Jim's daughter Rachelle McFarland has kindly provided this information about her father:
"He was born in Coventry and came to London in his youth, to eventually meet my mother.
"He has worked for The Corporation of London as a Parks Keeper on Hampstead Heath, the Parliament Hill Lido as a lifeguard, and was the branch Chair for the Camden Trade Union. He dedicated his life to taking care of others, one way or another.
"He became the Chair of the organisation PALS (Play and Leisure Services) in 1999, whose aim was to get the children of The Russell Nurseries Estate somewhere safe to play football and other activities throughout the estate. They succeeded in 2000 with the grand opening of Jim's Pitch, but sadly my father passed away a month before the pitch was completed.
"Fast forward 23 years: the pitch was in disrepair and we were about to lose such a fantastic asset to the elements, and a major link to my father. We formed a new organisation called The Russell Nurseries and Jim's Pitch Community Association (of which now I am the Chair) which went on to not only save the asset, but to have it redeveloped into a multi-use games asset."
