Fishing means many things to many people but is about much more than catching fish!  In fact angling is now recognised as being highly restorative for those living with a mental health illness and it was a great help for me personally in fighting depression.  This challenge though is also about far more than fishing because as a keen angler I am also very conscious of the damage that our rivers have suffered from over abstraction, pollution, poor land management, salmon farming and climate change many of which are now widely reported and recognised.  This damage to our rivers has a knock on effect for the birds, fish and mammals that rely on our rivers and on the insects in and hatching from water courses that create a much needed food source for that wildlife.  This also affects every one of us as our past and current behaviours continue to drive climate change through tree and wetland loss as well as issues with flooding and individual risks from polluted waters.  

As an angler I aim to help in driving the restoration of our waterways and surrounding habitats for the benefit of all wildlife, ourselves and future generations. The good news is that this challenge will raise funds for the River Dee Trust which are then spent on conservation and restoration programmes.

To get an idea of how impactful this conservation work is please click through these links:

 'Restoring a catchment | River Dee' 

'River and wetland restoration on the Beltie burn | River Dee' 

... to read about the restoration of woodland, wetland and in river habitat which brought almost instant results.

You can also hear from me and my team mates in 2022 as we get eaten by midges at dawn by clicking this link   FishDee 24 Richard, Iain and Andrew - YouTube

This is a genuinely challenging event  for a great cause to benefit you, me and future generations and I therefore ask that you are generous in supporting me in my support of the River Dee Trust.