Olivia Holmes

We continue our series of interviews by Lucy Johnson, in which she interviews some of the key players in the development past, present and future, of The Aire Rivers Trust. We thank her for her commitment and expertise in putting these pieces together.

Olivia is decidedly unflamboyant and undemonstrative, but also patient, unflappable, resilient, measured, knowledgeable and supportive. She gives the distinct impression of being able to rise to any challenge handed to her. Olivia joined the Trust as Project Assistant in July 2023, and has recently taken on the role of Project Officer (subsequent to this interview taking place) after the departure of Gareth Muir. In speaking of the opportunities the Project Assistant role has given her, she was extremely positive. “I’ve loved the variety of stuff that we’ve done. We do different things every season and pretty much nearly every week. You can’t really get bored in the role.”

Olivia was also positive about her workmates. “It’s such a nice team to work with, so supportive. They care a lot about my development. They’ve been encouraging. Even if I have doubts about my own abilities.” Olivia singled Gareth out for praise in particular, stating, “he’s been a very good teacher, supported me with development and he’s not coddled me.” ART’s Senior Project Officer Nick Milsom has also played a major role in Olivia’s development.

Olivia was full of praise for volunteers, commenting that she enjoyed interacting with people of varying backgrounds and life experience, which informs their approach to tasks. She noted, “One of my favourite things is working with volunteers, building up nice relationships with interesting people who’ve lived lives that I want to hear about and then also doing meaningful work in a place that I care about.” She also commented that apart from the obvious benefits of participation, it has occurred that corporate volunteers have managed to initiate business deals after meeting on volunteer days.

Olivia comes from a large family, being one of five, and has always been active and outdoorsy. She remembers childhood walks in nature fondly, where her parents drew on their science and history knowledge to make the walks interesting. The Malham Tarn walk is a particular favourite of Olivia’s, although she states, “I also feel very linked to pine woodland dune walks that we do in Dorset, specifically on Brownsea Island near Bournemouth.” Olivia attributes her interest in using questions to draw out further knowledge to these walks. “I like to find out things about people, about places, things. Walking along, always pointing stuff out and wondering what they are, why they’re there and what they’re doing.” A useful approach for a Project Officer!

In addition to the practical conservation skills developed alongside Gareth, other staff and the volunteers, Olivia also has an impressive academic background, taking part in a substantive research project in her placement year, examining the protocols used by ex situ seed banks around collecting seeds, for which she will occasionally speak at professional meetings. This can be viewed here https://www.kew.org/wakehurst/whats-at-wakehurst/millennium-seed-bank

Prior to working for the Aire Rivers Trust, Olivia worked on bat surveys, enjoying working at night and talking to landowners. She has also worked in cafes and spent a year volunteering with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Upskill Downdale scheme, which is aimed at young people in the Dales. It was a “full circle” moment for Olivia when the next year’s cohort were able to come along to an ART organised day. The group worked to remove Himalayan balsam at Trench Meadows, an SSSI located near Saltaire. Long term, Olivia would like an educational role or potentially to work with farmers in environmental land management. A return to academia does not appeal due to the pressures of deadline structures.

In her free time, Olivia is a highly trained dancer and a skilled sewer, most recently creating a beautiful orchid-coloured silk dress (for which a formal occasion is required, if anyone would like to organise a gala dinner). The next project will be a lined denim shirt.

Olivia emphasised the seasonality of her work, and how much she enjoys experiencing the seasons change. When asked if she had a favourite bit of folklore, she picked an Irish tradition threaded through the 2025 Lia Leendertz Almanac, the interplay of St Bridget with the Cailleach, the one representing spring and summer, the other representing autumn and winter. She appreciates the interplay between the two, and is grateful to live somewhere that actually experiences distinct seasons. Her link to seasons extends to having a dedicated playlist for summer. “I live my life a lot around nature, especially in the work I do.”

