
“We had this lovely guy come to us who, like me, was really struggling with his mental health due to alcoholism”, he mentioned.
“Prior to becoming a participant at Tackling Minds fishing sessions, his addiction had nearly lost him his life, and this was a real catalyst for him to start his road to recovery.
“This individual used to fish in his youth and then regained his love for fishing through Tackling Minds.
“He started as a participant and has had a full circle moment as he’s recently qualified as a level 2 volunteer angling coach.”
Mr Lyons added that tales like this fill him with “so much happiness”.
He mentioned fishers ought to keep in mind to buy a rod licence, with extra info accessible by way of this hyperlink: https://www.gov.uk/fishing-licences/buy-a-fishing-licenceOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
All cash from the purchases return into the game to proceed supporting organisations like Tackling Minds.
– The unbiased analysis was performed by Censuswide on behalf of The Environment Agency, with a pattern of 1,024 males over the age of 18.