LEISURE & HOSPITALITY
FISHING FOR A BETTER FUTURE
Raising aspirations and providing diversionary activities for young people that have not got off to the best start in life, is a challenging but rewarding field of work, that Wigan-based former roofing contractor, Neil Farnworth, has made his mission for the past ten years.
An initiative that started with Neil teaching young people to fish has developed into Cast North West; a successful social enterprise and a provider of diversionary activities and education courses for Wigan Council, probation and fostering services and local schools.
Cast North West now works with around 90 young people per week, teaching them new skills, encouraging them to develop a team approach and nurturing their self- esteem. The organisation has even been involved with service users in recent development schemes at its site near Chorley, which is now the UK’s largest indoor fishery.
Thanks to those schemes, the site now incorporates a carp farm with six breeding and grading tanks where fish are bred for sale, an indoor fishery with classroom facilities and two 36m X 8m ponds where young people can fish in a safe and controlled environment, a horticulture centre, a garden centre shop and a break-out room to get refreshments.
FISH SAFE Development of the Cast North West
site began with the greenhouse that houses the indoor fishery and once this had been constructed, the two rectangular ponds could be excavated. Diggers were used to dig out the ponds to the correct depth and the ground was then levelled and compacted to make ready for the Firestone PondGard™ EPDM lining.
PondGard was a natural choice for the Cast North West team because Neil had used Firestone EPDM roofing
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products during his former career as a roofing contractor. He also selected Firestone RubberGard™ EPDM roofing membrane for the two log cabins on-site.
As Neil explained: “I knew that Firestone’s EPDM lining would be an effective and durable lining for the ponds and, very importantly, that it would provide a safe environment for the fish.
“Using a greenhouse for the indoor fishery made it a cost-effective build and also provides more of a feeling of being outdoors for the young people we work with, without exposing them to the elements. However, it did mean that an effective pond lining was vital because without it heat could crack the base of the ponds causing water to leak and endangering the fish.”
PondGard EPDM membrane is guaranteed to be compatible with aquatic life in accordance with testing reports published by the UK Water Research Centre, making it ideal for installations such as the indoor fishery. Despite being just 1.0mm thick, the elastomeric membrane provides an excellent combination of flexibility and tensile strength, with proven resistance to both U/V and low temperatures.
POND ENVIRONMENT Usually the lining would be installed
by an accredited specialist but volunteers from Firestone’s own team were joined by Cast North West staff and young people from the centre to carry out the installation. Firestone’s technical team calculated
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