Staff Team @ East Coast Outdoors CIC

Billy is an outdoors professional who has been working on commercial DofE expeditions for over 11 years. He holds a Mountain Leader Qualification, has extensive experience working across the whole of the UK as well as overseas projects and expeditions in Zambia, Ghana, Costa Rica and India.

His background in expedition delivery, operations and logistics management, allows him to plan and deliver complex expeditions which are accessible to all, so  ensuring East Coast Outdoors expeditions will delivery to every participant at every level. 

He holds membership with the Institute of Leaders & Managers and the Institute for Outdoor Learning. 

Billy has a particular passion for ensuring the outdoor sector is open to those from all backgrounds, getting young people away from screens and seeing what the outdoors can offer. 

Steve joined our leadership team as an Expedition Manager, having worked for other commercial DofE providers since his retirement.  

Steve is a retired Police Officer from Suffolk Constabulary with 27 years service and one of the nicest and most sincere people you can meet.  He has a passion for helping disadvantaged young people and understands the importance of engaging with them early on. 

Steve is a long-distance runner and competed in nearly 700 races including ultras, marathons and half marathons, including the notorious Death Valley Marathon in America as one of only two Brits.

Steve says about himself and his outdoor experience "If I haven't run it, I might have walked it" .  

Dave Coyle is an experienced expedition leader and technical advisor specialising in the safe delivery and governance of Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions in the UK and overseas. 

He has led and supported expeditions across multiple continents, operating in remote, high-risk environments where effective planning, sound judgement, and clear escalation are critical.

Brings a rare combination of Search and Rescue command experience, expedition and pre-hospital emergency medicine, clinical training delivery, and corporate health and safety governance. Proven in building safe systems of work, assurance frameworks, and clear escalation pathways to deliver compliant, effective and emergency response at scale.

Dave delivers specialist training in first aid, pre-hospital emergency care, outdoor safety, and leadership under pressure, and works with East Coast Outdoors to ensure expedition supported by robust preplanning, safety, and back-up systems.

His approach combines practical field experience with strong governance, ensuring challenging expeditions remain safe, and developmentally meaningful for young people.

Natasha joins us from a school in Suffolk, where she held the position of Office Manager, bringing with her a working knowledge of school administration in a busy academic environment

She spent 17 years in Washington DC working in the Banking & Finance industry, moving to Suffolk 7 years ago to be closer to family. Her exceptional financial and administration skills are set to support the needs of the CIC as it moves forward. 

Natasha joined East Coast Outdoors seeing a company with a passion for outdoor education and a focus to deliver results that are both impactful and inspiring.  The cores values of the CIC meet her own of creativity, collaboration, and attention to detail. 

Outside of her professional life, she enjoys the great outdoors as much as possible with her Spaniel walking the beautiful Suffolk coastline. 

Natasha is currently studying to achieve a Level 3 Forest School Leader certification allowing her to use expertise and passion to encourage outdoor learning for children.

Steve spent the majority of his working life in the British Army, serving for over 25 years in an Airborne Logistics role. During those years and wherever he was in the world, he took every opportunity to experience the outdoor life that was on offer, be it hills, mountains, dales or moors. This included Germany, Cyprus, Corsica and Africa among many other regions. He became a qualified Mountain Leader during this time. 

One of his strongest memories of his military service, still to this day, is seeing the majesty of the mountains of Snowdonia for the first time while preparing for the Welsh 1000m Peaks race in 1990. 

He eventually came to love and concentrate on long distance trekking, going out solo and unsupported for weeks at a time and covering hundreds of miles and many, many tops. Some of the highlights include the Cambrian Way which was easily the toughest overall and the Rheinsteig which included a 50mile single day near the end, carrying full kit.

He is the newest addition to our team joining as the Kit Store Manager.

Adam is an experienced expedition leader, delivering Bronze and Silver expeditions in the United Kingdom. He completed his own Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards some years ago and holds a Basic Expedition Leader (BELA) qualification. He is soon too complete Mountain Leader training and assessment. He also holds National Navigation Awards and is an experienced Assessor at all levels.

