2012
THE FIRST EVER FISH 4 KIDZ
After a lot of talking, meetings (plenty of those), problem solving, begging and scrounging, planing and scheming, it was time for Fish 4 Kidz to be announced.
The posters and entry forms were printed, local anglers were queuing up to help.
Here is a copy of the first ever Fish 4 Kidz poster
It was suggested that we do a pre-event photo shoot and announcement in the Eastbourne Herald (local paper),
The call was made, the date was set, we (the committee, Stephen Lloyd, and some children who were taking part, met outside the Eastbourne Angling Association.
This is what was in the paper............
Published in the Eastbourne Herald 19th March 2012
Fishing Clubs Unite
FISH 4 KIDZ COMPETITION
A free fishing competition is being launched on the 25th of March in Eastbourne to attract children between the ages of 5 to 16. FISH 4 KIDZ is a unique event to give local children a chance to find out about beach fishing, and to try it out safely under the supervision of a trained angler.
The competition was devised by Steven Frost, the Secretary of the Eastbourne Nomads Angling Club when he noticed the decline in junior anglers. With assistance from local clubs and fishing stores, Steven’s idea has developed into a major local event with 40 children already due to compete.
Steven Frost commented: “When I first thought of the event it seemed impossible. Thanks to the support of Anglers Den, Tony’s Tackle, A & T Tackle, Pure Fishing and the numerous anglers and fishing clubs in Eastbourne, I am confident this event is going to be a huge success and will continue to grow’.
Stephen Lloyd MP commented: “I am delighted to be able to support this event. When Steven and his team approached me, I immediately knew it was a fun way for children to understand where their food comes from. Fishing is great fun. I used to do it a lot when I was a child. This event will be a great way to introduce children to what is the most popular sport - by numbers of participants - in the UK”
To enter, the child's parent/guardian must go in person to Tony's Tackle, Anglers Den or A &T Tackle, and fill in a small form before Sunday 18th March.
FISH 4 KIDZ is taking place on Sunday 25th March, booking in is at 10:30am in the Eastbourne Angling Association car park, fishing is from 12noon til 2:30pm, followed by a short awards ceremony by Stephen Lloyd MP.
Any enquiries, please contact the Anglers Den on 460441, or email Steve Frost on nomadsec@hotmail.co.uk
When Steve Frost contacted Barney Wright, who was at the time the editor for "Total Sea Fishing Magazine", Barney didn't hesitate, he said that he and the magazine wanted to be a part of this event.
Before the event, TSF put a write up on their Facebook page. Here is a copy of it
Friday, 27 January 2012 14:49
Kids Match Announced
Eastbourne beach is the perfect spot to introduce kids to sea fishing.
Beach competition designed to get children into sea fishing.
A fishing match to get kids into sea fishing has been announced by a consortium of angling clubs and shops in Eastbourne.
Fish 4 Kidz is designed to introduce children aged between five and 16 years of age to beach fishing. It’s the work of Eastbourne Nomads AC, Anderida Club, Eastbourne AA and tackle shops Anglers Den, Tony’s Tackle and A&T Tackle based in the seaside town.
Taking place on March 25, the event will be broken down into three categories – five to nine-year-olds, 10 to 12-year-olds and 13 to 16-year-olds – with bait and rigs supplied if required. There will be prizes on the day for the kids, with fishing taking place between 12noon and 2.30pm on a catch and release basis.
"It's so important to get the next generation interested in fishing for the future of the sport," Steve Frost Honorary Secretary of Eastbourne Nomads told TSF. "However, because this is the first event that we are holding, I'm afraid it will be open to children from Eastbourne only.
"We are testing the water to see what the local entries will be. If it's successful, which I'm hopeful it will be, then we will make it an annual event, and possibly stretch the boundaries at the next one."
Entries to the event is free but is limited and must be booked up in advance by March 18. All children must be accompanied by an adult, although one adult can be accompanying more than one child.
Entry forms are available from Anglers Den, Tony’s Tackle and A&T Tackle.