Jake looks at pollution

At the end of next year, data scientist and rower Jake Still plans to embark on an almighty rowing challenge while fundraising to support the restoration of his beloved rivers back home. Spending up to 50 or so days at sea alone, he’s aiming row across the Atlantic solo. This is one of his series of guest blog posts, in which he’ll keep us updated with his training and eventual race progress.

Jake explores some sources of pollution on the Aire

Jake Still is rowing the Atlantic in December. He is concerned about pollution in the River Aire where he trains. There are many ways that sewage and plastics enter our watercourses and Jake shows us two that contribute to our rivers’ poor states. Have a look at his video, in which he visits a couple of examples of pollution on the river where he currently rows.

Rachel, our new Chief Executive

We continue our series of interviews by Lucy Johnson, in which she interviews some of the key players in the development past, present and future, of The Aire Rivers Trust. We thank her for her committment and expertise in putting these pieces together.

Arriving early for our scheduled interview (I have a healthy mistrust of scheduled bus times), I found the Aire Rivers Trust’s new Chief Executive Rachel Forsyth tucking into her lunch in the midst of the rest of the staff, swapping stories and jokes. I had already met Rachel on her official first day, when she came across as down to earth, knowledgeable and approachable, but I wasn’t expecting such a warm, communal atmosphere. Geoff, current trustee and former chair of ART, commented that Rachel stood out from other applicants because of her “vision.” He credited her with the ability to “see where we need to go” and “not get sidetracked,” but this comes with a big helping of playfulness.

We settled in with our drinks in the communal kitchen and picked up where we left off. Rachel is a law graduate who has spent most of her career working with the National Trust in varying roles, initially in more on the ground roles, but most recently working as Countryside Manager in the Yorkshire Dales, managing a team of rangers and an ecologist and determining long-term plans for the land. Within this Rachel looked at everything from soil and water health to public access and heritage. Throughout each role, learning and developing was important to Rachel, and this knowledge will be used for everything from delivering huge projects to having the edge on pub quizzes.

Like Geoff, Rachel has had a close connection to the outdoors and nature since childhood, spending a lot of time in the garden as a child. There were no early ambitions to work in nature, in fact the opposite as she was very intrigued by the idea of racing cars, but the experience of studying law reoriented her back towards her early interest. Her childhood, initially in Kent then in Northampton, sounds idyllic, with family walks and outings as a family to watch a nearby badger family in their large sett. She also remembers seeing hedgehogs and dormice in the garden, in addition to watching birds on the North Norfolk coast and whale watching trips. Rachel added, “It wasn’t like that all the time,” but clearly it was enough of the time to spark a lifelong interest and satisfying career.

Alongside her keen interest in knowing details and facts to get just a smidgen more points than her peers in quizzes, Rachel has a knowledge of and interest in management theories across diverse sectors, citing several during the interview. These were mostly focused on helping team members achieve their best, which is something Rachel has thought about in detail and drawn upon ideas from fields such as technology to hone her own perspective. We discussed the idea of creating multiple ideas, most of which will not be acted upon, but which can lead to a greater diversity of solutions and a better utilisation of staff skills.

Rachel is still in the early stages of her role. I asked her if she had any changes she had in mind, and she clarified that initially she wants to focus on “listening,” and finding out what’s currently in place. She also commented that some things may alter, but they may well be led by what the rest of the team have identified as possible to improve. Throughout the interview Rachel was quick to praise the support she has received from the trustees, particularly Wendy the chair, and Geoff, all staff members and her predecessor Simon, who she credited with managing a very high workload very effectively.

Rachel defined the Chief Executive role as providing a key link between the trustees and the staff, alongside taking a role in high-level partnerships and overseeing the future direction of the charity. Current partnerships are with Yorkshire Water and the newly formed regional group across Yorkshire, of the Don Catchment Rivers Trust, the Calder and Colne Rivers Trust, the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, the East Yorkshire Rivers Trust and of course the Aire Rivers Trust. Rachel will be co-leading one of the group’s work-streams on community and volunteering.

