Army of anglers go fishing for free

Fundraising fishermen will be camping and catching carp for four days to raise cash for Abbie’s Army.

Craig Lowery, 31, Tyrone Lowery, 39, and Mark Johnson, 26, are starting their Fish and Survive event this Sunday.

Abbie’s army of anglers aim is to survive a sponsored four days camping and carp fishing at Lovelace Fisheries, in Bethersden, without spending a penny.

Craig said they will be eating donated food, sleeping in donated tents and catching with donated equipment from companies around Kent.

He said: “Our goal is to get as much money as possible for this great charity so everything has to be free.

“We’ve all donated two days wages to Abbie’s Army as well.”

Fishing baits have been donated by Carpnotica, a Leedsbased company, Range Baits of Maidstone, Catcher Baits of Bethersden and Waterside Baits in Ashford.

But while keen angler Craig regularly goes fishing, his coworker Mark has never caught a fish in his life.

The pair, who work for Ray Misfud, Abbie’s dad, were discussing fundraising ideas at work.

Craig said: “Mark told me he’d always wanted to go fishing but had never been so I came up with the fish and survive idea.

“Tyrone doesn’t fish very much either so it’ll be an interesting weekend.

“The rules are that we have to have our rods in the water at all times, so there won’t be much sleep.”

Abbie’s Army was set up after six-year-old Abbie Mifsud, from Ashford, died of an inoperable and incurable form of brain cancer in 2011.

Since t hen, her parents Amanda Walker and Ray Mifsud have tirelessly campaigned and raised money to fund research into treating childhood cancers.

Craig added: “I asked about 20 people last week who knew it was childhood cancer month this month and none of them did.

“The whole point is to raise awareness about diseases like Abbie’s and get people talking about this really important issue.”

To support the fishermen, visit www.justgiving.com/craig-lowery

Ray Mifsud