Dreamstore Update

December 2, 2009 in All Articles, Dreamstore Academy by editor

We are delighted to be able to announce three further Academies in Scotland in 2010, one in North East Scotland, Blairgowrie and one in the Central Belt, Whitburn, both starting in January, and one planned for Orkney sometime after Easter. This will bring the total number of Dreamstore Academy qualifications delivered in Scotland to over 100 in under three years, which is a tremendous achievement.

Providing coaching qualifications that offer ideas and approaches to applying angling as an activity offered within education, youth and community activities provides a tremendous return on social investment.  Like learning to drive, once the qualification is completed there is a lifetime of learning and engagement in passing on advice and support to those who wish to start or improve on their angling.

For more information on Dreamstore Academy go to our main website www.dreamstore.org

September 20, 2009 in All Articles, Scotland by editor

The 2009 Dreamstore Academy has taken place in Blairgowrie High School.  Blairgowrie is the centre of Angling For Youth Development (AFYD), and many of the participants were gaining a coaching qualification to help in their local AFYD groups already in existence, or on the planning board for later in the year. AFYD participants included a number for Paisley and Renfrew which is developing rapidly. In 2009 AFYD hopes to engage around 500 young people in its projects and courses, and it is expecting to be able to double this number in 2010.

Also attending Blairgowrie were coaches for the Scottish Anglers National Association international youth and ladies teams.  Once again sea, coarse and game anglers worked together to help build angling’s engagement with young people and new anglers, with our tutor/assessor team including SFSA, SANA and BDAA members. This Dreamstore Academy course produced a further twenty people with SQA accredited coaching qualifications at Level 2 standards, to SQA mapped UKCC outcomes.

September 20, 2008 in All Articles, Dreamstore Academy, Scotland by editor

Our second Academy was facilitated by the Scottish Anglers National Association (SANA) and held at the Sports Scotland National Centre, Inverclyde, near Largs.  While the first Academy had been predominately fly anglers, this second had a majority of sea anglers including the coaches for the International Youth Team and the Chairman of the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers (SFSA), Mike Horn (pictured below having a coarse angling coaching session).

One of the benefits of the Dreamstore Academy approach is the way in which different angling disciplines learn from each other and offer each other support.  In addition to SANA booking Largs and the tutor team including an SFSA Dreamstore Academy trained tutor, others on the coaching team included tutor/assessors from the British Disabled Angling Association (BDAA). 

One of the most satisfying aspects of the development of the Dreamstore Academy course in Scotland an example of what can be achieved when angling works together for the benefit of everyone.

November 20, 2007 in All Articles, Dreamstore Academy, Scotland by editor

Our first coaching Academy in Scotland has been a huge success, with around twenty participants gaining their Dreamstore Academy Level 2 Coaching Certificate with the SQA accredited course units.  A number of others have a number of tasks to complete over the next few months and we look forward to them completing the course early in 2008.

There were 25 participants on this first course, held over three weekends at Heriot Watt University, Dumbartonshire and at the National Angling Centre, Loch Leven.  The way in which the course has been developed means that participants included game, coarse and sea anglers.

Many of the participants are volunteers who were placed on the course by AFYD (Action For Youth Development), a voluntary body that works with young people to introduce them to angling and provide personal development through engagement in fishing activities and education courses. Dreamstore Academy is pleased to be able to support AFYD’s development by providing its volunteers with the coaching skills for working with people of all ages, especially young people.

We have learned a lot in delivering this course and will be applying new ideas and improvements to the course before our next course which is planned for early summer 2008.

July 1, 2007 in All Articles, Dreamstore Academy by dhoey

Dreamstore Academy is delighted that it’s new course which has been designed to meet all current standards, including UKCC, has been accredited through the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

Although it uses sports language and meets sports outcomes, Dreamstore Academy has developed the presentation and learning programme with the voluntary sector in mind, for those already working in education, youth and communty environments.   

At the time of launch Dreamstore Academy’s Level 2 course in coaching angling  is the most advanced coaching angling course in the UK. This course exceeds any existing Level 2 coaching qualification, uniquely offering a module on coaching and disability.  The course is built on the available SQA sports coaching units, the outcomes of which have been matched to UKCC outcomes.

