Coverage in The Guardian newspaper to about a scheme in Newcastle-upon-Tyne which involved GPs prescribing fishing as a tonic for patients suffering from stress and depression has been welcomed by anglers.
The article explains how angling is one of several activities which can be recommended by Doctors as a "social prescription". Innovation charity Nesta has found that a majority of GPs are keen to find alternative ways of improving patients' health and wellbeing without dishing out more and more medicines.
Speaking to The Guardian, GP Guy Pilkington, the chair of the CCG, says the approach is crucial:
"The health service is facing what appears to be ever-increasing fiscal holes between what we get and what we have to do. If we don't get better at empowering people to look after themselves, using low-cost, high-impact interventions, we're going to really struggle in the near future to fund a comprehensive health service," he says.
One member of the fishing group, so-called "young" John, is unequivocal about the group's impact. "If I wasn't doing this," the 30-year-old says, "I'd be dead. It's the only thing that's helping me really."
The report is just one in a number of pieces that have explained the health benefits of our sport. Indeed, many American journals have carried similar reports before, with health benefits including stress relief, very well documented.
What better excuse to go fishing?