Meeting with the other local rivers trusts has sparked some reflection about the structure of the charity, as each trust has their own individual set-up and set of expertise. One trust has a geomorphologist and a farm adviser, but they don’t benefit from administration support. Equally, as charities grow more specialised roles emerge such as dedicated fundraisers, but this also means more team members who are not directly engaged with the core aims of the charity.

Finally, we spoke about what wisdom might be contained in folklore relating to the natural world. Rachel pointed to people’s personal connections to woodlands as a way of connecting to the past, and said that the reaction to the felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap showed the depth of connection that people feel which they aren’t always aware of. Pragmatically, she picked the example of planting rowan trees by your front door to ward off evil as not necessarily true, but emblematic of a broader relationship between planting trees and good things resulting. Let’s hope good things result from Rachel’s new role and the Trust’s current tree planting and other projects.

Qualifying to row the Atlantic

Jake Still is training for a huge challenge – rowing solo across the Atlantic in just under 500 days’ time, fundraising for The Rivers Trust and Aire Rivers Trust with every stroke. This is the second of his guest blog posts, documenting the long journey to even reach the start of the race. Read his first update if you missed it, here.

Words: Jake Still

What does it take to qualify for the World’s Toughest Row?

Words by Jake Still

To get the start line of the race, you must complete the required training hours on the water. As a minimum, rowers must complete 120 hours, 24 hours must be during the night and at least one session must be over 36 hours. As a solo rower, this will mean I will have to learn to successfully anchor offshore because it would be impossible to do this without having to sleep. Ultimately, these hours are about getting used to living on board rather than rowing. Afterall, I will be spending at least 40 days at sea and everyday things like sleeping, cooking, hygiene and even going to the toilet are no-longer trivial tasks when you’re on a boat that will rock about.

Before I took Azula (the name of my boat) out to sea, I began my early training on Lake Windermere. This was so I could familiarise myself with basic navigation, steering and handling without having to deal with tides and other hazards on the coast. Sessions were short (around 4 hours) and I would mark some waypoints and make sure I practiced heading on the right course of ground either manually steering with the oars, or by learning to use the autopilot. For coastal training, it is very important to be proficient in navigation. Compared to sculling on a river, it is a lot different on an ocean rowing boat because every movement feels sluggish.

The hardest part of training session is the logistics of getting Azula into the water! Specifically, the rudder which must retrofitted after launching and usually means having to get into the water to attach. Luckily, I had an old diving dry suit to avoid getting wet!

A man in a white teeshirt looks at the camera as he rows a large white boat solo on a lake

While I was training on the Lakes, I was also taking Azula around West Yorkshire to public events to showcase her and tell people about the challenge I am undertaking. I took her to Baildon Carnival, Farsley Festival and to Adore’s Weavers Court Care home in Yeadon. It was exciting to be engaging with my local communities and answering all their questions and explaining everything on board Azula. I also brought an erg (an indoor rowing machine) and challenged the public to row as far they could in one minute. It was great to see people all ages have a go, from as young as 4 up to 70 and there was plenty of competitive spirit among the communities, especially among fellow cadets and friends. One girl came back multiple times to try and best her score.

A row of pensioners pose in front of the boat with Jake

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At the end of July, Azula found her new home in Hartlepool Marina, where she will mostly stay over the course of the next 18 months. For my first open sea session, I did a 3-day training camp with Duncan Roy (Ocean rowing trainer/coach) and not only did he teach me the skills to safely train out at sea but to thrive on it. Water sessions included being able to get in and out of the Marina, being able to deploy the anchor (for emergencies or resting), passage planning routes and navigating them and using the VHF radio to cross the Teesside Shipping Channel (home to vessels of 200m+ length). It was amazing to be out in the open sea and feel as though crossing an ocean is becoming more of a reality. On day 2, I got to see the Teesside offshore windfarm up close and was lucky enough to see some seals popping their heads out like meerkats. To finish the day off, I had the opportunity to anchor offshore and sleep out on the water. Felt a bit like camping back in Scouts, minus the bobbing about on the water. Also had to use the bucket for the first time. Thankfully the water was flat and there were no spill issues. The only awkward bit was manoeuvring your bottoms through your harness gear and equipment.

