Having worked as a health teacher in Sudan, Jon gained a 1st Class Honours in Environmental Sciences at King’s London, before founding Adventure Plus: ‘to encourage young people to live the Adventure of Faith’.
Alongside leading the team at A+, Jon provides training for other organisations in leadership, health & safety and canoe coaching; and occasionally gets out to put his climbing (SPA) & mountain leader (summer) qualifications to good use.
Tessa graduated in Law & French from Bournemouth University and completed Law Society Finals at Lancaster Gate. On completing articles in London, Tessa moved to Witney to join John Welch & Stammers, Solicitors, before starting her family.
Married to Jon, Tessa is mother of Anna, Murray, Emily & Lucy but still finds time to manage the A+ finances, liaise with A+ Directors and deal with all legal & insurance matters.
Having worked at a drug rehabilitation home for 8 years Andy joined Adventure Plus in 2008 with a passion to transform young people’s lives through adventure activities, as well as helping A+ with his fundraising experience. He enjoys off-road biking and his first coaching session (and best yet), was with a group of young offenders riding in the snow - they loved it, despite all his fears. In 1999 Andy completed an Ironman Triathlon in 11 hours 49 minutes.
JL has been in love with the outdoors for a long time but has discovered working with young people to be the most fulfilling of all job roles. As the DisTIL team coordinator at Adventure Plus it's possible to think that he doesn't so much work as play for a living...and he wouldn't be quick to deny it. Yet this is all the icing on the cake as working with God at the heart is what it's all about.
Margaret has worked with Adventure Plus since 2005 originally helping in the office and is now responsible for Volunteers' paperwork including CRB checks, booking people onto Total Adventure Holidays and organising work experience students. Margaret completed the Witney 2 Westminster challenge 2009 and 2011 and loves being outside either walking, hiking or in a canoe.
Maria has worked for Adventure Plus since 2003 and is responsible for doing all the day to day accounts transactions, ie paying people and collecting money. She generally only works on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon if you want to catch her in the office!! Maria was also involved in organising the Adventure Plus Ball in October.
Pete is the MAP coordinator and joined Adventure Plus in September 2010 after finishing a Sport & Exercise Science degree at Birmingham University and Bible Studies in Oxford. He loves that the job is in the sport sector but is very varied and gets the chance to fulfil his passion of snowboarding. The best place he has ever snowboarded is the Three Valleys in the French Alps and he has a goal of snowboarding in Canada to conquer Whistler and Banff.
Steve joined Adventure Plus as a member of the DisTIL team after graduating from his Sport Science degree in 2008. He now coordinates our Total Adventure Holidays and works as an instructor within the MAP department. He loves the combination of working with children and enjoying loads of adventure activities, in God's amazing creation.
James came on a DisTIL year in 2008 to learn to be an instructor, and discovered that A+ needed him as an IT technician! He now balances both roles, working alongside John-Luke with the DisTIL team when available, and keeping the computer systems in order the rest of the time. In any free time, you'll find him hanging off a rock somewhere!
Josh loves the outdoors so much that after a National Diploma in Outdoor Studies he decided to join Adventure Plus in 2006. Having started on the DisTIL year, he has worked for both the MAP and AIM teams and has gained qualifications in canoeing, kayaking, climbing, walking, archery and biking. Josh pushes to get the best out of himself and others in all activities.
Joining in 2008, Jonny completed 2 years with the DisTIL team after gaining a BTEC National Diploma in Sports. He joined Adventure Plus as he has a passion for sports and youth work. Jonny loves mountain biking and will take every opportunity to jump on and ride around trails. Once Jonny tried sailing around a reservoir in gale force 8 conditions as a complete beginner, and is complimented by the team for always having a smile.
As one of the longest serving members of Adventure Plus, James has been involved since he was born and went of his first residential event at the age of 2 months! He started his gap year in September 2010 and is glad to be part of something he has a keen interest in. With archers running through the family, James also loves to canoe and kayak and currently loves seeing the progression his archery students are making.
After graduating from the University of York with a degree in English Literature, Rachel was looking for missionary work overseas but when she found Adventure Plus she felt it was the best choice for her. Rachel loves hiking as it gives you a chance to get to know the group through out the day. She also has been puppeteering for the past 10 years, met the Duke of Edinburgh twice and tried to climb the Old Man of Coniston in the Lake District in 8 inches of snow.
Matt has known about Adventure Plus from a very young age, and has wanted to do a gap year for as long as he can remember. Having just finished his A-levels, he is taking the opportunity to train with A+ before he goes to university next year. Matt particularly enjoys climbing and watersports, and is looking forward to working with and getting to know more young people over the year.
Before joining Adventure Plus, David studied Materials Science at Oxford University. David has always been interested in outdoor pursuits and hopes that a year with A+ will help him to progress and add some new skills into the mix. He has recently competed as a member of his university kayak team, and climbs whenever he gets a chance. He is looking forward to a year of fun, adventure and challenge.
After finishing his A-levels, Nick spent a year discovering his love for the outdoors by doing the Three Peaks Challenge, cycling from London to Paris, and backpacking in Snowdonia. He loves that every day at Adventure Plus is completely different and enjoys facing new challenges, especially outdoors! He hopes to be able to deliver unforgettable experiences to hundreds of young people during the year.
Marcus came to Adventure Plus after finishing his qualifications at Abingdon and Witney College, having heard about the organisation through his church. He is a keen basketball player, having played for his school and his college. He hopes to grow in abilities and confidence over the year, and is keen to do more kayaking.