British Game Assurance (BGA) enjoyed a year of triumph in the face of adversity as it continues its fierce commitment to the idea of assured game taking its rightful place on the British dinner table. According to its latest annual report, 2022 saw a third cycle of anxiety across the shooting and food business worlds in which BGA operates – from post-pandemic and war-related shortages of feed, diesel, gas, labour, and ammunition to avian influenza. Despite this, the shooting sector has stood firm and BGA achieved many goals; game being served in the NHS, selling Eat ...

Country clothing brand Schöffel has added some more relaxed offerings to its fly-fishing collection, which it launched just a couple of years ago. The collection has been characterised by a range of technical and high-performance apparel. Now the brand has added a hoodie and T-shorts to the mix, with more items in the offing soon. The Alness Hoodie offers a relaxed fit, featuring the Schöffel fly-fishing logo and hand warming pockets. Available in oat and graphite, this hoodie is a must-have to layer under your fly-fishing jacket. Meanwhile, the Esk T-shirt and Tyne T-shirt are both slim fit with tapered shoulder seams ...

The countryside community has come together to back British Game Assurance (BGA) Director of Operations, Louisa Clutterbuck who has just returned from a trip helping those in need in Ukraine. She was overwhelmed by support for her Countryside Ukraine Appeal and received more than 100 bin bags and boxes full of winter clothing, which she sorted through and vacuum packed. In January, Louisa travelled to southeast Ukraine to deliver the warm coats, jumpers and thermals donated by the shooting community, staying just 75 miles from the frontline, where she distributed medical aid and winter clothing to ...

Westminster Kingsway College student George Oakes scooped top prize at this year’s British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) and Highland Game Colleges’ Cookery Competition. The third-year student impressed the judges with his show-stopping venison anticucho with nori and puffed wild rice canapé dish. The competition saw more than 70 catering students from across the UK enter their original venison canape recipes, with the number of entrants whittled down to five students who cooked for the judges on the day. On being announced victorious, George said it was great to have won and that he had ...

Gundog training equipment supplier Sporting Saint is helping you up your gundog training game with real cured pheasant wings. Perfect to help encourage young and novice dogs to pick up – and a great way to introduce them to feathers – these wings can even have scent applied to add to the realism. Light in weight, they are spot on for the early stages of puppy training too and, when applied to a 1.2lb dummy, will also be ideal for hunting. www.sportingsaint.co.uk

Top shooting ground Game Fair Clay Line organiser ​E.J. Churchill is looking to recruit two key personnel to move it forward further. The first role is for a full-time Gunroom Administrative Assistant to work at its shooting ground in Buckinghamshire, which welcomes around 50,000 visitors a year. The gun shop requires an enthusiastic individual who has a love and passion for shooting and the gunroom houses some of the finest shotguns and rifles in the country and is a very fast paced growing environment to work in. The successful candidate will manage the service and repairs ...

Moving with the times is something all businesses need to do in order to survive but for Guernsey-based Avant Garden it has helped it find new and exciting markets for its bronzes, furniture and furnishings. Initially set up as a charming shop on the Channel Island, Avant Garden embraced the world of technology and, almost 25 years later, has established a significant national and international online presence. Faced with changing customer tastes and attitudes towards buying methods, Nick Martel realised his retail outlet had to develop and respond quickly. Today, a visit to his website will ...

Whatever you need to carry – and wherever you need to carry it – there’s a bag for you from Hertfordshire-based mother and daughter company Annie With Alex. The Game Fair Trade News found out more from Alex Minzey. The Game Fair Trade News: How, when and why did you start the business? Alex Minzey: Annie and Alex are not only the founding members but we are also a mother and daughter combination, which makes this even more important to us. We are part of a long line of creative bag makers and the story starts ...

Producing upwards of half a million fish each year, Calverton Fish Farm is the Environment Agency’s equivalent of an Amazon warehouse for fish restocking and is once again preparing for the fast-approaching fish spawning season. Calverton’s work stocking fisheries across England is one of many projects up and down the country fully funded by fishing licence income. This week the Environment Agency’s fisheries annual report (Fisheries annual report 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) reveals how nearly £22m in rod licence income – achieved through almost 935,000 fishing licence sales – has been spent during 2021 ...

Angling Trades Association (ATA), the official voice of the UK tackle trade, is set to launch a major initiative at The Game Fair to get more people fishing. Get Into Fishing (GIF) at The Game Fair will see top angling brands join forces with key organisations to give people the chance to catch their first fish, find out what swims in our waters, learn to cast, see – and buy – all the latest tackle. Set beside a beautiful estate lake and covering all disciplines – game, coarse and carp, predator, and sea fishing – GIF ...

