The Irish Independent on Mount Falcon
On Monday 29th June 2009 the Irish Independent published a feature on the recent Casting for Recovery retreat at the Mount Falcon hotel and fishery, County Mayo. The feature is about the first ever retreat in the Republic of Ireland, lets the lady participants speak for themselves and reveals why CfR's brand of therapy is so necessary. In the words of one participant: "....on the retreat, there was one woman who mentioned that it had been 20 years since she had had cancer and at that moment, I could feel my shoulders relax. You think, OK, this isn't a death sentence and it isn't necessarily going to come back. I suppose I hadn't realised just how heavily that had been weighing on me." Read "Real Life: Hooked on fishing therapy" by Liz Kearney. Welcome to Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland
“I am a fly fisher, I have also suffered from breast cancer. It is my pleasure and privilege to introduce you to Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland. This initiative is the first of its kind to combine therapy and support for breast cancer patients with the gentle art of fly fishing. Casting for Recovery has been up and running in North America and Canada for several years now with an incredible success rate, so bringing the programme to the UK and Ireland was a natural step. We hope to be able to help and support as many ladies as possible through this initiative, and we also hope that they fall under the spell of fly fishing in the process - I certainly did.”
Sue Hunter, UK & Ireland Programme Co-ordinator, Casting for Recovery
Retreats
The 2009 retreat schedule was announced on 12th December 2008. Ladies are invited to apply to attend one of the following retreats:
| Date | Venue | Accommodation Venue | Cut-off Date for Applications |
| 24 - 26 April | Valley Dam Fishery, Llanfihangel | Lake Vyrnwy Hotel, Llanwddyn, Powys | This retreat has already been held |
| 8-10 May | Heathcote Lakes, Warwick | The Glebe Hotel, Barford, Warwickshire | This retreat has already been held |
| 10- 12 June | Mount Falcon, Ballina, Co Mayo | Mount Falcon | This retreat has already been held |
| 17 - 19 July | Kimbridge on the Test, Kimbridge, Hampshire | Kimbridge-on-the-Test | Closed for applications |
| 18- 20 September | Brookhall Trout Fishery, Lisburn, Co Antrim | TBC | 10/07/2009 |
| 25 - 27 September | Forbes of Kingennie, Broughty Ferry, Angus | Kingennie | 17/07/2009 |
| 4 - 6 October | The Haddon Estate and The Peacock Hotel, Rowsley, Derbyshire | The Peacock | 26/07/2009 |
· CLICK HERE FOR THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM. Please note the application deadlines above.
Places at retreats are allocated by ballot and are subject to medical clearance.
Previous retreats. Click here for voices and retreat photo galleries
10th-12th June 2009 - The first retreat to be held in the Republic of Ireland goes well, with a wonderful mid-week retreat at the Mount Falcon Hotel and fishery at Ballina, Co Mayo. View a slideshow here .
8th-10th May 2009 - Fourteen ladies enjoyed the first Midlands retreat at the Glebe Hotel, Barford and Heathcote Lakes, Warwick. View the photo gallery here .
24th-26th April 2009 - the first retreat of 2009 at Lake Vyrnwy Hotel and the Valley Dam Fishery, Powys. Fourteen ladies from across Britain enjoyed a glorious Welsh spring weekend. View the photo gallery here .
28th-30th September 2008 - Duncton Mill Retreat , Petworth, West Sussex. Twelve ladies participated in this, the final retreat of 2008, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, despite the rain! Click here for the gallery.
19th - 21st September 2008 - Brookhall Trout Fishery in Lisburn, Co Antrim. Fourteen ladies took part in this retreat - nine ladies from Northern Ireland and five from the Republic. Plus three Vietnamese Pot Bellied pigs. View the gallery here .With thanks to Houston Green Photography in Belfast for their support of CfR.
11-13 April 2008 - 14 participants (and Molly the spaniel mascot) enjoyed a wonderful retreat at the Caer Beris Manor Hotel , Builth Wells, Powys, with the fishing at the nearby Llyn Gwyn fishery. View the gallery .
From 28-30 March 2008 - A successful retreat took place at The Arundell Arms , Lifton, Devon. Check the gallery for photographs.
The first Casting for Recovery retreat took place from 17th to 19th September 2007 in the beautiful surroundings of the Duncton Mill Fishery with accommodation at Duncton Mill Retreat. Check the gallery for photographs.
What is Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland
Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland is a non-profit support and educational programme which provides fly fishing retreats specifically tailored for women who have or have had breast cancer throughout the United Kingdom & Ireland. Casting for Recovery was founded in the US in 1996 and has since helped more than 2,500 breast cancer survivors. It has now been bought to the UK & Ireland by the England Ladies Flyfishing Association. The initiative is funded by the Countryside Alliance and all fly fishing equipment is funded by Orvis UK.
To learn more about the England Ladies Flyfishing Association use this link to visit their website.
Please use this link to visit the Countryside Alliance website.