Who are We?
John Dunne
John is a world class climber and has been at the forefront of British climbing for over 20 years.
He was instrumental in bringing competition climbing to the UK in the late 1980’s.
During his long career he has worked with many key outdoor brands such as Karrimor, Mountain Equipment, Scarpa and Adidas as a technical consultant.
Over the last ten years he has been involved in community programmes with inner city kids and was in the Sport England sporting champion team delivering self development and motivational sessions.
He represented the British Mountaineering Council in 2001 on an exchange meet to China to help develop the Chinese training schemes.
In 2005, John set up the Manchester Climbing Centre in East Manchester.
The Manchester Climbing Centre is one of the largest climbing centres in Europe and caters for schools, youth and outreach projects.
John was invited to 10 Downing Street in 2008 to celebrate the achievements of British climbers over the last 50 years.
John is a member of the British Mountaineering Councils Youth development Committee and is a trustee of the nationally accredited National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme (NICAS)
John Dwan
John has more than twenty years experience of working with young people in sport related projects within inner cities; pioneering Manchester City Council’s first community sports development project in Hulme and Moss Side. He has become a specialist in the field of regeneration & sports development where he has pioneered & implemented a number of sports projects. John played an important role within east Manchester before, during & after the Commonwealth Games in 2002 as Sport Action Zone manager.
In 2005, John used his expertise to establish Sport 4 Life, a social enterprise project which has a range of sports initiatives active across the North West region with a particular focus on young people.
John has circulated in lofty circles in recent years, he was invited to 10 Downing St to meet senior politicians by his local MP, Barbara Keeley as a `Community Hero`. John has also been invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace by the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award project in recognition of his efforts to encourage more young people from deprived communities to access the scheme.
John is chair of governors at an inner city primary school in Manchester that was recently accredited as `Outstanding` in every category by Ofsted inspectors. John has supported of a number of charities & good causes over the last 20 years, even organising a sponsored abseil from the clock tower at Manchester town hall for a 60 year old catholic nun to launch the Rainbow Trust Hospice charity!
