Atlantic coast adventure therapy

When Philip Stallard and his wife Jasmin decided to set up an adventure therapy programme only one vehicle would step up to the plate – a Defender 110 kitted out to cope with the wild landscape of Ireland

I don’t know about you but I think we could all benefit from a bit of adventure therapy, after the year we’ve had. There is just something about being in the great outdoors that allows you to escape the stressful demands of everyday life and reduces levels of stress and anxiety. One man who adheres to this philosophy and has made a living out of it is Philip Stallard. He also happens to reside in perhaps one of the greatest places that allows time to reflect and that is on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry on the rugged south-west coast of Ireland.

Philip has always been interested in the outdoors – it is his passion and where he feels most alive – and having simultaneously worked in social care and outside, the impact of adventure and an alfresco setting was clear. Not only that but the more he researched adventure therapy, it seemed that it wasn’t being delivered in a structured way. He takes up the story: “I worked as an instructor with young people on a Garda (Ireland’s national police service) youth diversion programme and this gave me further insight into how this sort of rehabilitation can create a safe learning environment for older adolescents who normally wouldn’t have access to these kinds of experiences.

“Soon after, I started working in a secure unit for young people alongside returning to education as a mature student, and I created a pilot adventure therapy programme. The benefits were clear from the off and I made it my focus to continue my professional training towards developing the concept and setting up the New Wave Adventure Therapy model.”

That was in 2017 and you can read more about the work that Philip does on page 76, but in order to facilitate his adventure therapy service he would need the perfect vehicle. Cue the Defender 110. Philip has been a fan of Land Rovers since the age of five – after seeing his first at a forest near his home town kitted out for expeditions and thinking that one day he’d own a vehicle like that. He since went on to see them assist in emergency situations playing a pivotal role in the fire services and mountain rescue, as well as in the military with his father serving in the army.

Despite a lifelong desire to own a Defender this is his first, although it is fair to say he has been plotting and planning the build