“This isn’t just about physical access — it’s about creating spaces where people feel they belong.”

Will Behenna is an adaptive paddleboarder, accessibility advocate and founder of multiple initiatives focused on improving access to blue spaces across the UK including Inclusive Paddleboarding and The Beach Access Project. Through adapted equipment design, coaching, campaigning and community partnerships, he works to create more inclusive opportunities for people to enjoy the physical and mental benefits of water environments.

Growing up on the Cornish coast, Will developed a lifelong connection to blue spaces. After a spinal injury as a teenager left him a full-time wheelchair user, Will refused to let barriers keep him away from the water. He now dedicates his time to ensuring more people can experience the freedom, wellbeing and adventure that water environments can offer.

This episode explores:

What true accessibility in outdoor spaces really looks like

Why “independence” is such a powerful driver for adventure

The hidden barriers that prevent many people from accessing beaches and water sports

How inclusive design benefits everyone

The emotional impact of exclusion from blue spaces

Lessons from beach accessibility projects in Europe

The future vision for Hengistbury Head Outdoors as a leading inclusive watersports hub

How connection to nature encourages environmental stewardship

Will also shares the inspiring vision behind making Dorset the “Inclusive Blue Space Capital of the UK” through partnerships, community collaboration and innovative accessibility projects already underway.

This is a thoughtful and practical conversation about belonging, dignity and why designing outdoor spaces that welcome everybody matters to us all.

Find out more about Will and his work:

Inclusive Paddleboarding

Beach Access Project

Inclusive Paddleboarding on Instagram

Inclusive Paddleboarding YouTube Channel

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Thank you for listening to Season 8 Episode 9 of The Everyday Adventure Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone who could use a little more adventure in their life :-)

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Craig Mathieson is a polar explorer, motivational speaker and founder of The Polar Academy, a groundbreaking Scottish charity that helps young people build confidence, resilience and self-belief through adventure. He was recently awarded The Polar Medal in the King’s New Year’s Honours.

Craig has completed expeditions to both the North Pole and South Pole, including leading the first dedicated Scottish expedition to the South Pole in 2004. Having mentored a young person on a life-changing expedition to the North Pole two years later, Craig saw the extraordinary potential of these experiences and was determined that this would act as a catalyst to extend these opportunities. In 2013, the Polar Academy was born.

To date, the Polar Academy has worked with nearly 300 young people and their families. The programme deliberately seeks out “invisible kids”— young people who struggle with confidence, anxiety, bullying, bereavement or simply feeling overlooked. Over the course of an 18 month training programme, the teenagers on the programme prepare physically and mentally for an expedition to East Greenland, where they haul sleds across Arctic terrain and discover what they’re truly capable of.

Our conversation centres on Craig’s journey to founding The Polar Academy and the work it does to transform the lives of young people struggling with trauma, low confidence and mental health challenges. Craig speaks with honesty, humour and compassion as he shares stories from his own experiences at school, the inspiration that first sparked his dream of becoming an explorer and how that ultimately led him to create a programme that helps young people discover their own strength. We explore themes of belief, resilience, family support and the life-changing impact of nature as Craig reflects on why so many young people feel hidden and what it truly takes to help them thrive. From trekking across Greenland to searching for Yetis on the west coast of Scotland, this conversation is both moving and inspiring — a powerful reminder of what can happen when someone believes in you, before you believe in yourself.

Learn more about The Polar Academy:

https://www.thepolaracademy.org/

Facebook: @thepolaracademy

Instagram: @thepolaracademy

Thank you for listening to Season 8 Episode 7 of The Everyday Adventure Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone who could use a little more adventure in their life :-)

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This week on The Everyday Adventure Podcast, I’m joined by two truly inspiring women, Clare Millington and Vicky Balfour. Both are passionate advocates for making the outdoors more inclusive and accessible for everyone.

Clare is the founder of Outdoors Is For Everyone and a powerful voice for increasing opportunities for people with disabilities to experience adventure in nature. She’s also a mum of three, including twins Pip and Alix, who both have complex disabilities, and her lived experience shines through in her work.

Vicky — also known to many as Vicky Bikes — is a writer, bike mechanic and someone deeply committed to helping others discover their voice, their confidence and their freedom through the outdoors. She’s actively involved with the New Forest Off-Road Club, doing brilliant work to open up cycling and outdoor spaces to more people. Her daughter Cece, who has complex needs, is also one of the club’s ride leaders — which tells you everything about the spirit of this amazing community.

In this conversation, we explore resilience, community, the assumptions which can impact inclusion and the many different ways adventure can belong to all of us.

Find out more about Vicky and Clare:

Instagram: @outdoorsisforeveryone @vickybikes

Website: www.vickybikes.co.uk

Facebook: @outdoorsisforeveryone

Useful links:

https://www.bendrigg.org.uk/ - Bendrigg Trust

www.thenewforestoffroadclub.com - The New Forest Off Road Club

https://www.alltheelements.co/news/5-minutes-with-pip-and-clare - All The Elements

Thank you for listening to Season 8 Episode 7 of The Everyday Adventure Podcast.

To keep up to date with the latest news, follow us:

Substack: The Everyday Adventure Podcast

Instagram: @everydayadventurepod