For more information call Anglers Den on 01323 460441 or email Steve Frost at nomadsec@hotmail.co.uk
The date of the first Fish 4 Kidz event was getting closer, bookings were coming in thick and fast. Steve Frost spoke to Sean Tester (member of the Eastbourne Nomads), he was manager at "Walkers Crisps" at the time. After a few Emails Walkers Crisps said that they would donate several boxes of assorted crisps and snacks, this meant that all the children could have something to munch on while they were fishing.
Steve then approached the management of "Booker", and asked if they would like to donate some drinks for the children. They didn't need asking twice, and said we could have whatever we required, A few of us had already discussed it, and agreed that sugar free, still drinks would be best, so Bookers donated several boxes of the little cup drinks in assorted flavours. Now all of the children had something to eat and drink while they were fishing.
This event was really coming together.
Then, there was some more good news, something we hadn't concidered. While the sales rep from "Pure Fishing" was in the "Anglers Den" he noticed all the stuff in there about "Fish 4 Kidz", Glyn and Kevin told him all about the event, without hesitation Mark (the rep) said that he thought that "Pure Fishing might be interested in getting involved. Once again there were quite a few Emails sent backwards and forwards, and then great news, "Pure Fishing wanted to be part of it. They donated 15 prizes, 5 for each age group, 5 x rod and reel beginner sets, 5 x reels and 5 x rods.
Steve Domsalla of "Domsalla Building said that he would like to contribute to our event, Steve Frost said that a flag with the "Fish 4 Kidz" logo on it would look great. Steve paid for "Nima Printing" to make the flag. It looks brilliant.
We suddenly realised that we didn't have enough fishing equipment, there were a lot of children coming who didn't have access to fishing tackle (some were lucky and had someone in the family who fished). So we put the word out to all the local anglers, obviously they weren't going to lend their best/expensive equipment, but a lot of anglers had old gear knocking around in their sheds and garages. Chris Kirrage even had access to several set ups.
The next thing was bait, it wasn't a problem, local bait diggers offered their services and donated plenty of bait for use on the day.
Then Ian Hopper (local angler) offered to make enough 2 hook flapper rigs so as there was 2 per child, the Anglers Den supplied all the line, hooks and terminal parts that he needed.
verything was sorted.......WE WERE READY (we hoped)
The Big Day Arrived
At last....The big day had arrived, ready or not, it was here.
We (the organizing Committee were all hoping that all the discussions, inventing problems so we could come up with solutions, all the organizing was enough, we hoped that the day would go well.
Nothing like this had been done before, not anywhere, we were the first, we couldn't turn to anyone for advice.
We got to the Eastbourne Angling Association early, we all had a good breakfast (alway's a good way to start a day),
After this we grabbed some chairs and some fold up tables and headed out to the car park, this was where we had arranged to book everyone in. Steve was armed with loads of paperwork (too much), there were the sheets with all the names of the children on (the children had been allocated stewards before hand, thanks to Glyn Morgan, also Kevin and Glyn had put pegs with names on the beaches), Steve also had a participation certificate for each child that entered and a free Nomads membership card for each child.
The Anglers Den lent each steward a bucket for their beach (there were 4 children per steward per beach).
There were loads of carrier bags with a free fishing paper, and some fishing bits in each bag. A goody bag for each child.
The day was nice, dry, sunny (but not too hot) with a light wind (it kept blowing all the paperwork everywhere, we had a table full of stones to hold it all down.
Then, vehicles were arriving, it was the stewards, closely followed by the parents with their children, Steve Frost and Glyn Morgan got bombarded with people, it seemed that all 70 entries were trying to book in at the same time. After a few mistakes, laughs, and a bit of confussion (and maybe a couple of near breakdowns) we managed to get everyone booked in, teamed up with their stewards, goody bags issued, equipment supplied, it was done. We left a couple of roving stewards to wait for a couple of late arrivals, and put everything away. Time had gone that quick, and we were stewards as well.
The fishing started at 12noon.
While on the beach everyone had a visit from Dave Phillips, he was from the RNLI, he gave out packs to everyone, in the packs were leaflets about Beach Safety, Sea Safety, the RNLI, and other bits and pieces.
