Sheffield's 'man with the pram' sends message from self-isolation amid coronavirus crisis

Steel City legend and ‘man with the pram’ John Burkhill has sent out a message to fellow Sheffielders in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.
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John, from Handsworth, is currently taking time away from his personal challenge of raising £1 million for Macmillan Cancer Support following Government orders to stay home, save lives and protect the NHS.

He has raised an incredible £750,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and is a well-known figure throughout the city, often seen on the Moor in his unmissable green costume.

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John said: “Everyone in Sheffield, please, please keep safe”.

John BurkhillJohn Burkhill
John Burkhill

“As much as I would like to be walking around, fundraising for Macmillan, I can’t.

“We’ve all got to stay inside; we have to listen to the Government.

“The lasses and lads who work for the NHS, we’d be lost without them. They are putting their lives on the line every day for us.

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“The only way we’ll get through this is to stick together. We’ve got through things before, we will get through them again.

“I cannot wait to be back out again, see my regular supporters who are now my friends.

“All I want is for everyone to be safe. To all the Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday supporters, I can’t wait to be back with you all. Up the Blades, up the Owls.”

At 81, John is classed among those “at higher risk” if he catches the virus, he has been in isolation for over a fortnight, he has tips for coping with the lockdown rules:

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“I’m coping by keeping busy. Yesterday, for example, I mopped the floor about five times, changed things round at my flat and put them back again. M’ flats never been as clean.

“I’m doing everything I can to keep my mind active. I have been going through all my old scrap books, a trip down memory lane. It brought back a lot of happy memories, which I think especially us oldens are really living off at the minute.

“The only person who is happy about all this is my mascot Biggles (he is over 70 years old and is my late wife’s teddy ) on the pram, he is enjoying his break from exercise, but I will make him work twice as hard when we get back to normal.”

John has been fundraising for Macmillan for 15 years, he was motivated to start walking after he sadly lost his wife, June, to cancer in 1992 and his daughter, Karen, during a routine operation only a year later – he has well exceeded his initial motivation to raise £250,000 for Macmillan.

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Although John is no longer able to get out and collect money in his trademark green wig pushing his pram he is still encouraging people to support his fundraising for Macmillan.

He said: “People can give as little or as much as they want to, this can be done on my Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/madwalker.

“I have seen the great work of this charity first-hand and your donation really does make a difference.”