Joining Dave as he makes his way across Australia was a large team of people passionate about BoardFree and its causes. Each of the team brought personal and professional skills to the table, and their combined efforts made BoardFree the success it promised to be.
Each of them applied to be a part of the team and none of them were paid, yet each of them still contributed to the costs of the journey ensuring that every penny BoardFree raised went directly to our three charities. Meet the team and find out about their roles here:
Security and maintenance
A Masters graduate from Swansea University, Dan had a plethora of roles on BoardFree Australia. He was the main driver of our Holden Jackeroo, the vehicle which follows Dave on the road, but was also responsible for the security and maintenance of all equipment on the journey.
See Danny in the press!
Media and PR Officer
Kate dealt tirelessly with the Australian and International media throughout the Australian trip to raise awareness of the journey and its causes, which ultimately maximised on-the-road and on-the-street donations as we moved across Australia. Kate was famous for her exclamations about seemingly normal occurences. "Look! Look at that!".
Becs, Bev and Laura had to be multi-taskers. The girls fed the team, drove ahead as Dave skated to set up accomodation for the night, and most importantly they did the bulk of the fundraising, swarming through urban areas with buckets and leaflets with one thing on their mind - getting the charity funds.
Fundraising and logistics
As a former Swansea University Student Union President Becs 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 was in charge of keeping Dave fed and vitamin'd up on the road and always had a positive outlook. Also a talented musician and singer, Bev kept the team happy (not to mention teary-eyed) with her music, especially the BoardFree song. See Bev in the Press!
Fundraising and logistics
Laura joined the team in Melbourne, after being inspired to take up longboarding by Dave's John O'Groats to Land's End mission. In September '06 she skated 25 miles miles from Glasgow to Loch Lomond in Scotland, raising over £500 for BoardFree in the process, and this sealed her a place on the team for the second half of the Australian journey. A ray of sunshine throughout.
Capturing the BoardFree journeys on film added a different perspective to the entire project. For the first time, the general public had a deep insight into the everyday workings of a long distance skate journey. Holly and Simon were fully integrated into the journey itself, but their images and footage turned one man's dream into a soap opera followed by millions around the world.
Photographer
The photos Holly took during Dave's UK and Australian journeys provided a solid backbone to the BoardFree website, the project''s central information point. Holls took on her fair share of other duties too, including driving and setting up camp at night time. Sadly, Holls had a real problem hearing sentences for the first time, and thus her favourite word is 'pardon?'
See Holly in the press!
- Holls now has her own business, click here!
Cameraman
A broadcasting graduate from Falmouth University, Si was the official BoardFree team cameraman after he instantly impressed with a relaxed attitude and excellent editing skills. In addition to compiling regular video diaries for the BoardFree website, Si revelled in being blonde to the end, breaking everything he touched. But we wouldn't have changed a thing.
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Becki McKinlay
Bev Blackburn
Laura Hatwell
Holly Allen
Simon Thorpe