Dan Walker: broadcaster celebrates legendary fundraiser John Burkhill raising £1 million for Macmillan

Dan Walker has shared a snap of the legendary fundraiser John Burkhill, who has raised £1 million for Macmillan Cancer Support. The Channel 5 presenter, 46, from Sheffield, met Mr Burkhill in the city centre back in March for a segment on his 5 News programme.

He took to Instagram today to praise the fundraiser for his recent milestone achievement. Dan posted: “John Burkhill has been pushing his pram around Sheffield for years and has now passed the 1 million pound mark for @macmillancancer. What a superstar. It was a pleasure to film with him recently for @c5news 🏆❤️”.

John immediately replied saying: “The pleasure was all mine 💚 Thank you so much for your support @mrdanwalker”.

Followers were quick to praise John, with one posting: “Fantastic news. What a hero. Achieving £1 million raised is such an achievement 👍”. Another added: “You manage to connect with some incredible people Dan”.

A clip shows  John opening a card that says ‘John, you’ve done it. You have hit the million and we are so proud of you’. The overwhelmed pensioner says: “I feel so humbled. We’ve got to keep going now. We’ve got a million but there is another million out there. I’m going to keep going anyway no matter what. All I can say is thank you to each and every one of you”.

John, speaking through tears, adds: “When we set out to do it, it seemed like an impossible dream and a crazy thing for an old man to do but we’ve done it”.

Better known as the ‘Man with the Pram’, John Burkhill, aged 84, is a well-known face in Sheffield with his green wig, iconic pram and sign that says ‘please help me to raise a million for Macmillan”.

John has been raising money for Macmillan for 16 years. He started fundraising in memory of his late wife and daughter, who died just a year apart in the early nineties.

The pram he walks with is the one that he bought for his daughter in 1961 and the teddy bear on the front belonged to his late wife.

Not only does he push the pram around Sheffield, but on 26 March he took part in the Sheffield Half Marathon finishing in 1,037th place. He has completed this marathon every year since 1982 and people flock to cheer him on. Overwhelmed by the support from the crowds he said: “They’re absolutely brilliant. People are struggling, but they’re still donating, that’s fantastic”.