Team Tuesday - The Fly Program Continues to Thrive
By now we all know how incredible The Fly Program is and in particular what it means to the wider community. This amazing initiative has just completed its first operational season and Matt Tripet was kind enough to lend us a few words.
"The old saying, “it’s not in the destination, it’s the journey” are words many fly fisher-people relate to. The never-ending craving for wild places fuels an appetite many of us are hungry for.
These thoughts, on what is essentially a recreation defined by waiving a stick with a piece of string attached to it may seem a little dramatized for some, but for us they resound deeply.
At The Fly Program we have always considered the journey we take with a fly rod is a parallel to life’s journey. Sometimes when things don’t go to plan and when parts of your life challenge you, the step we take after everything goes to shit really matters.
This story comes at a time where have just finished our first operational season with The Fly Program in the NSW Snowy Mountains. The #meninflight program has seen 64 men from the Australian community attend a 4-day intensive fly-fishing and wilderness retreat, extended with an 8-week remote learning program. A program where we have been able to invest over $80,000.00 back into the community.
When my wife Millie and I founded The Fly Program, we had one commitment. We work hard to change the outcomes for someone’s life. It is evident to us today that we have been able to achieve this, and some.
More than half the population in the western world will be impacted by a mental illness at some point in their life. Statistics will also demonstrate that of those populations impacted by mental health, men will be 78% less likely to seek support, socially (from a mate or family member) or professionally (GP or a councillor).
Connecting with men through wild places, engaging with positive social environments and mentoring mental fitness in environments where men are allowed, and should feel venerable is our commitment. And it is through this commitment we aim to reverse what has been an unrelenting trend for the last 30 years in Australia… that we will lose 6 of our brothers to suicide every day. Lives that can be 100% supported and saved!
The Manic Tackle Project team are a founding partner with The Fly Program and we are so proud to be associated with the team. We are proud beyond words!
I personally remain grateful to every contributor to The Fly Program as we started this charity with nothing, just purpose. Whether it be a donation, lending a hand or providing product, it is through these people and organisations that the blood of The Fly Program circulates and gives this organisation life!
The Fly Program story is the greatest thing fly fishing has ever given us. We will remain committed with a purpose that walking a stream, or wading a flat can be the vehicle that takes a segment of the community who have been hard to reach to respite, health and support.
There is always another pool and a new opportunity around the bend. The next pool for The Fly Program is doubling our operation and service to the community commencing in October 2018.
If you can support The Fly Program with a tax-deductible donation before the EOFY, please visit www.flyprogram.org.au and go to the link Donate Now."
