Dinner hooks big donations for our fishing charities

Fishing charities, including our Fishing 4 Schools and Casting for Recovery campaigns, are more than £76,000 better off thanks to the generosity of guests at a charity dinner held at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea on Thursday (10 March).

The Fishing for Our Future event, to jointly benefit The Angling Trust, Fishing 4 Schools and Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland, saw 160 guests dine in the Great Hall of the Royal Hospital and bid for eight premier donated lots, including a complete salmon fishing outfit, a week's salmon fishing in north east Iceland and a week's fishing on the River Laxford in Scotland.

Top lot of the night was a week's stay on the Borana Conservancy in Kenya, which raised £32,000.

Each place-setting included a unique fly, hand-tied and donated by members of the Fly Dressers' Guild and the guests ate trout donated by Chalk Stream Food and drank wine donated by Johnny Goedhuis and champagne donated by Gardet.

The night was organised by the Countryside Alliance events team, headed by Emma Mancroft. Emma said: "This was the first time we have run this event but we hope to make it an annual event. It was a fabulous night, with great food and drink in a beautiful setting.

"We would like to thank all our generous guests and the co-chairmen of the night. George Stephenson, chairman of Roxtons and the Angling Trust, and Robert Montague for helping us to hold such a successful event."

Fishing 4 Schools introduces youngsters to angling through free school courses that fit into the curriculum. Director and top fly-fisherman Charles Jardine said: "It was a fabulous evening for angling charities that showed the unity across the sport and how it touches so many lives. Special mention must be made of the very kind donations of lots and the people who rise to the occasion to bid for them. This is the start of something very exciting!"

The money will also be shared by Casting for Recovery, which offers healing fishing retreats to ladies who have or are recovering from breast cancer, and the Angling Trust, which lobbies for and promotes fishing in the UK.