Steve Rayner OBE

Introduction

I have been engaged in outdoor pursuits for many years, initially for recreation and with voluntary groups, but more recently as a part-time professional outdoor pursuits instructor working freelance both independently and for local providers such as Argoed Lwyd Outdoor Education Centre and Call of the Wild.

I began my love-affair with the outdoors as a young Scout in Suffolk, then re-kindled it several years later when I became a Scout Leader near Bristol in the 1990s (while employed gainfully by the Ministry of Defence). I qualified initially as a mountain-walking leader but then (re-)discovered the joys of paddlesport, becoming first a kayak coach then a canoe coach; taking on the duties of canoeing adviser for Avon Scouts and coaching officer for North Avon Canoe Club before moving to mid-Wales in 2005 when my wife and I formed Brecon Canoe Club.

When I am not paddling or walking, I fill my spare time earning crumbs as a self-employed management consultant; formerly as the Waterways & Environment Officer for Canoe Wales, the National Governing Body for Paddlesport; and now as the Coordinator for the South Wales Outdoor Activity Provider Group – and very occasionally doing some DIY renovation on the hill-farm that we share with my parents-in-law near Libanus.

Qualifications

  • Mountain-walking Leader (Summer) 1998, Mountain Assessor Workshop 2001
  • British Canoeing White Water Kayak Performance Coach (formerly UKCC Level 3) 2017
  • BCU Inland Kayak Level 3 Coach 2002, A1* Assessor 2004, Canoe Level 3 Coach 2007
  • BCU Sea Kayak Leader (4*) 2009 (inc. Coastal Planning & Tidal Navigation)
  • BCU Advanced Canoe Leader (5*) Training 2008
  • BCU Advanced White Water Kayak Leader (5*) Training 2009 (inc. Advanced WW Safety & Rescue)
  • BCU Canoe Safety Test Assessor 2003, Foundation Safety & Rescue Provider 2008
  • British Canoeing Tutor/Assessor: Paddlesport Instructor, Coach Award Discipline-Specific 2017
  • British Canoeing Discipline Support Modules Slalom Part 2 2014, Polo Part 1 2015, Stand-Up Paddleboard 2017
  • Sports Coach UK Safeguarding & Protecting Children 2014, BCU Coaching Young Paddlers 2006, Coaching the Mind 2010
  • Aquatic First Aid Level 2 Dec 2016, Aquatic First Aid Level 2 Coach 2018
  • Level 3 Award in Education & Training 2018
  • Enanced DBS
  • DofE Gold Assessor 2010
  • Full Driving Licence (including D1E & MIDAS)

Steve Rayner Outdoor Pursuits CV