Deputy FIrst Minister Martin McGuinness with members of the Destined Fishing Club. Included are Sinn Fein Cllr Barney O’Hagan, Dermot O’Hara, Destined manager and Terry McDevitt, project leader.
A new fishing club for people with learning disabilities was launched in Derry today by Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
The club, run by Destined – the local learning disability charity – has 12 members who have been learning to fish over a number of years.
The Destined members have received instruction from the staff at the Loughs Agency over the past summer and from support staff at other venues.
This initiative is part of the Destined social inclusion programme that seeks to ensure equality of opportunity for all its members and that proposes that people with learning disabilities should have the same opportunities in life as everyone else and recognises that they might need slightly more support to participate.
Terry McDevitt, project leader, said the members had developed a “real passion” for fishing over the last two summers.
He added: “We have been sea fishing in Lough Swilly and Galway Bay, and we have been at Baronscourt and out at the Campsie Fishery.
He concluded: “It was a real pleasure to be out with group, especially when they were catching fish.”
The Loughs Agency has supported the activities of the group over the past number of years and last year supplied funding for the purchase of rods, reels and fishing tackle.
Tags: