Joining Dave as he makes his way across Australia is a large team of people who are passionate about BoardFree and its causes. Each of them applied to be a part of the team and none of them are paid, yet each of them has still contributed to the costs of the journey ensuring that every penny BoardFree raise goes directly to our three charities. Meet the team and find out about their roles below.
BoardFree Founder and long distance skater
Dave is the driving force behind BoardFree. Founding the project in May 2005, he brought together the current team and planned the UK and Australian journeys from his study in Swansea, South Wales. On the road in Australia until January 2007, Dave skates the full distance whilst managing his team of nine, planning the route and updating the website. He is also the owner of an incredibly large right calf.
Email: dave @ boardfree.co.uk
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Security and maintenance
A Masters graduate from Swansea University, Dan has a plethora of roles on BoardFree Australia. He is the main driver of our Holden Jackeroo, the vehicle which follows Dave on the road, but he is also responsible for the security and maintenance of all equipment on the journey. Fittingly for the team's security chief, we have nicknamed Dan 'loo bear' due to his cute and cuddly appearance.
Media and PR Officer
Once Events Officer for Link Community Development, one of BoardFree's beneficiary charities, Kate deals with the Australian and International media throughout the Australian trip to raise awareness of the journey and its causes, which ultimately maximises on-the-road and on-the-street donations as we move across Australia. Kate is famous for her exclamations about seemingly normal occurences. "Look! Look at that!".
Becs, Bev and Laura are multi-taskers. The girls feed the team, drive ahead as Dave skates to set up accomodation for the night and most importantly they do the bulk of the fundraising, hitting pubs and bars and cafes and frankly anywhere where people with money lurk. It's rare that they come home after a night of collecting with less than $200 in their buckets and it surely is a beautiful thing when the girls are confronted with a crowd of people. The best word to describe them is 'swarm', a short buzz around and everyone in the viscinty is left holding a BoardFree leaflet.
Fundraising and logistics
Becs is a former Swansea University Student Union President and was a consistent fundraiser for RAG during her time at Uni. She likes dressing up and has an incredible ability to create a gourmet meal solely from a can of SPAM.
Fundraising and logistics
Bev's organisational skills were honed by a year spent as Swansea University's Athletic Union's President. She makes sure Dave is constantly fed and vitamin'd up and always looks on the bright side of life. Bev is also a talented musician and singer, and keeps us all happy (not to mention teary-eyed) with her music.
Fundraising and logistics
The most recent member to join the team, Laura landed in Melbourne after being bitten by the Boardfree bug. After being inspired by Dave's John O'Groats to Land's End mission, and in September '06 skated 25 miles miles from Glasgow to Loch Lomond in Scotland, raising over £500 for BoardFree in the process.
Capturing the BoardFree journeys on film adds a different perspective to the entire project. For the first time, the general public have a deep insight into the everyday workings of a long distance skate journey. Holly and Simon are fully integrated into the journey itself, but their images and footage has turned one man's dream into a soap opera followed by millions around the world.
Photographer
The photos Holly has taken during Dave's UK and Australian journeys have provided a solid backbone to the BoardFree website, the project''s central information point. Holls takes on her fair share of other duties too, including driving and setting up camp at night time. Sadly, Holls has a real problem hearing sentences for the first time, and thus her favourite word is 'pardon?'
Cameraman
A broadcasting graduate from Falmouth University, Si is the official BoardFree cameraman after he instantly impressed with his relaxed attitude and excellent editing skills. In addition to compiling regular video diaries for the BoardFree website, Si works hand-in-hand with Badgerboy Productions on the BFOZ documentary. Blonde to the end, Si breaks everything he touches but we wouldn't change a thing.
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Kate Brackenborough
Becki McKinlay
Bev Blackburn
Laura Hatwell
Holly Allen
Simon Thorpe