Local legend

7-minute read • 1,167 words

Originally published in the March 2013 issue of Sixer Magazine.

As a journalist, you get to meet some real characters. In my fledgling career, I’ve spoken to plenty who’ve left a lasting impression.

There was the crown green bowler from Barnsley – still playing day-in, day-out at 89 years old – and the bloke who was so sick of the X Factor that he started an internet campaign to stop one of the show’s contestants from getting a Christmas number one single.

Then there have been the famous people – among them TV gardener Charlie Dimmock (really funny) and Hollywood star Dominic West (really tall).

But I’ve never done an interview with someone who wore a bright green wig and shorts throughout.

Until now, that is.

The interviewee in question is John Burkhill. Some readers may know him as ‘the mad man with the pram’ (more of which later). But even readers who are unfamiliar with these names have probably seen him. Because for the past nine years or so, John has walked through the streets of Sheffield almost every day – in his green-wig-and-shorts outfit – in a bid to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Care. As memorable characters go, this one is unforgettable.

“I think I probably am mad – a crackpot!” John laughs. “But put it this way – if somebody puts 10 pence in my charity bucket, it’s ten pence more than Macmillan had the day before. And if you look at it like that, it’s got to work.”

A lifelong marathon runner and race walker, John, from Richmond, has been fundraising for decades. But his commitment to charity intensified around 20 years ago after he suffered two terrible family tragedies.

His 29-year-old daughter Karen went for a small stomach operation and never came round from the anaesthetic, and his wife June succumbed to cancer – both within a year of each other.

John’s devastating loss spurred him on. “I thought ‘I can do something about this’,” he says.

Now 74, he’s been walking and running tirelessly ever since, raising money for various causes. When he’s not in a marathon, or half-marathon, or 10k race, or fun run (the list goes on), he’s walking across Sheffield collecting cash from passers-by.

John’s latest target is to complete 1,000 races and raise £250,000 for Macmillan. For a man of his age, it sounds… well, mad. But he’s completed over 890 already, raising more than £130,000 in the process.

Meeting John, it quickly becomes clear why he’s so close to reaching his ambitious goal – he has the energy of a man 50 years younger. He talks at 100 miles an hour, twiddling his thumbs furiously as he goes – and he dishes out anecdotes just as quickly.

“I was out in the bad snow we had recently, and I walked past some workers gritting the road. They said to me: ‘People moan about us, but we must be doing the job right – you’re coming past with a pram!’”

Ah yes, the pram. Besides his wig/shorts combo, John’s most recognisable prop – and the source of his nickname – is his four-wheeled pram, which he pushes with him wherever he goes. How did that come about?

“Before I retired, I was a truck driver for Express Dairies in Sheffield,” he says. “I led a company race team, and we’d heard about another team who held the world record for pushing a pram from Sheffield to Land’s End. We thought we’d try to beat their record, and we did – 385 miles in 87 hours and 14 minutes. After that, I just kept pushing a pram in all the races I did.”

The one John pushes today is no ordinary pram – it’s decorated with posters and stickers, and has several cuddly passengers, including Biggles, a teddy bear in a pilot’s outfit. It’s also been given a parking ticket, and has an out-of-date tax disc on the front – somehow, one suspects the South Yorkshire Police force are unlikely to pull John up on either of these matters any time soon.

John’s charity efforts have made him one of the region’s most recognisable fundraisers. He’s attended the Pride of Britain Awards, and met famous faces such as Prince Charles and the Queen (“a nice lady,” says John, “She thinks I’m crackers, though!”). Last summer, he was chosen to be one of Sheffield’s Olympic torchbearers. The torch was presented to John afterwards – many of his daily trips around Sheffield now involve him taking it to people for them to pose with.

John’s most recent accolade is his British Empire Medal. He was nominated by the people of Sheffield for the award, and will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace later this year with other nominees. Was he proud when he found out he’d won?

“I cried – I’m not ashamed to say that,” says John. “For the people of Sheffield to think enough of a silly old man like me to vote for me to get a medal – that is unbelievable. I was absolutely dumbfounded – I had to look at the letter three or four times. It’s a great, great honour.”

Clearly, John’s fellow Sheffielders think he deserves proper credit for his work. He’s become something of a celebrity in his home city, with strangers and well-wishers greeting him at every turn. When I go outside to take John’s picture for this article, our photography session is constantly interrupted by people coming over to shake his hand. What’s it like being a local legend?

“Sometimes it takes me ages to get anywhere, because people are coming out with cups of tea for me,” he laughs. “I did the Sheffield Marathon this year, and it took me an hour and a half to get down Ecclesall Road – I couldn’t move!”

Still taking part in marathons at 74, John shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. Will he ever stop walking for charity?

“As long as I can put one foot in front of the other, I’ll keep going.” He looks skywards. “That lad up there doesn’t want me yet – he’s not interested.”

“I met a little lass with leukaemia last week – she’s got very little time left,” he says. “She put her arms around me when she saw me. I’m lucky I can do these walks – she can’t. So I can’t stop – I’ve got to carry on no matter what.”

He may be ‘the mad man with the pram’, but actually there’s nothing crazy about John Burkhill at all – he’s just a chap from Sheffield with a singular determination to help those in need. Of course, I’d like to think there’d be another pram-pushing, green-wig-wearing pensioner for me to interview one day. Somehow, though, I doubt they’d be quite as memorable – or inspiring – as this one.

For information on how you can help Macmillan Cancer Care, contact Rob Turner, fundraising manager for Sheffield and Chesterfield, on 07545 419 725, email rturner@macmillan.org.uk or visit www.macmillan.org.uk.