Humans of AP: Iñaki, from summer school student to London Project Coordinator

Building confidence, one course at a time

6 min read

Iñaki first came to AP as a student on our humanitarian summer school in 2019. Seven years on, they’re our London Project Coordinator, running local and training programmes from the Royal Docks, and next week they head out on their first rotation in the Mediterranean. We sat down with them to talk teaching, confidence and what comes next.

From summer school to the Royal Docks

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Iñaki, AP’s London Project Coordinator, so I’m in charge of all our local and training programmes in London. I’ve been with Atlantic Pacific for seven years now. I started with the summer school in 2019, and seven years down the line I’m running most of our London-based programmes. It’s been a crazy and amazing seven years of AP.

You started on our humanitarian summer school for over-18s at Atlantic College (UWC Atlantic). What did you take away from it?

That’s where I learned the ropes of search and rescue and casualty care. It was an amazing, in-depth and fulfilling course. I’d just spent two years studying abroad, and I’d already done a lot of boating and a lot of first aid. The course was a way to synthesise all the skills I’d learned over my life, and to expand on them. Bringing all those parts of my life together in one course, then seeing where it could take me, was incredibly impactful. It’s why I’m still here.

Where did the boating and first aid come from?

At Pearson College UWC in Canada, I was part of the school’s emergency response team, so I did two years of really intensive first aid training. I was also kayaking a lot, and I learned to use small boats to help out on the seafront. Before that, I’d been sailing since I was 12, mostly catamarans, and windsurfing. I’ve always been fascinated by the sea and how beautiful it is.

What was your first role at AP after the summer school?

I was keen to get involved, but it didn’t happen right away. I got properly involved when COVID started. In March 2020, I remember emailing our founder and CEO, Robin, to ask if AP needed any extra help. It just so happened that the person managing our social media had left, so I took that on for two to three years. We built our first communications team from there, with me and two others.

Then I took two years off to finish studying and go abroad; I was living in Buenos Aires. I’d also been a lifeguard on our London lifeguarding programme in its early summers. When I came back, I was given the reins to the London programme. This past year has seen the most growth in my role at AP: in how much I feel I can do, and how much I’ve helped achieve for the local community here.

So from communications to lifeguard to running Local Lifesavers.

Yes. First as one of the lifeguards on our lifeguarding programme, and now I’m in charge of our Local Lifesavers programme. It’s been a big jump in responsibility, but I’ve learned so much doing it. I’m really enjoying running the programme and getting loads of people trained up in London.

I joined one of your sessions recently and it felt important, and fun. What else do you run in London?

Our main one is the Basic Water Safety and Line Throwing course. It was developed a couple of years ago, and I helped redevelop it this autumn. It’s designed to make sure everyone is safe around the water: that people know what to do if someone is drowning near them, or if they feel themselves starting to drown.

We give them as many practical skills as possible: line throwing, knots, practising scenarios, and post-rescue casualty care, which means simple things like keeping someone warm, the recovery position, calling for help and monitoring them. It’s very basic but all-encompassing, and it’s the one we mostly teach and advertise. We also run Powerboat Level 2 and search and rescue starter courses, though I have less to do with those.

Teaching, the law of the sea and a first rotation

What’s your favourite part of the work?

I love teaching people. I’m also a substitute teacher outside of AP, and I’ve really come to enjoy sharing what I know and engaging young people and adults with life-changing skills. That’s been the most fulfilling part.

My favourite people to teach are instructors. When I ran a session training our instructors on the basic water safety course, it was great fun to see how they’d teach things in their own way. I like giving people a bit more freedom in how they teach.

What’s brewing for London programmes next year?

I’d like to add more first aid to the basic water safety course, like CPR. I’m also training for my powerboat instructor’s licence in April, so I’ll be able to teach our Powerboat Level 2 courses in London and Wales.

And from the new year, I’m hoping to build more partnerships with local schools and organisations in Newham and grow as much as we can in the area. The more people who train, the better. Next year is going to be quite exciting.

Instructors training future instructors is very “Train Today, Save Tomorrow”. Does AP connect to other parts of your life too?

Yes. I’m doing a part-time master’s in human rights law, and I don’t think I’d be studying it without having started my journey with AP. I’m focusing on the law of the sea and on human rights law around migration and movement at sea, specifically in the Mediterranean. The training we do is hands-on, but there are theoretical and legal sides to it too, which I find fascinating. That’s what I’ve been doing alongside AP for nearly two years.

Working with AP has also led me to go on rotation with Solidaire. I leave in a little over a week for my first rotation in the Med, where I’ll apply all the skills I’ve gathered over the past seven years, learn some more, and share the load with the people out there.

How are you feeling about it?

A bit nervous. You hear a lot of stories about rotations in the Med. They can prepare you, but they also make you nervous, because it’s a big thing and it can be a stressful and pretty awful situation to find yourself in. So I’m preparing as much as possible, relaxing, and trying not to stress too much.

A note from us: AP is a non-political organisation. Those in our community who go on rotation in the Mediterranean do so independently and of their own accord; it isn’t something AP or our funders promote. It’s demanding work, and we wish Iñaki, the crew and everyone they meet the very best.

Tell us a bit more about Solidaire. Many people don’t know it.

Solidaire is one of the ships in the civil fleet in the Mediterranean. It works differently from the others because it’s entirely funded by a single private donor. It’s a big ship, an old supply vessel. There are 27 crew on board: half are the search and rescue team and half are ship’s crew. It can hold 250 to 300 rescued guests at any one time, so it carries out lots of big rescues.

Finally, how has AP shaped the person you are today?

One of the best parts of my own development over so long at AP has been building confidence. I’m still someone who can lack confidence and feel quite anxious. But over seven years at AP, I’ve slowly learned to fight those thoughts, take the reins more often, and allow myself to lead and to be in a position of knowledge and some authority.

This past year has really been a turning point in how confident I am and how much I can take control. I wouldn’t have done it without AP.

Thank you, Iñaki, and fair winds for the rotation.