A man stands on a white boat with oars in a calm ocean with blue skies and a windfarm visible behind

The next steps for me are to continue getting more experience out on the water and build up my skills and confidence over the Summer and early Autumn and at least qualify for the race.

You can follow Jake on social media (@jakedarcystill) or support his goals on the donation plaform Givestar.

First, La Gomera

At the end of 2025, data scientist and rower Jake Still plans to embark on an almighty rowing challenge while fundraising to support the restoration of his beloved rivers back home. Spending up to 50 or so days at sea alone, he’s aiming row across the Atlantic solo. This is the first in his series of guest blog posts, in which he’ll keep us updated with his training and eventual race progress.

The World’s Toughest Row Atlantic 2024 race is nearing the end with the last few boats still to come in and officially marks 10 months to go until I launch from San Sebastion in La Gomera. Earlier in December, I had the opportunity to travel down to La Gomera to see the race start line. It was exciting to be down there and see the marina with all the boats lined up in the water and how amazing to see the support from the locals with the race banners spread across the various local businesses such as restaurants.

If you can, it is advised to travel to La Gomera before your race year because it has been very helpful to familiarise myself with the process getting to the island and the knowing where everything on the island is. It is a little thing to help take pressure during my race year. To travel to La Gomera you have to fly Tenerife and then take the ferry across. The ferry was an interesting ride and my first taste of being rocked by deep water waves in the Atlantic as it travelled between the islands, a teaser to what will happen daily on my little rowing boat.

Visiting the start line La Gomera is one of the rare moments when you get to experience the largest fleet of ocean rowing boats. It was very beneficial seeing many different crew boats because each crew had their own unique setup and seeing the different approaches helps to generate ideas for what additions/work I need to do on my boat to prep her for the Atlantic. It was lovely to catch up with some of the crews I had met throughout 2024 either through doing sea survival courses together or training up in the North Sea at Hartlepool. Got the chance to hop on their boat and ask them lots of questions and deep dive into their kit. One of things I wanted to check was how spares were being secured. It was great to see them set off in La Gomera and having met some of the crews made the 2024 race more special to watch them as they traverse across the Atlantic and seeing them finally arrive in Antigua was amazing.

It was not only just current rowers there. There were lots of past rowers and future rowers, some who had raced in the previous year and others who enjoy coming back every year. It was fantastic speaking to them too about their own stories and how they found their crossing. La Gomera is very special for ocean rowing because of the World’s Toughest Row and it is great to be a part of this awesome community.

We wish Jake well with his training and eventually on his epic challenge. You can follow his progress via occasional blogs on this site.

Crossing an ocean for our river

At the end of next year, data scientist and rower Jake Still plans to embark on an almighty rowing challenge while fundraising to support the restoration of his beloved rivers back home. Spending up to 50 or so days at sea alone, he’s aiming row across the Atlantic solo. This is the first in his series of guest blog posts, in which he’ll keep us updated with his training and eventual race progress.

Introducing Jake

My name is Jake Still, I am 25 and I am from Leeds. I work as a data scientist at Zest ECO LTD and provide the analysis to support the team in building up the EV charge point infrastructure for the UK to help our country and beyond to transition into a more green and sustainable future. The rest of the time I am usually rowing on the river Aire at Bradford Amateur rowing club or platform diving at John Charles.

In December 2025, I am going to be rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean Solo from La Gomera to Antigua in the World’s Toughest Row. This is both an extremely physical and mental challenge where you will be up against fierce storms, huge 8m waves, sleep deprivation, sores and bruises with the occasional flying fish leaping into your boat. I plan to row a competitive time for the race, and this may consist of up to 20 hours plus rowing, eating 5000+ calories, drinking 10L of water daily for about 30 to 50 days.

