A YORK Youtuber with over 500 subscribers says his videos are about "being more than something" as he breaks the stigma around his job.

Karl Senior - who runs the 'More Than 'Just A Cleaner'' channel - films his everyday pursuits, hobbies, adventures around the city and the up's and down's of life among other videos.

Karl has inspired people to explore kayaking and geocaching spots around the area with families getting outside in the lockdown.

From Selby Canal and the River Ouse to River Derwent, he has covered vast stretches of water taking his viewers along for the journey.

York Press: A snippet from one of Karl's kayaking videosA snippet from one of Karl's kayaking videos

In his channel intro video, he tells the audience: "It's about being more than something and for me, in my case, I'm more than just a cleaner".

Speaking to The Press, Karl said: "It's about looking beyond the way you normally see things, finding different perspectives. That's what's been good in the cleaner side of things. I think that was what I'm trying to convey.

"I've worked in this industry for a long time - most of my working life in fact. I've spent a portion of that working as a contract manager. You'd hear things about 'Oh, it's just the cleaners' - even one of my previous managers referred to the staff as that.

"I thought that was so disparaging as people are more than what they actually do. We're born human beings and anything else is just something you learn to do or be."

Explaining his love of kayaking, he said: "One of the things I like about kayaking is you do see a different perspective and you find areas you've never been through before."

York Press:

With dreams of one day making it a second career, Karl also dabbles in cleaning expert videos, ASMR - or 'autonomous sensory meridian response' which triggers relaxing, therapeutic sensations on the scalp and body - and walking tours around York.

"I experience ASMR quite strongly," Karl said.

"There's certain things that trigger.

"When I watch people paying attention to things that is a big trigger for me. I thought I know some people are triggered by certain sounds, I'll try it out. The most popular one is an ASMR unboxing one.

"I'm just trying to find things that entertain me."

Karl, who was born in Hull and grew up in Filey, added: "One of the things I love about living in York, it's not huge as a city. I love the minster, some of the architecture it's just quite spectacular really."

York Press:

His most heartfelt series saw him document his grief and final memories with his late father, Alec Senior, who sadly passed away earlier this year following a battle with cancer.

Reflecting on the videos, he said: "That particular playlist it's not a popular one. You're talking about death and you're talking about the inevitable outcome from the start.

"It was inevitable that my dad wasn't going to make it. Everything points to the fact that that's not going to happen. It was almost doomed from the start but I've had quite a few people who said they think I've been very brave in posting about all of that.

"I uploaded it, as my Dad agreed, it might actually help somebody who's going through something somewhere. It was a means of me still being able to be creative while being involved with my Dad.

"My dad was my best mate. We used to go to the pub together. In my family he was the person I was closest to.

"It was a couple of weeks after he passed that the final one about his funeral got uploaded. I didn't feel I could really let go until I got that video uploaded. I thought no, I need to finish this story off.

"It was the end of an era with my dad. It was far worse than coronavirus. It was at times fascinating, at times frustrating and at times heart breaking. It was a lot of things."

You can keep up with Karl by visiting his YouTube channel 'More Than 'Just a Cleaner'' here.