A SCHOOL in Penarth has been left upset and frustrated after valuable equipment was stolen on the weekend.

Ysgol Y Deri, a school for children aged between three and 19 with special needs, has had a container broken into and a number of items thought to be worth between £6,000  and £8,000 were stolen.

Dan Willmore, who is part of the pupil support team and runs a number of intervention activities for the pupils, said that it is unfair on the pupils and all the hard work put into the school and the programme.

“The kids we work with have enough in their lives to deal with without this,” he said. “I walked into work yesterday (Monday) and Scott, one of the side team, said ‘I have some bad news, the container has been broken into’.

“We don’t know the full extent of what’s been taken as we haven’t been able to get in there as we’re waiting for police forensics to come and look it over.”

The equipment they know has been stolen includes paddleboards, surfboards, wetsuits, dryrobes, buoyancy aids, hooded jackets and dry bags.

Mr Willmore said that some of the items – particularly the paddleboards – will be hard to sell as they are not common.

“The paddleboards that were stolen are really rare and the company representative said that they are going to be really difficult to sell on without someone noticing," he said.

Mr Willmore said that this equipment which allows the children at the school to go paddleboarding and surfing which helps to build self-confidence and trust and allow them to enjoy themselves.

“We provide a lot of different activities including surfing, paddleboarding, rock climbing and drumming for the pupils as we want them to have fun," he said.

“We use these as a vehicle for building self-confidence and to connect with the pupils. The surfing is another one of those vehicles. We try to make it as inclusive as it can possibly be.

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“For some of our pupils who are trauma-based, it has been a powerful tool. It is like mindfulness in action. When you’re out doing something, it switches your brain off.

“A lot of the pupils we work with are really anxious all the time, but this is a way for them to switch off as their brain focuses on something different, whether that’s paddleboarding or drumming.

“It is a trust thing too. They have to trust me that I am going to keep them safe. I tell them that often even when we’re just talking.”

Mr Willmore raised the money for the items himself.

He said: “When I started around 10 years ago, they didn’t have any of the equipment and it is expensive, so I raised a lot of money for them. I paddleboarded across South Wales a couple of years ago to help raise money for the equipment.

“I know times are hard but stealing from others is not fair. Especially from those who have worked hard to provide this for the pupils and from the pupils themselves.”

Since the news of the break-in and theft, Mr Willmore said he and the school had been inundated with messages.

“It’s amazing how kind people are but it’s a shame it had to happen in the first place,” he said.

The full list of what they know has been stolen is:

  • Seven Red Paddle Co 11” Wild stand up paddle boards including bags, pumps, belts, leashes and paddles. These board models are not common so can be easily identified;
  • Three Ocean Earth yellow surfboards;
  • All the school's Jobe and Excel Wetsuits in different sizes including small children sizes;
  • All the Dryrobes, all with oversized hoods;
  • All the Palm Equipment buoyancy aids in red and blue and hooded jackets in red;
  • Two 120 litre Bill dry bags

A spokeswoman for South Wales Police said: "We are appalled by this theft and are appealing for anyone with information to please contact South Wales Police quoting *425470.

"We know how much the pupils at Ysgol Y Deri love to surf and paddle board and we are doing all we can to identify those responsible."

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the force by any of these methods: