The Mayor of Ramsgate at the RNLI Children’s Fishing Competition, Ramsgate Royal Harbour

As Mayor, I was asked to continue with the tradition of handing the prizes out to children who win in this fishing competition. I was more than pleased to be able to do this, as anything happening in our Royal Harbour is to be welcomed and supported. It was a lovely day – a nice warm day with a little breeze. When I arrived, I was given a coffee and a seat. There were many parents and families waiting for the boats to come in with the children. The boats started coming in with children on board with their catch. Each boat pulled in and was tied up to let the children off, all wearing lifebelts, and the crew made sure they were helped off safely, and their catch handed to them on dry land.

It was a very nice family day, with a DJ in the background playing music and raffle tickets to buy lots of raffle prizes available on a big table. Cakes and drinks were on another table.

I watched the boats come in and the children disembark and come up the stairs. One little, or not so little, girl had a fish carrier, a man to carry a bucket of fish and two blue carrier bags also full of fish. I would have liked to have had time to ask her where the fish were caught. She told me some were dogfish, and some sort of small shark. The fish in the bags were so big that they could have fed a family of 10. (Slight exaggeration, but they were big!)

Large and small children came off the boats with bags of all sizes and came for a goody bag. The BBQ was up and running and hotdogs and burgers were eaten with gusto. The DJ was still playing his music. Then came the presentation of prizes. As I stood waiting, lots of large cardboard boxes were opened containing tackle boxes, then someone stacked up the fishing rods and more boxes containing fishing reels. Then came the photos of each child with their prize. They looked so small with all this super fishing tackle and to want to go back and do it all again another day.

The girl with a fish of 8lbs won the biggest fish prize. I wondered how she got it on board, but she said her sister helped her. I think she must be a Fish Whisperer!

There was a prize for the most helpful and caring child. This is called the John Parrott and Gary Dunk Shield in honour of the fathers of Jason and Dawn Parrott. The DJ, who gave his services free, he was still playing the music.

I was made aware that boats came from as far away as Dover and Rye to take the children fishing, as well as our own local heroes who gave up a day’s work to do this. After the children were fed and watered, the raffle started. There were so many prizes given by local businesses.

The support for the RNLI and what they are doing was amazing.

I spoke to Jason Parrott for a few minutes about what he and his wife Dawn were trying to do for the children of our community. They help them to learn about the sea, how to be careful in the water, and the challenge of fishing, being outside in all weathers and enjoying it. They are offering them an alternative to being on their laptops!

I was surprised at how many children, over a wide range of ages, were out there fishing, making friends and enjoying life. This was a community effort by volunteers from the RNLI, local fishermen, ladies who made the wonderful cakes, the super hardworking DJ who gave his services for free and played all afternoon, and everyone who helped to make this a really good family day out.

Thank you to everyone.

Written by:
Councillor Pat Moore
Mayor of Ramsgate
Councillor for Newington Ward