Forget summerhouses and hot tubs, the ultimate garden accessory right now is a Finnish-style BBQ cabin from top manufacturer Arctic Cabins. The Stapleford, Nottingham-based company began life in 2001 when founder Gareth Parkinson and his Finnish wife Virpi decided to bring a traditional Grillkota BBQ hut design back to the UK. Today, the family-run business manufactures and installs a range of cabins, bars, extensions and more across the country. The company has designed all of its unique cabins in the traditional Finnish style from sustainably sourced, slow-grown Scandinavian Redwood Spruce. An Arctic Cabin is designed to ...

If you have ever wanted to develop your knowledge of conservation, land management or gamekeeping then help is at hand as the British association for Shooting and Conservation has opened applications for its Legacy Funded Scholarship Programme for 2023. Now in its fifth year, the scholarship programme is one part of the BASC legacy package that helps support people interested in various aspects of the outdoors and conservation. The scheme is open to any college or university student studying, or wishing to study, conservation, land management or gamekeeping within the UK and the Isle of Man. ...

The firearms licensing system in England and Wales is “largely unprofessional, overburdened and poorly resourced, putting public safety at risk.” That’s what the British Association for Shooting and Conservation has told a Home Affairs Committee inquiry into policing priorities. BASC’s written submission to the inquiry is a highly critical of the current situation across the 43 firearms licensing departments in England and Wales and says the system is “in crisis.” The inquiry is focusing on the state of policing in England and Wales, highlighting low public confidence and damaging high-profile cases. It will examine what a ...

With a new year comes a plan from the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA) for a new name too, as it looks to the future. A proposal has gone out to members for the name to be changed from the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association – which has been in existence for almost 100 years – to the Clay Target Shooting Association (CTSA). The proposal states: “Looking forward, we are keen to modernise our sport’s brand image in order to help attract new shooters, members, and sponsors from outside the sport. “We propose this change not to ...

Tracey Cooper’s unique design-led home and giftware has been delighting customers for the past couple of years and now she is planning on a return to The Game Fair at Ragley Hall. Tracey produces cushions, bags, Aga covers and kitchen linens, among others, with a desire to reconnect us with nature and celebrate the wonderful world around us. Tracey said: “I started my business in 2021. I had, for a few years, been selling my artwork to friends but I decided to take it a step further and start producing some homewares. When I realised there ...

The Country Food Trust has thanked those who have already contributed to its Winter Appeal, helping raise vital funds to help feed families in crisis, but says there’s still time to get involved. The Trust, which is the official charity of The Game Fair, is well on the way to its Winter Appeal £100,000 target, which will help deliver hundreds of thousands of healthy and nutritional meals – using meats such as venison, game and turkey – to those in need. It has already raised £73,964 for the appeal, launched by TV personality and countryside champion Adam ...

Crime is a key issue throughout the countryside but the extent of it is only part of the problem. For many people in rural areas, whether they have fallen victim to crime or not, the fear of crime alone can have a damaging effect on their mental health. That’s why the Countryside Alliance is once again tackling the issue with its 2022 Rural Crime Survey. All responses are anonymous and are crucial to helping the Alliance direct its campaigns, ensuring the voice of rural communities is heard in the corridors of power. A Countryside Alliance spokesman said: ...

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) has expressed concerns over a potential increase in the cost of firearms licensing applications in Scotland, following a Westminster committee report. The Scottish Affairs Committee’s report draws together conclusions following its recent inquiry on firearms licensing regulations in Scotland, established in the aftermath of a tragic shooting on the Isle of Skye last year. The report sets out recommendations including a two-tier application system and the alignment of existing shotgun licensing legislation, which BASC strongly opposed, challenged and gave evidence against. The recommendations are outside of Scotland’s devolved powers on firearms ...

British Game Assurance (BGA) is appealing to the countryside community to donate warm clothing and essential supplies urgently, as its director of operations, Louisa Clutterbuck, plans a second journey to the country at the end of December. Earlier this year, Louisa travelled to the Ukraine border to donate food, toiletries, medical supplies and more. Louisa is now embarking on a second journey on December 28th, this time planning to drive across the border to get as close to Dnipro as possible while remaining safe. The BGA’s Countryside Appeal aims to collect as many unwanted warm coats, ...