James was a school teacher and house master, forced to quit teaching in 2013 following a brain tumour that left him without sight and his body partially disabled.  Motivated by his desire to see children fulfil their potential, James set up the charity 'I Can And I Am' and has spent 4 years visiting 100's of schools to speak about his journey and the importance of inflating the balloon of self-belief.  

To help raise funds James has now completed a mammoth row down the River Thames, finishing in Teddington on May 1st 2017.  Somehow, on a less than impressive boat, he overcame 128 miles of rowing. A small miracle! A crew of friends and family played their part along the way and the great Thames Challenge of 2017 was a huge success both as a personal achievement to James and also to raise funds for his charity, I Can and I Am. By the end of the row, a huge £65,000 had been raised which is being put towards extending James’s work in to state secondary schools  and in establishing a one to one mentoring program for use in all schools by pastoral staff.    

The row had many exceedingly high points and many, many low ones. The weather wasn’t always kind, the boat ran in to a number of difficulties and keeping a crew motivated for up to 25 miles a day was often a challenge. But each day they found a way and all have finished with a tale or two to tell and a wonderful life experience.   45 locks, 124 miles, 47 energy bars, 55 bananas, 12 very special crew members, 1 broken seat, 35 swans, 1 pair of raw coccyx, 15 blisters, £65,000 raised and counting!