Hands across the sea

Casting for recovery UK & Ireland (CFR) has now been operating for 10months in which time we have run three retreats in Sussex, Devon and Wales. Sue Hunter has obviously been working hard for over two years, financially supported by Countryside Alliance, Orvis and fund raising, ably assisted by a willing band of volunteers in the form of fly fishers, medical and counselling staff to enable the retreats to function. The generosity of our hosts at the three venues must also be acknowledged as they have donated their time and resources, including their wonderful staff, to help ensure the success of each retreat. These successes have been demonstrated by feed-back from the participants and the numerous new friends that we’ve all acquired along the way.

These retreats wouldn’t have been possible if Sue Hunter had not had fantastic support and guidance from CFR USA’s head office on how to set up the CFR service complete with comprehensive guidelines on how to manage the retreats.

For the first retreat I worked in a combined role of psycho-social and medical facilitator, supported by my very able assistant, Jean Davies. Although we found this very hard work, we were amazed at how straightforward it was when utilising the guidelines from the CFR USA on how to manage each activity and how these ultimately linked into the whole programme. The latter retreats have become easier and post-retreat participant evaluation forms have been particularly encouraging. We are hoping to recruit more medical and psychosocial facilitators to maintain standards as the service is developed.
I recently had the chance to attend a retreat in USA at Claryville, New York. This was done partly to assess that CFR UK & Ireland was progressing in line with the founding CFR in USA.

This trip was made possible by the staff at Head office CFR USA, who made it easy for me to be welcomed onto the team. The whole of the staff at Claryville were amazingly friendly and welcoming, sending me ‘e’ mails in advance so that we were already well acquainted before we actually met. Judy Colie was the efficient retreat leader assisted by Martha Pagen, who was responsible for contacting and booking the participants. Her practice of having long telephone conversations with the participants prior to the event ensured that they regarded her more as a friend when she greeted them at the retreat.
I felt really comfortable from the moment I arrived at this idyllic retreat set in the Catskill mountains with the ‘Neversink’ river running through its grounds. The programme used in UK accurately mirrored the one used in the USA and even when I was asked to act as the Medical facilitator my concerns were mainly about any differences between UK & USA breast cancer treatments. These quickly disappeared when I realised that the participants had concerns very similar to those experienced by the breast cancer patients that I have nursed over many years in my role as an advanced breast specialist nurse working in an English hospital. I was also aware that the UK treatment programme for breast cancer in many ways reflects that used in USA although when dealing with questions about individual treatments, my policy is to refer participants back to their medical team.

The staff’s emphasis at the retreat was on the participants (and staff) having fun and this they had in abundance, especially when learning about ’flies’. Who can forget the wonderful headgear worn by the ebullient Nancy Murphy, whose impression of a ‘cadis’ fly will remain with me. I will also remember the gentleness and expertise of Pat Holden, the Psychosocial facilitator and the patience of Kate Fox when teaching the art of tying knots and, along with Demetre Bove and Nancy, demonstrating casting techniques.

The home-cooked food, courtesy of Francine, the retreat’s resident housekeeper and her staff was unbelievable and I found it hard to resist the aroma of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies or brownies.

Overall I took away many memories both sad and happy shared with participants who were at all stages of their disease and treatment but appeared to benefit and bond both with their co-participants and the staff. I also remember the natural beauty of the ‘Neversink’ river, of warm sun on rocks and running water, shaded by amazingly green leafy trees, with eager participants ready to try out their newly learned skills. The jokes were in abundance when only one small fish was caught but plenty of branches were hooked. This banter continued throughout lunch to the ‘prize-giving’ when each staff member shared the handing out of attendance certificates and ‘goody’ bags to the participants, ensuring that these were accompanied by personal insights about the recipient that endeared them to the group.
From the practical assessment of my visit I have been able to reassure Sue Hunter that the CFR UK & Ireland appear to be performing well and operating within the spirit of the service offered by our American peers. I have returned with a few ideas that would enhance the British participants’ experience. These include; using name cards on the dining table and moving them after each meal to ensure that participants and staff have the chance to get to know everyone at the retreat; encouraging participants to share in the reading of poems and spiritual passages. consider using the Orvis Fly-Fishing notebook as a teaching aid and the use of games and team work to teach entomology.

At present CFR UK & Ireland is blessed with many offers of help from the national and local fly-fishers but, as stated earlier, this does not apply to psycho-social or medical staff. Hopefully as our activities become widely advertised, this may change.

Thank you CFR USA for welcoming me into your programme at Claryville and thank you so much to the members of staff and participants for making this experience for me so memorable.