To be able to do this safely, I will need lots of preparation. This challenge is more than just a physical one, it is also a very technical one. It is about knowing your boat very well, how to handle the boat and to fix problems when you are tired whilst getting smashed by waves at night in 10+ knot winds. The Boat I will be using is an R25, which is essentially a canoe body with 2 rowing positions, 2 cabins, the bow one is for sleeping, the stern contains all the navigation and electronics. The boat will come with a water maker (to convert salt water to fresh water), 2 lithium batteries charged by solar panels as well as a chart plotter to plot routes, an autohelm (to keep the boat on course on a bearing) and VHF radio. The one of the major points for success on an ocean rowing is power management. If the batteries drop below 20%, they will essentially shut off to preserve the battery. When this happens, you will not be able to use the water maker or contact anyone on radio for 2 days. Hence, learning exactly how much power individual pieces of equipment draw is critical for a safe ocean crossing. In general, getting comfortable with all the pieces of equipment is vital for a safe and fast crossing. Something I will need to do during my 1000 hours of practise in UK coastal waters.

Jake getting survival training, let's hope he does not need it

I want to support the Rivers Trusts because as a rower, I am very closely connected to the river Aire and spend a lot of time rowing on it. Rowing for me is very therapeutic and is something I have come to enjoy doing. However, this experience is ruined when Yorkshire Water spill sewage directly into the Aire and it is not uncommon for plastic bottles to be floating down it as well. It is gotten so bad that we as a club cannot do capsize drills in our river anymore due to the pollution levels. Furthermore, it is not just water companies polluting our river, farmers are also having an impact. They cause excess nutrients to be added to the river and combine this with the hotter summers, you get algae blooms. Not only does this affect the ecosystem of the river, but it can also make it impossible to row on. This cancelled the 2023 Boston rowing marathon (49.2km), an event I was looking forward to doing. These events are vital in supporting the local clubs and communities where these races are held and help the clubs get more young people into rowing. However, the biggest cause of race cancellations is due to dangerously high river levels brought upon by excess flooding and rain. This is a consequence of climate change bringing about wetter winters and results in the number of water session becoming even fewer each year. Especially for those of us that can only get down during the weekends in winter and especially for novice rowers who will not be able to go out in the more challenging conditions.

The next step for me is getting a boat and sorting the logistics out to prepare for a maiden voyage in Hartlepool where I will be training and getting used to boat launching and very basic ocean rowing. I will also be creating a banner to help with my campaign to get the essential equipment over the next year needed for the crossing.

Trench Meadows – helping an SSSI recover

Trench Meadows is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) off Higher Coach Road next to Load Pit Beck and not far from Shipley Glen. The site contains 4.7 hectares of lowland meadow – a nationally rare habitat. The grasses in the neutral grassland on the site include red fescue, sweet vernal and crested dog’s-tail; wildflowers include herb black knapweed and bird’s-foot trefoil. Devil’s Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) also indicates the importance of this species-rich grassland. The land adjacent to the meadow is designated as a wet woodland with common alder being the dominant tree species.

The site is owned by the City of Bradford District Council and managed by The Countryside Service, with support from the Aire Rivers Trust. Aire Rivers Trust volunteers have carried out several tasks on both the meadow and in the wet woodland including Himalayan balsam removal, scrub clearance and hedgerow maintenance.

Volunteers make a difference

To date, Aire Rivers Trust volunteers have contributed 335 volunteer hours. 540m² of scrub has been cleared, which otherwise would have resulted in the meadow becoming woodland. 900m² of Himalayan balsam have been pulled across the site. The holly hedgerow on Coach Road Bridleway has been improved to provide habitat and act as a stock-proof barrier. Aire Rivers Trust works in partnership with several organisations. West Yorkshire Combined Authority, WSP and Keighley College have all contributed volunteer time to carry out practical environmental tasks.

A local farmer grazes the site, with cattle selectively grazing scrub, keeping down bramble encroachment and providing soil improvements. Bradford Council Countryside service has also undertaken willow thinning on-site to prevent woodland succession.

The site has permissive access for the public and visitors are encouraged to stick to the path and keep their dogs on the lead to prevent disturbance of wildlife and prevent dog fouling. The Trust will continue to carry out management works on-site. To find out more please visit our volunteer website: Volunteer with Us – Aire Rivers Trust

For more information about Trench Meadows please follow these links:
Bradford Botany Group – Trench Meadows SSSI, Baildon
Meet your local SSSI

Always stick to The Countryside Code

Loadpit Beck gets some Love

John Franklin, our Better Becks Officer, has been working in Loadpit Beck facilitating the weir removal there.

What was the problem?

During walkovers as part of phase 1 of the ‘Better Becks’ Project, dozens of barriers to fish passage were identified within tributaries of the Middle Aire Catchment. On Loadpit Beck, a concrete ‘apron’ spanning the whole channel width was found. Installed as a reasonably over-engineered scour protection structure for the adjacent surface water outfall, this ‘apron’ has been stopping fish from progressing upstream to access good quality riparian habitat. The barrier was doing this in two ways, by creating an artificial drop in height in the channel, which many fish are unable to swim up, and by creating conditions for thin, laminar flow (like a sheet), which is challenging to swim up, as the water speed is increased, with little opportunities for rest.

Phase 2 of the Better Becks project is all about addressing the problems found. The Fisheries Improvement Program, where funds are raised from angler’s rod licenses, was a great opportunity to cover the cost of this removal, as improving fish passage in Loadpit Beck would also help support fish populations in the fishable waters of the River Aire, 400m downstream.

…and the solution?

The works themselves, with permissions and support from Bradford Council and local landowners, were undertaken in August 2024 with Prof. Jonny Grey of the Wild Trout Trust being brought in as the principal contractor, alongside operational support from Ian and Pat from Atkinson Surfacing. Using handheld machinery, a new channel was cut into the right-hand half of the concrete apron. This was to enable retention of the scour-protecting function of the apron on the left side of the channel, below the outfall. Rather than cutting down to the channel bed, the material was cut away to retain a naturalistic channel within the concrete, to ensure fish passage, whilst also avoiding the risk of the channel scouring out in future. Sediment management was used downstream of the works to minimise fine concrete dust and silt mobilisation becoming an issue for aquatic organisms below the works.

As soon as the concrete breaker was lifted out of the water and the generator turned off, we all watched a Bullhead fish making the first journey up and above the barrier, enjoying the restful riffles of the new passable channel.

Monitoring the impact

Downstream of Loadpit Beck ART Volunteer Carolyn Robinson, who monitors river flies, says:

‘Riverfly Monitoring is a Citizen Science project that enables volunteers to gather information about the water quality of the River Aire and its tributaries. Following training and assessment, I was paired with another volunteer and together we monitored a site on Loadpit Beck that runs through Trench Meadows.

Once a month we ‘kick sample’ the site wearing wellies and using a standard net for 3 minutes, then check under large stones for 1 minute, ensuring comparable samples are taken over time. The sample is rinsed to remove unwanted debris, poured into a large tray and examined. We are looking for eight pollution-sensitive species of invertebrates that should be present in a healthy river. They are then transferred to an 8-segmented tray for counting, where we looking for 2 types of caddis flies, 4 types of up-wing flies, stoneflies, and freshwater shrimp. We also note the presence of other insects, snails or fish in the sample as well as any creatures that survive in polluted water eg leeches.

The number of each species is counted and allocated a score e.g. 1-9=1 point, 10-99=2 points, 100-999=3 points. At Trench Meadows our score has been between 8 and 14 points, we have identified all 8 target species, but not all on the same occasion. We are allocated a Trigger Level, and if our score falls below this there has possibly been a pollution event. We will check upstream of the site to look for any obvious pollution, changes in water colour etc and re-sample. If pollution is found or the score is still below the Trigger Level, the coordinator and local ecology contact are informed. Thankfully that has not happened at Trench Meadows, and it continues to be a healthy site.’

