A NATIONAL appeal has been made to trace equipment stolen from a Penarth special needs school.

On December 6, thousands of pounds worth of specialist swimming and surfing equipment was stolen from Ysgol Y Deri. It is thought that the items were worth between £6-8,000.

Three months on, South Wales Police officer Kate Fox – who worked at the school before becoming a police officer and met her now-husband there – appeared on BBC’s Crimewatch Roadshow to appeal for information about the theft.

Mrs Fox, whose mother still works at the school, said: “Staff noticed two containers and one of the cabins had been broken into.”

She told how there was ‘loads of equipment’ inside. She said how the items were specially for the children – aged between three and 19 who all have a wide range of disabilities and special needs – so that they could take part in paddleboarding and surfing.

At the time of the theft, Dan Willmore told the Penarth Times that it was unfair on the pupils and all the hard work put into the school and the programme.

Mr Willmore – who is part of the pupil support team and runs intervention activities for the pupils – said: “The kids we work with have enough in their lives to deal with without this.

“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.”

He told how some of the equipment – which aims to help the children build self-confidence and trust and to enjoy themselves – was going to be hard to sell due to them not being common items.

“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.”

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The items that were stolen included paddleboards, surfboards, wetsuits, dryrobes, buoyancy aids, hooded jackets and dry bags.

On the effect of the activities on the children, Mr Willmore said: “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.”

Mrs Fox said of the investigation: “At the minute we are at a bit of a standstill. Forensic evidence all came back negative, CCTV also came back negative, they weren’t captured. We did extensive house to house but unfortunately nothing was found there.

“We’re appealing for anyone who’s into water sports or aware of anything being sold that matches the description to get in touch so we can get the children back out there.”

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

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the force by any of these methods and quote the number *425470: