Meet The Team

John Gillard

PRINCIPAL & DSL

John sailed out from Liverpool and regularly across the Irish sea from a young age.

After moving to the south coast, he was lucky enough to start a traineeship with Britannia sailing in Southampton and over the course of 2 years work, achieved his Yachtmaster offshore qualification. He then went on to a successful professional career at sea that spans almost 30 years so far.

He is passionate about now passing his wealth of knowledge and experience of the diverse worldwide marine industry to the young adults of Plan B, to help give the next generation the opportunity he received of a route to employability.

He works tirelessly to those ends to try and ensure that no student is left behind.

Vikki Gillard

OFFICE MANAGER

Vikki aka ‘Admin’ is our office manager, bookkeeper and much more. Coming from a large dockyard town with a Shipwright Grandad, she has a passion for the community and has the marine industry in her blood. Vikki spent 20 years working in the industry with highlights of a 3 year circumnavigation from 2004-2007, followed by 7 years working for Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s Clipper Ventures. Vikki has always supported John’s youth projects and Alternative provision work in the background, until coming fully onboard in 2017 and not looking back. She is known for her meticulous attention to detail, and against all odds, always manages to dot the I’s and cross the T’s.

Chris Hill

WATERSPORTS
MANAGER & DEPUTY DSL

Chris (aka Obelix) has worked full time in the watersports industry since he was 15 years old.

He has previously specialised in performance dinghy, windsurfing and catamaran sailing as well as power boat and rescue boat instruction. He is experienced in the management of multiple beach activities working alongside a team to ensure safety and fun on the water. Later in his career, he went on to run sunsail beach clubs worldwide before deciding to come ashore for a time. He is also a keen mountain biker and qualified to lead groups as well as the service, maintenance and repairs required to all cycles. He now enjoys instructing the next generation to help them go forward into enjoyable and fulfilling lives.

Gill Heron

STUDENT & FAMILY
SUPPORT WORKER & DEPUTY DSL

Gill is now on her second career, having had 30 years as a dental nurse, she is well placed to remind students of the importance of dental hygiene amongst many other physical and mental health responsibilities. She is our staff member primarily responsible for student wellbeing, transport and attendance. She is dedicated to ensuring students arrive daily and are enthusiastic to engage and learn.. She has a passion for the safeguarding of students at Plan B and in the community and understands that this starts before they arrive with us and does not end when they leave. This means she communicates with parents and carers regularly, building bonds across the family support network of our students, giving a holistic approach to their time at Plan B.

Jesse Doyle

WORKSHOP
MANAGER

Jesse’s background is akin the students we now work with at Plan B. He struggled throughout primary and secondary school and was not able to settle at a placement long enough to gain an academic education until much later in life when he decided to go to college to learn maths and english. Instead of a traditional education he had a passion for physical work and was learning the groundworks trade at a young age. He was lucky to be welcomed into the carpentry workshop at St Vincent college as a 14 year old and soon developed a love for wood. In his 20’s he received a scholarship from the IBTC (International boatbuilding training college) where he learnt the art of wooden boat building which he now passes those skills forward to the students of Plan B.

Adam Pankhurst

WORKSHOP &
WATERSPORTS
TRAINEE

Adamskii was commissioned to Plan B as a Year 10 disengaged from education and frequently involved with the police and disturbance in the community. He quickly found his passion working and training in the marine industry and is now on the RYA (Royal Yachting Association) cruising scheme pathway towards gaining his Yachtmaster Offshore qualification. Once qualified, he would like to stay on and help pass on the skills he has learnt to the next Plan B generation, before pursuing a career in the superyacht industry. He enjoys boat building and workshop tasks as they give him an insight into the structures of vessels which will help his career. Above all he loves being on the water sailing and that is where he is happiest…

Lily Gillard

NIPPER

Lily is the youngest member of the team and brings an extra level of youth and enthusiasm to Plan B. She helps with anything that needs doing from clothing to clearing up. Her real skill base is around IT and social media to ensure the ‘oldies’ keep up to date with posts, trends and hashtags. As John and Vikki’s daughter she has been on the water from a young age. She has sailed thousands of miles inshore and offshore and despite suffering from seasickness offshore, always maintains an A1 attitude and gets on with the tasks in hand onboard. She achieved her RYA powerboat certificate at 12 years old, and has competed at 3 NJIRC’s (National Junior Indoor Rowing competitions) She loves helping out and is passionate about helping the next generation of Plan B students be their best selves.