Volunteer Spotlight on Elio Gregori
“I enjoy working on ongoing projects where you can see progress, such as building berms and flow deflectors on the Quaggy, doing vegetation clearance and dead hedging, toe-boarding removal on the Dollis Brook, and returning to previously Balsam Bashed areas and seeing a difference.”
Our volunteers are at the heart of what we do at Thames21. They dedicate their time to helping us improve London’s waterways, putting in many hours of hard work to make river restoration, citizen science, and data projects thrive.
To celebrate National Volunteer Week, we’re back with our Volunteer Spotlight series, highlighting some of our regular volunteers who attend our events, support our work and make a positive difference in the local community and the environment.
We spoke to Elio Gregori, who’s been volunteering with us for over a year now. Elio has always felt connected to rivers, and he doesn’t miss an opportunity to attend our events regardless of where they are, from North to South and East to West.
Please could you tell us about yourself and your background.
London born to Italian parents, I lived my first 25 years close to either the River Lea or the New River first in Clerkenwell (in River Street of course), then Stoke Newington and Tottenham.
My secondary school backed onto the Lea at South Tottenham. My sister lives in Ware, at the start of the New River where it takes its water from the Lea.
I spent my working life in IT which is as far away from rivers and the natural world as you could get. After my second redundancy in 2019, I thought I’d experiment with semi-retirement but then Covid hit and I’ve now grown used to thinking of myself as fully retired.
How did you come across Thames21 and how long have you been volunteering with us?
I’d been using my free time to visit museums, galleries, parks and exhibitions, cycling the Thames Path and the River Lea path. As it was mostly done on my own, I found I was missing the social contact I used to have with my work colleagues and then I started to think about volunteering.
I mentioned this to my daughter who found Thames21 and signed us both up for the Big Wet Wipe Count at Hammersmith in April 2023. It was messy but eye-opening, interesting and fun.
I started volunteering in earnest soon after with a River Litter Detectives session at Broomhouse Dock, then a couple of Balsam Bashes on the Cray near where I live in Sidcup. Since then, I’ve been all over London: Barnet, Hendon, Colindale, Edgeware, Burnt Oak, Isle of Dogs & Chiswick Eyot. I counted my booking confirmation emails and just this year I attended 53 events!
What do you enjoy the most about volunteering?
I enjoy working on ongoing projects where you can see progress, such as building berms and flow deflectors on the Quaggy, doing vegetation clearance and dead hedging, toe-boarding removal on the Dollis Brook, and returning to previously Balsam Bashed areas and seeing a difference.
I like the variety of the activities, some of them are quite heavy duty but you can take it at your own pace or hold back if it’s too much.
Tell us about one of your favourite experiences as a Thames21 volunteer.
Establishing a comradeship with the Thames21 group leaders and regular volunteers.
What piece of advice would you give to those who want to start volunteering but don’t know where to start?
Start with a River Litter Detectives session – it usually has a freestyle litter-picking session after the detective work and is quite easy going.
Thanks for your support and the countless hours of work you’ve been putting into improving and protecting our rivers, Elio!
If you’d like to be featured in our Volunteer Spotlight series, get in contact with us Thames21’s communications team at communications@thames21.org.uk