Adam has a passion for walking in lowland and mountainous terrain with experience in more remote areas such as the Lake District, Snowdonia, Scotland, Dartmoor and overseas. He is passionate about inclusive expeditions for all and ensuring that these are delivered safely and successfully. 

Prior to joining the East Coast Outdoors team he had volunteered with a local school delivering their Bronze Award program and expedition leadership at Bronze, Silver and Gold level. 

He has a professional background in safeguarding, incident management, emergency response, partnership liaison and leadership in high-risk environments. He brings a combination of experience in leadership, outdoor experience of leading groups in lowland areas but also more remote areas in the UK and overseas. He has demonstrated experience in leading groups, incident management and safeguarding.

Ann completed her Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards at school, leading her to helped deliver expeditions after graduating from university.

Ann works in the outside industry for a decade of her adult life, and understands the importance that being outside has on peoples mental and physical wellbeing. 

Previously balancing her love for the outdoors with a career in the NHS as a Senior Biomedical Scientist, she collected a lengthy list of qualifications helping her teach and deliver to adults and students. 

You would probably find Ann outdoors, even when she’s not working as she loves, walking, running (especially parkrun), biking, kayaking and swimming.

Qualifications:- 

• Working towards her Hill & Moorland Leader (HML) qualification which she hopes to complete later this year. 
• Qualified Countryside Leader
• Forest school (level 2) instructor
• Leader in Running Fitness 
• Paddlesport Leader 
• Sea Kayak Leader 
• Paddlesport Coach
• SUP Coach 
• Open Water Lifeguard

Marc has over 16 years’ experience working within the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, and holds a Lowland Leader and Camping Leader qualifications, along with NNAs Gold and NNAs Tutor awards.

He is particularly passionate about enabling participants who face educational barriers or have SEND to access and succeed within outdoor learning environments. Marc works in education leading a behaviour faculty, with extensive experience in supporting children and young people with social, emotional, and educational needs. 

Alongside a strong understanding of safeguarding, behaviour management, and adaptive support strategies, he is a qualified coach and places high value on building confidence, resilience, independence, and self-belief in young people — qualities that align closely with the ethos of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Having been an active walker and camper for over 40 years, and these experiences have shaped my approach to outdoor leadership, teamwork, risk management, and reflective learning. I believe the outdoors provides a powerful setting for personal growth, particularly when young people are supported by calm, consistent, and knowledgeable leaders.

Outside of work, I enjoy reading, volunteering, and spending time with my family. I am committed to ongoing professional development, enjoy learning new skills, and actively seek opportunities to challenge myself — values I aim to model for the young people I support.

Mike joins our leadership team as a Senior Leader in 2020. A seasoned walker and climber, Mike has worked for Outward Bound, the Ocean Youth Club and was a climbing instructor in Schools. He is a qualified Mountain Leader (Summer) and supports all levels of the DofE Award as an assessor and instructor. He is an experienced, calm and friendly member of the team which makes him a good choice for new groups.   

As a Sound Artist, with a PhD in composition, Mike records wildlife and makes sound installations for clients both locally in East Anglia and nationally for clients such as the National Trust and Suffolk Wildlife Trust.  He is a retired teacher with specific skills working in an alternative provision supporting disadvantaged and SEN students. 

Mike loves to inspire people of all ages. He is passionate about being outdoors and really enjoys making DofE participants aware of the birds, wildlife and natural surroundings on expeditions. He enjoys enabling young people to rise to a challenge, gain confidence in themselves and getting groups to work as a team, supporting each other and ultimately succeed in their joint goal. 

Qualifications: 

• MLTB Summer Mountain Leader 
• MLTB Single Pitch Rock Climbing Supervisor
• Outdoor First Aid
• DofE Supervisor 
• DofE Assessor (Bronze, Silver and Gold)
• RYA Yachtmaster
• QTS: Maths, Music, Media and STEAM
• PhD in Sound Composition