ABOUT DAN WILLMORE

Dan has always loved the outdoors from a young age. Running around the back woods with a copy of the SAS survival handbook in one hand and a pair of drumsticks in the other! 

Dan has been a passionate surfer for the last 15 years. He discovered stand up paddle boarding in 2011 and has fully embraced the sport in all its forms but surfing and adventure touring are where his heart is. 

He holds numerous surf, SUP and other land based qualifications as well as being a qualified SLSGB lifeguard. 

Over the years he has organised and taken part in a number of trips, challenges and fundraising events around the UK both personal and to support and inspire the work he does with young people. 

Dan specialises in working with differently abled children and young adults and has been involved in this area for almost 2 decades where he has worked in various educational settings. Over the last twelve years Dan has been a part of the interventions team at the special needs school, Ysgol Y Deri here in Penarth, South Wales. Here he has developed and runs an outdoor program which includes surfing, stand up paddling climbing and has been a lead member of the Duke of Edinburgh team. All are designed to support the emotional and physical wellbeing of the pupils.

He has worked as a freelance coach and guide for numerous outdoor centres and has been involved with the WSA from the beginning where he has also written an Adaptive Coaching workshop to support outdoor coaches wanting to work with people with additional needs.  

More recently Dan has decided to change his role and become a full-time member of the WSA team as operations manager. He wants to continue all of the good work that has been done while developing new ideas and cultivate new relationships in and around education sharing the stoke for the outdoors and bring through the next generation of paddlers.