We are also delighted that Dreamstore Academy is a now registered SQA delivery centre, enabling us to deliver our courses anywhere.  In preparation we have supported a team of people already engaged in coaching, across all angling disciplines and interests, to gain tutor and assessment qualifications meaning that we are ready to go with our first delivery.

The first full delivery of the Dreamstore Academy course will take place over three weekends in September and October, at three locations; Heriot Watt University, Dumbartonshire and Loch Leven.

January 6, 2007 in All Articles, Dreamstore Academy, Results & Outcomes 2007 by admin

Long-term unemployed and adult education

Get Hooked on Fishing Midlands has been one of the most successful projects of its type. While it started with a focus on young people ‘at risk’, it has developed a wide range of socially beneficial programmes and activities. GHOF Midlands has sponsored volunteers to attend the Academy to enhance the coaching team. In 2007 it introduced ‘Totally Hooked’ as an adult learning programme. The immediate outcome was to build confidence among long-term unemployed and re-engage them with a learning environment and hopefully some will provide added coaching support in the future.

Related Galleries | Visit the GHOF Midlands Website

in All Articles, Dreamstore Academy, Results & Outcomes 2007 by admin

Recovering alcohol and drug users – coaching support / self-help

Trevor Lysandrou is a recovering alcoholic and wished to work with the Clubhouse, an outpost of Crime Reduction Initiatives, Bournemouth, to assist others who wish to forgo alcohol and drugs, many of whom have found themselves in trouble with the police and courts. Trevor and the Clubhouse regard angling as a positive recreation through which there is the potential for people to reconnect with families, and particularly children. Dreamstore is supporting this programme for three years with equipment and establishment costs, with a defined outcome that there should be a self-sustaining angling club at the Clubhouse within three years. Having seen the value of angling as a diversionary activity for young people, this will help us evaluate the value of angling in a similar application working with adults.

Related Galleries

in Disability, Dreamstore Academy, Results & Outcomes 2007 by admin

Servicemen and ex-servicemen – coaching support

Ian Houlton is an ex-serviceman on the South Coast. He has a brain injury. He introduces visually impaired people, and their friends and family, to sea angling. He will join in with the RNC Angling Club to offer sea angling ‘getting-started’ tips and offer some examples. He has also volunteered to offer angling tuition days out for Help for Heroes, noting that choosing remote fishing spots adds to providing a calming and relaxing place for servicemen who need some space.

Darrel White has a spinal injury as the result of an accident. He is keen to establish an angling coaching activity within the Back-Up Trust. Dreamstore is discussing this possibility with Darrel and regards the RNC Angling Club as a format that may be useful once Darrel resolves to move forward.

Related Galleries | Visit the Help for Heroes Website

in Disability, Dreamstore Academy, Results & Outcomes 2007 by admin

30 groups serviced at specialist disability angling centre

William Corns supports the Albrighton Trust centre outside Wolverhampton. William has been our oldest Academy participant at 70+ (pictured here with our youngest participant, Jos – there is over fifty years in the age difference: never too old, never too young). He is the driving force of South Staffs Angling for Everyone, which is a volunteer group offering coaching days at this angling venue specifically designed for people with disability. Over 30 groups are coached in the course of one year.

Related Galleries | Visit the Albrighton Trust Website

January 6, 2006 in All Articles, Disability, Dreamstore Academy, Results & Outcomes 2006, Royal National College for the Blind by admin

Visual Impairment – website support from work of RNC Angling Club

Barry Morris works as Lead Project Officer for enrichment support at the Royal National College for the Blind. He joined the Academy to provide a more skilled coaching experience for a few of the students at RNC who fished from time to time. Once he understood the potential of the coaching facility he approached Dreamstore for support. The upshot of discussion is the RNC Angling Club.

This is more a web Club than an organisation. Using experience at the College, Barry hopes to provide a web based resource that offers advice and support to those with a visual impairment who wish to fish.

Related Galleries | Visit the RNC Angling Club Website