Fancy traveling back through the mists of time? Not really? Well I won’t keep you long and seeing as you’re here…
So yep, I’m Jim, aka James Elliott & that guy in the canoe, and this is my ‘about me’ section which hopefully, if it doesn’t serve to inspire, it will at least allow you to see where I’m coming from.
I’m a local chap born and raised in our fine town of Grimsby to a Stevedore and a Samaritan no less. A schooling combo that would give me the ability in later life to listen and empathise with people but also lift heavy things.
Life was simple back then, I had loving parents and I didn’t want for anything. As an only child (up until the age of ten when I inherited my awesome brother and loving step mum) I had to rely on myself for company, and spent a great deal of time outdoors.
This was back in those days were your mum would pack you up with some bread and jam and off you’d go for the day, unless that was just me?
Behind our house was a wood that is contained in an area the locals know as Towns Holt, a place I spent most of my spare time exploring and ticking off the pages in my I Spy book of birds. I could tell my Reed Warblers from my Reed Buntings and my Chaffinches from my Bullfinches. It was easy to retain information at that early age when things were simple and you had little else rattling around your head like work, and paying bills.
I would also summer in Norfolk, which is where my love of boats and water first came about. Shipped out to stay with my aunt, uncle and two cousins for weeks on end, enjoying the broads, bolstered my love of nature and the outdoors.
So yes, simple, wholesome, and enjoyable with a blip in my tenth year when my parents went their separate ways, I look back with fondness.
Fast forward to the here and now and I’m saddled (he he) with my beautiful and supportive wife Lindsey, our eldest daughter Lily, our son Isaac, and daughter Hazel. Curiously, although they enjoy walks and the canoe, they have their own interests.
That’s what’s great about people, we are all individual. In hindsight I shouldn’t have tried to force them into long walks through dense forests and along muddy footpaths in search of wildlife. Perhaps they would now be more accepting.
I’m lucky, my children are fantastic and they will enjoy life, I know it. And oddly if I’ve learnt anything over the last 12 months that I could go back and tell the younger me; it’s don’t feel you need to achieve.
Don’t feel you need that career, that job that serves to make your parents proud, but secretly you hate. If you want to dream small then dream small. If that means having a simple low paid but stress free job that affords you the time and head-space to embrace your hobby then do that. Life is definitely for living and I’m so glad I’m there albeit later than planned.
I’ve spent most of my working life in high pressure sales jobs only to find that my true office is the outdoors and not in a showroom selling Mr and Mrs Smith a flash car with all the optional insurances you’d be forced to try and upsell them.
The pandemic finally put paid to that career and I was made redundant. A scary time but equally very exciting as a new chapter in my life was on the horizon.
Throughout the beginning of the pandemic I was placed on furlough and as I had so much free time coupled with the fact that everywhere was closed, I simply got out and about and walked.
We are lucky in our area to have the stunning Lincolnshire Wolds on our doorstep. This makes enjoying the countryside and its rich tapestry of flora and fauna easy and accessible.
As my stress levels dropped I started to connect again with the outside world, trying to remember the names of birds, plants, and animals but also being saddened by the lack of certain species that flourished when I was a child. I soon realised (to coin a very over used phrase) that the world was my oyster again. I could do anything I wanted, so I did. I got a canoe!
This was a revelation. And I didn’t go in to it lightly either. I bought a 16ft Canadian canoe from a brownie camp in Leicestershire that was selling off gear as they were forced to close. A couple of paddles later and I was all set. I began canoeing along various waterways and rekindling my love of water sports whilst enjoying nature as I went along. It was exciting but peaceful, and relaxing at the same time.
After a few paddles further afield restrictions forced us to stay in our local areas more and it was after paddling our beautiful River Freshney that runs through our town that I began to see a difference.
This waterway was sadly utilised as a dustbin for cans, bottles, takeaway wrappers, and worse still, bikes, trolleys, and even bins themselves!
It was at that point that I knew something had to be done. The canoe gave me safe and easy access to the litter and I was able to perform litter picks. These became more frequent and was the birth of my operation.
After the call from my then employer to say I would be made redundant, I decided that I wanted to carry on cleaning the river especially as I had begun to get messages from people in the local community to say thank you and how it was beginning to look beautiful again.
How could I stop now I thought. So I used my sales skills to navigate my way on to radio stations, TV, and other mediums to try and forge some sort of living from what had now become more than a passing hobby. Luckily this came easier than expected, especially as what I was doing was universally accepted and championed. I don’t have superpowers and you certainly couldn’t save the world with what I’ve got but people liked it and they got on board.
I quickly found that small sponsorships and crowdfunding were my only options and at time of going to press this is what keeps me afloat (ahem) and pays those dreaded bills.
I love what I do but inevitably we all have bad days. Stumbling upon a wheelie bin full of litter that someone has taken the time to push in the water constitutes a bad day. This operation can take a while to sort and often leaves you wet, tired, and despondent that we have people who don’t just feel the need, but literally go out of their way to decimate our blue and green spaces in this way.
Luckily most days are good, and litter picking can be very rewarding, even just the act of being in the moment and enjoying the meditation it provides. Even when the summer brings the algae bloom the act of removing debris and reeds that act as anchor points for the algae is tiring but that sense of achievement keeps me going.
I also find the time where possible to help with other small watercourses in the area, and parks that have ponds or lakes.
So that’s kind of where I’m up to. The river will sadly always need maintenance and I’ve made it my mission to do just that. I’m a firm believer in controlling what you can control and being a ‘doer’.
For far too long there has been numerous people that boycott and protest but don’t get their hands dirty. I’m helping the wildlife on the river and giving the community a better view, and although I’m helping the environment one millimetre at a time, I’m pro active and that’s important for me.
Once a week I make sure I find the time to walk the river bank in a non work capacity and enjoy seeing wildlife flourish from our vital invertebrates all the way up to apex predators such as the otter.
My hope one day is that someone with means will value what I do and fund me to do it long into the future.
Until that time I will keep up the good fight, and together with the support of good people and businesses, you’ll find me on the river.
It’s all about the flow!
james elliott
James Elliott