Paul Cox (one of our floating stewards) very kindly walked to all the beaches with children on, and gave out a personalised Participation Certificate (designed, printed and signed by Steve Frost) & a FREE annual Nomads Membership (donated by the Eastbourne Nomads Angling Club) to every child who showed up on the day.
During the day Barney Wright from "Total Sea Fishing" magazine came along the beaches, with him was Mark Kitson of "Sovereign Superbaits". Barney & Mark stopped to speak to everyone, Barney gave everyone a goody bag from "Total Sea Fishing", in this was a magazine, beads, lead lifts, feathers and a knot puller, there was also a packet of fake bait from Mark of "Sovereign Superbaits".
Barney also took some
photographs and video shots,
he also did some interviews.
The fishing finished at 2:30pm.
After the fishing most of the children took their parents/guardians and stewards back to the Eastbourne Angling Association for the presentation. The EAA put out drinks and crisps for everyone.
Stephen Lloyd was at the EAA to greet everyone, he was also there to make the presentation to the children who were lucky enough to catch fish.
Steve Frost gave out Feedback Forms, he had a few back with some great comments on them.
To sum everything up; "Fish 4 Kidz" was a great success, and to answer the question that most people were asking, yes, there will be another one next year, it will be in mid-April.
Let's see if we can make it a BIG success again.
It takes more than a few adults and children to run and make an event like "Fish 4 Kidz" work, you'd be surprised how many (I was).
Without the help/ donations from the following people/businesses this event could not have happened, I could not have done it on my own.
So, to all mentioned below, I say a BIG "THANK YOU".
THANK YOU's
Kevin & Glyn Morgan (Anglers Den) – They both helped enormously, with advising,legalities, loan of equipment and more. This event probably would not have happened without their hep.
Tony Kirrage (Tony's Tackle) – For his suggestions & loan of equipment.
Arran Aghili (A&T Tackle, Eastbourne Pier) – For his valid input & loan of equipment.
Dave Pringle (Eastbourne Angling Association) – input & loan of equipment.
Also the Eastbourne Angling Association – For the kind use of their facilities.
Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne MP) – For his valid input, advice & help with contacting the schools in Eastbourne.
Stephen Holt (Stephen Lloyd's PA) – For his help with Emails & media.
Dave Pringle (Eastbourne Angling Association) – input & loan of equipment.
Also the Eastbourne Angling Association – For the kind use of their facilities.
Councillor John Ungar (Eastbourne Borough Council) – For helping to get FREE parking.
Steve Domsalla of Domsalla Building Services Ltd – For his kind donation of the "Fish 4 Kidz" flag.
Nina Print & Design Services Ltd – For making & printing the flag.
Pure Fishing – For their very kind donation of the prizes. (Rods & Reels etc)
Booker – For their very kind donation of soft drinks for the children to have on beach.
Walkers Crisps & Sean Tester – For the kind donation if all the crisps.
Staples – For their generous discounts.
Geoff Banks of The Woodworkers – For his kind donation of wood for signs.
All of the Eastbourne Schools – For advertising this event.
Breakaway – Donation of leads.
Barney Wright and Total Sea Fishing Magazine – For donation of goodie bags for every child, and for coming to Eastbourne to cover this event for the magazine.
Mark Kitson from Superbaits (he came with Barney Wright) – For his kind donation of fake baits.
The Eastbourne Herald – For advertising this event.
Paul Parsons – For his kind donation of the picture frames for the certificates.
David Phillips of the RNLI – For attending this event, and giving all the children a package, containing Sea and beach safety leaflets, keyring's etc.
Chermaine Frost (My lovely wife) – For her input, proof reading all the different papers & Emails connected with this event, and being patient with me, for the 3 months it's taken me to organise this event.
and
All the children & their parents – for entering this event.
