James Gardiner – Operations Director
Hi, I’m James.Over the past 20 years my life has revolved around supporting people to be physically active. I have spent a large amount of that time setting up and developing new opportunities for children to explore the physical world around them. Whether it’s play, leisure, recreation or part of their more formal education, children thrive when they are happy. It is this simple and yet pivotal concept that seems to be easily lost as we get older. When you ask a child what they want to be when they are older the answer usually focusses on carer, not their emotional state.
Education, health and wellbeing CIC is focussed on offering children and adults alike more opportunities to experience enjoyable adventures and Andy and I have worked to ensure that we can facilitate these. I am a Lowland leader and expedition leader and have worked with schools to support Duke of Edinburgh programmes. I am also a qualified primary teacher and currently undertaking a Masters degree in primary education. I have a passion for social value and this has been at the crux of my life work to ensure that schools provide services for their communities, outside of their statutory remit and with the best possible outcomes for those that they serve.
Education, health and wellbeing is no exception and our commitment as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company is to provide a service for the community we serve.
Andy Bradbury – Programmes Director
My name is Andy Bradbury. My biggest passion in life is the outdoors. For more than 15 years, alongside a successful career in sales and management, I undertook a variety of incredible multi-day/week hikes through the Alps, the High Sierras and all across Britain. I involved groups of friends in challenges such as the Three Peaks, Welsh 3000’s and Lake District 24 and at every opportunity I raced up the motorways to Snowdonia and the Lakes to take in the mountain air and get away from the hustle and bustle of the business world.
Towards the latter part of that time I gained my Lowland and Expedition Leader awards with the Mountain Training Association. This enabled me to help out local schools with Duke of Edinburgh awards and similar adventure/camping trips. The satisfaction and fulfilment this gave me sparked a change in my moral compass and the direction I wanted my life to go in shifted.
I decided to set up the Peak Adventure website, not just as a record of some of the amazing trips and adventures I have been a part of, but also as an insight into how they have helped me and what they have meant to me. I hoped that it would inspire more people to indulge in the benefits of similar outdoor adventures.
I started to realise what my heart really wanted and in 2018 I took the massive decision to walk away from my career and step into the unknown. With no initial plan just the belief that my passion, with this platform, could turn The Peak Adventure into organisation that would not only provide fulfilling adventures for many people but could also provide these opportunities to the wider community.
After a month trekking in Nepal with co-founder and school friend James I took part in some volunteer work in a pupil referral unit and managed to get a job in a local senior school, in their alternative provision department, working with students at risk of exclusion. I have since gained my level 3 Forest School Leader qualification and have helped design and deliver alternative provision programs with vulnerable young people in a school setting combining wellbeing activities, Forest School, John Muir and DofE Awards along with curriculum-based learning.
It is with all of this experience and passion combined that I am driven to help as many people as possible reach their peak through adventure.
Phil Dean – Programmes Director
I am relentlessly passionate about progress and have the environment at the heart of everything I do.
I am a Careers Leader & outdoor learning expert running the John Muir award across whole secondary school year groups and have been involved in education since 1999. Prior to that I was a restaurant’s opening manager and before that a ski and watersports instructor.
I bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to EHW CIC and have created a number of wellbeing development strategies including the Pillars of Possibility which allows young people to plan/do/review their own personal development.
I am here to help develop EHW CIC and am happy to chat about creations & collaborations.