CAG is very lucky to have a dedicated team of volunteers running all sorts of CAG events. None of our leaders are paid for their time, of which each gives significant amounts to enable activities to take place.
So why do we do it? Because we get to work with a great group of co-leaders and a fantastic membership that never fails to amuse, enthral and delight.
Leading a group of individuals to greater confidence and happiness through our series of weekly meetings, events and overnight trips & adventures is hugely rewarding and fun.
More importantly, being able to make a significant positive impression on a young person that will last a life time is a real privilege and one that all leaders value immensely.
All leaders at any CAG meeting or event are all CRB checked and have undertaken safeguarding training.
All of our leaders have significant experience of working with young people, either through working with CAG or other youth organisations.
All activities undertaken by CAG leaders are activities for which they have been trained and hold certification issued the national governing body where required and appropriate.
Join Our Team
We always love to welcome new members to our leadership team and / or the CAG committee.
If you would like to get involved in anyway please fill in the quick form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!
Join Our Team
Meet The Leaders
Simon Thomas
Leader
Simon is the founder and leader of Challenge Adventure Group and has almost 30 years experience working with young people in a wide variety of settings and volunteer / paid roles.
Simon loves going away on CAG overnight trips and holds leadership certificates in many of the activities CAG undertakes.
Interesting Fact: Simon can actually levitate and is fighting global warming by using his own built in bio-digester to provide plentiful amounts of renewable natural gas.
Jamie Walker
Assistant Leader
Jamie is the one at the back of this picture - of 4000+ photos we honestly couldn’t find a better one.
Jamie is the newest, most timid, member of the CAG leadership team so please be nice to him. He comes with limited experience of outdoor affairs, most of which is wrong and will need to be retrained from scratch.
Jamie has spent a large part of his life living in hedges all around the world as part of his time in the British Army - a bushtucker trial is just a normal dinner to him.
Interesting Fact: Jamie has previously applied to be on Love Island, X Factor, Bruce’s Play your Cards Right, Fifteen To One, Homes Under the Hammer and the Ten O’Clock News!
Jerome Ment
Assistant Leader
Jerome is a sun chaser and wannabe beach surf dude, but missed that particular bus.
Jerome likes to keep a low profile as he is on the run from fashion police and has been since the mid 1970s. His love of flares and the fact his bicycle of choice is a chopper strangely hasn’t held him back career wise and he is at the top of his game in the world of cardiology. He owns an extensive collection of stents and has nearly completed a film, years in the making, entitled ‘Saving Private Ryan: bare metal stents on the battlefield’ which is set to be a blockbuster in an incredibly niche market.
Interesting fact: Jerome is formidable, has always been and will always be, but he has a soft spot for crocodiles and everything gator. He once wrestled one as a bet and came out the victor - next time you see him check out his shiny new shoes….
Lindsay Underwood
D of E Manager
Lindsay is fast turning in to CAG’s very own Bearess Grylls, although not quite as annoying and full of.... She is CAG’s best female skier (second worst too, it’s a small club) and has recently danced the whole of Swan Lake on the summit of Ben Nevis (Pony track approach) wearing only a tutu, ballet shoes and crampons. She recently returned from
her trip to South Africa to wrestle Lions and Wildebeest all with a glass of local wine in hand spilling none!
Interesting Fact: She likes penguins so much, Lindsay is planning her next holiday to the Antarctic in the southern winter!
Ruth Billingham
Safeguarding and Membership Co-ordinator
Ruth is our safeguarding officer and chief surfing dude wannabe.
Ruth makes sure all our leaders are DBS checked and have taken part in the required safeguarding training.
Ruth longs to live the high life and consequently spends most of her time with her head in the clouds. She has recently bought a fortnight in a timeshare yurt somewhere in the Himalayas but is so rubbish at map reading has yet to find it. She has vowed to never in her lifetime play foxy bingo although she can’t resist a game of mousetrap using real mice and plenty of cheese.
Interesting fact: Ruth can never go barefoot as, in a bid to become a hobbit 5 years ago, the hair transplant she had on her feet went horribly wrong and she now has to shave them three times a day.
Andy Gardner
Assistant Leader
We couldn‘t find a picture of Andy so we’ve put in this one - he’s the bald one at the back.
Andy has many many many years of youth leadership experience with major youth organisations and has been with CAG for a few years now.
Interesting Fact: Without telling Jerome “Sir Jeff” Ment, Andy has secretly spent many years studying and researching to become the foremost authority of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia in the northern hemisphere.
He loves to ski, play football and get out and about on canoes and kayaks - if only his wonky knees would co-operate.
Anthony Wilkes
Assistant Leader
Ant has been with CAG for longer than we would have liked and despite us trying to get rid of him to Donald Trumpland he keeps turning up like a bad penny every so often. Fortunately, he is pretty good with kids and can speak their language as long as it’s mainly in pictures. Ant collects horseshoes for good luck but as yet has not worked out how to remove them from the horses so he has a sideline selling well rotted manure to the local allotment society.
Interesting Fact: Ant recently saved a baby lamb from an untimely death in Snowdonia and was awarded a hand reared sheepskin coat made from real sheeps by the Lord High Sheepness of Wales - baaa!
Thistle!!!!
Chief Dog
Thistle is the newest member of the CAG team.
She loves any kind of attention whatsoever and the boys don’t hesitate in giving it.
Thistle has been on a couple of CAG trips and loves nothing more than a long run followed by a nap on top of someone.
Interesting Fact: Thistle is the reincarnation of Elvis Presley - you should see her move her hips!!
Join Our Leadership Team
Want to come out and have fun with a great set of members? Find out more and join our team.