Steve Frost (Organiser/Committee)
Glyn Morgan (Head Steward/Committee)
Kevin Morgan (Head Steward/Committee)
Arran Aghili (Committee)
Tony Kirrage (Committee)
Dave Pringle (Committee)
Chris Kirrage (First Aider)
Debbie Sargeant (First Aider)
Gerald Sargeant
Dan Wood
John Ryder
Paul King
Joe Plumstead
Adrian Darker
Naomi Zoob
Jim Whippy
Jamie Morgan
Phil Chapman
Gary Ogden
Carl Gatwood
Mick Lowe
Steve Domsalla
Paul Cox
If there are any other Stewards and helpers that I have not mentioned, I apologise. But I give all of you a HUGE THANK YOU.
LIST OF STEWARDS
So, the day had gone reasonably well, some of the children were lucky enough to catch fish.
When we got back to the EAA, Stephen Lloyd was there to meet with everyone.
Steve, Kevin and Glyn went to the office to look at the cards that were filled in by the stewards, every child had a card to record their fish on. The prizes were allocated and transfered up stairs.
Stephen Lloyd presented the children with their prizes.
HERE ARE THE PHOTOGRAPH'S
Presentation Photograph's
Other Pics from 2012
Feedback
Steve gave everyone a feeback form, it had a few simple questions on it, and people were given the options to fill them in and post them back, or email, or text. The feedback was great.
On the form were 6 questions, they were;
1. How/where did you find out about "FISH 4 KIDZ"?
2. Did you enjoy this event?
3. In your opinion what was the best thing about this event?
4. In your opinion what was the worst thing about this event?
5. Do you think anything could have been done differently to improve this event?
6. Do you have any ideas (sensible) to improve future "Fish 4 Kidz" events?
The return of feedback was very good, some of the forms were actually filled in by the children. All the feedback received was very positive, everyone had a great time.
Here is the feeback received
Here is some more feeback that received in other ways.
Some feedback came in via email. Here is a copy of some of those.
Well done for organising such a great event, I thought all the kids really enjoyed it. My boy was "made up" with his new rod!!. Richard Newman.
Laura had a great time and took her certificate to show her teacher. Thanks for a great day. From Lauras mum.
Hi Steve! It's the Foremans here. We had a fantastic time at the event. All our 4 kids loved it, hope there will be another one! Many thanks to you for a great time.
Would like to say thank you, my boy's had a wonderful time and really enjoyed it. Samantha Taylor
Hi. I did not fill in the feedback form today, sorry! But I thought I would Email to say how impressed I was with the day. The organisation was brilliant, efficient, helpful and friendly. My grandson went along and it was his first time fishing - everything was explained to him, the fact that all the equipment was willingly lent to him and the other "extras" like bait, hooks weights, etc, and the contents of the goodie bags were excellent. He is ten years old and really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it too, I have never been fishing, though I belong to the Angling Association, but go sailing rather than fishing! It was much more interesting than I thought it would be, and the length of time for the competition was just about right. (they do tend to have a short attention span at that age!) To cap it all he won his age section of the competition after catching two flounders, and has gone home proudly with his new rod, he is now working out how he can raise the money as quickly as possible for areel and a tripod stand for the beach, by washing cars, etc.! Thank you also for the free membership for the Nomads, I am sure you will be seeing more of him in the future! Thanks again for a wonderful day. Maggie (Charlie Denton's Grandmother)
Charlie took his certificate to school and it was shown to the whole school in assembly - he was chuff
CERTIFICATES
Every child that took part was given a "PARTICIPATION CERTIFICATE" just for taking part. The certificate has ALL of the SPONSORS on it.
(this is a copy of the certificate from the 2nd Fish 4 Kidz in 2013)
The Best Boy and the Best Girl in each of the 3 age categories (5 to 9, 10 to 12 and 13 to 16) were given a large framed certificate.
(this is a copy of the certificate from the 2nd Fish 4 Kidz in 2013)
Links
There were also other things from the first "Fish 4 Kidz", here are a couple of links for you to have a look at, courtesy of Barney Wright (at the time Barney was editor of "Total Sea Fishing" magazine)
Link 1
Link 2
Barney also shot some short video's.
So, that was 2012.
I apologise if this page was a bit long, but there was a lot to tell you about.....the planing, what happened etc...etc...etc
It all went extremely well
Let's hope that Fish 4 Kidz will continue for a long, long time