Geoff Roberts

This is the first in a series of interviews by Lucy Johnson, in which she interviews some of the key players in the development past, present and future, of The Aire Rivers Trust. We thank her for her committment and expertise in putting these pieces together.

Before Christmas I sat down with Geoff, a former Chair of the Aire Rivers Trust and current trustee, to talk about what led him to become involved with the charity and to discuss some of his aspirations for the future including partnerships with other Rivers Trusts and Yorkshire Water. Our conversation took place on a gloomy day in December, in a small room furnished with vending machines just behind the post room at the ART HQ.

Geoff is tall, bluff, direct and straightforward, with a warm manner. He comes across as very grounded in practical matters, so I was surprised at the almost whimsical nature of the quote he chose when I asked him for a favourite piece of wisdom. He plumped for the famous quote from the 1989 film, Field of Dreams, “build it and they will come,” which he interprets and puts into practice as, “create opportunities for people who will take those opportunities.” This has been a focus for Geoff since winding down his second career as a consultant on organisational change post several decades with Yorkshire Water, within his work with ART and a recent new trustee role with the Bradford-based Participate Projects.

Geoff characterises the River Aire as the “life-blood” of the community, and has worked for many years to enhance that. He has also been able to bring the environmental focus into play in his role at Participate Projects, using his expertise to guide young people as part of the Venturists programme.

A theme that emerged through our conversation was the importance of the exposure to nature in childhood. Geoff himself during his childhood in Hull would frequently go fishing with his father. He credits these trips with giving him exposure and knowledge that was definitely not part of his schooling, commenting, “you didn’t talk about the environment. No one was worried about it.” Geoff was also influenced by the author Henry Williamson and his books, “Tarka the Otter,” and “Salar the Salmon,” both titles coming readily to mind. Building on this personal experience, Geoff states, “If we can work with children and get children to value the environment and to value water in particular, they will become advocates for life.” Education and engagement are part of the Trust’s key strategies.

We also spoke about ART’s early days. We’re getting into third-hand information here as Geoff was not on the roster till 2013, but it seems that Kevin Sunderland called a meeting a couple of years prior to that, identifying the need for action to improve the River Aire, and a small charity was formed in 2012 comprising some trustees including current chair, Wendy. With typical understatement, when Geoff heard about ART, he contacted them saying, “I know a bit about the Aire.” He has been putting his knowledge to good use on ART’s behalf since, notching up hundreds of hours.

Geoff was asked to become Chair a couple of years after joining. He remained as Chair for seven or eight years, during which time the annual turnover of the Aire Rivers Trust increased tenfold, mainly thanks to the DNAire project. This project was based around getting salmon up to Skipton, and creating fish passes at four significant weirs.

Throughout the interview Geoff emphasised the importance of working in partnership with other organisations, and commented that in his own career he saw a shift from technical skills to relying more on people skills to move forwards. Sam Riley-Gunn leads the ART citizen science projects, and with his professional background Geoff is able to advocate for the use of data gathered to supplement the knowledge base of organisations such as Yorkshire Water.

Recently, in addition to supporting Wendy, Geoff has been instrumental in bringing about a regional partnership with Yorkshire Water between the Aire Rivers Trust and four other Yorkshire rivers trusts – the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, East Yorkshire Rivers Trust, Calder and Colne Rivers Trust and the Don Catchment Rivers Trust. As a group, there will be opportunities to learn and develop, and perhaps to have more of a voice at a broader level.

Geoff’s journey from being a young boy with an impressive chemistry set, to working within analytical chemistry at a firm which was itself polluting, and from there to Bradford to work for many decades with Yorkshire Water working with pollution at all levels, is one that has made him invaluable to the Aire Rivers Trust and to the broader community and given him irreplaceable knowledge and experience.