Lizzie Carr is set to become the first person paddleboard the length of England.

ADVENTURER and Ordnance Survey #GetOutside Champion, Lizzie Carr, has embarked on the challenge of a lifetime: to become the first person to successfully paddleboard the length of England via its connected waterways, using entirely human powered means. The challenge also has an important environmental purpose, as Lizzie will map out and scale the issue of plastic pollution, highlighting hotspots that require attention along the way.

Before Lizzie set off on the challenge we caught up with her to find out all about the route, any fears she had and what excited her most about the adventure. She talked passionately about the need to for the nation to take plastic pollution more seriously than ever and shared and explained where the money raised from the challenge would go.

You can track Lizzie’s progress on her website www.lizzieoutside.co.uk and to donate to the charities she is raising money for go to crowdfunding.justgiving.com/supersupengland.

What made you come up with the idea for your SuperSupEngland challenge?

Almost 80 per cent of plastics in our ocean stem from inland sources but the issue isn’t being addressed on a local level. Plastic pollution is a global problem but it’s important to highlight its the impact locally so people understand the scale of the threat we’re under from it – and that’s what SuperSUPEngland is about. Our canals and rivers are largely neglected and not a popular cause, but are iconic pieces of history that we should treasure and protect. If people start thinking about the environmental impact of plastic on a local level then hopefully we can begin to see a change in globally.

Lizzie’s challenge aims to highlight plastic pollution on England’s canals.

Tell us about the trackers on your board and the idea of monitoring plastic along your journey?

I’ll be plotting all my plastic findings along the way on an interactive, real-time map to highlight the issue up and down the country and bring it together in one place for the very first time. Although I expect to find a lot of waste and debris, I also know are sections of the network that are simply stunning. The ultimate goal is to change attitudes towards plastics so all our waterways are places to be enjoyed and the wider problem of it filtering through to oceans is addressed at the same time.

I’d love people to share their plastic findings along the waterways as well using #PlasticPatrol so we can start to build an even bigger picture.

Lizzie’s route will see her paddleboard over 642km.

How do you hope you can highlight the issue of plastic pollution and what more do you think we need to do as a society to change people’s littering behaviours?

Paddle boarding is still a relatively unusual sport and our rivers and canals are largely neglected – they just aren’t a popular cause so highlighting the threat from plastics within our waterways is a way of localising the issue in hope that people will think about it a little more and, ultimately, fall back in love so they feel compelled to take action in the same way I have.

Lizzie will be supporting charities WaterTrek and WaterAid as part of the challenge.

What are your biggest fears about the challenge and what are you most looking forward to?

There are 193 locks throughout the route so portaging those is going to be physically demanding. Mentally, paddling for several hours a day can get quite lonely and over a few weeks that will be tough. That said, I’m honestly looking forward to all of it – what an adventure! But, if I had to pick one section it would be the Ribble Link. It’s the first time a paddle boarder has been granted access to pass through so it’s a real breakthrough for the sport in the UK. It feels like a positive step to opening the waterways up to more people and encourage more positive uses of it which can only be a good thing.

Find out more about Lizzie and follow her blog at www.lizzieoutside.co.uk.

Tell us about the charities which will be benefiting from SuperSupEngland and why did you choose them?

I’ll be supporting WaterAid and WaterTrek as part of this challenge. Both charities are passionate about cleaning and sanitising our water for people and ecosystems globally, and WaterTrek does this through promoting the need to protect aquatic ecosystems though water sports like SUP.

How can our readers follow your journey?

As well as tracking the environmental journey, I will also be tracked on my website www.lizzieoutside.co.uk so you can follow me real-time. If people live near the canals on my route it would be great to see some friendly faces joining #PlasticPatrol. I’m also posting regular updates on my social channels Facebook (Lizzie Outside) , Instagram (Lizzie Outside), Twitter (Lizzo010) as well.

To donate to the charities benefiting from Lizzie’s #SuperSUPEngland challenge go to crowdfunding.justgiving.com/supersupengland.