Sheffield Wednesday: Club makes huge gesture to help John Burkhill reach £1m fundraising target

The club have confirmed that fundraising legend John Burkhill - otherwise known as ‘the man with the pram’ – will be returning to Hillsborough for the Owls’ season-opener in pursuit of his ‘magic million’.

John, aged 83 and from Handsworth, has raised over £850,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support over the years but is desperate to reach his £1 target.

MORE: John Burkhill: ‘Man with a Pram’ thanks Sheffield for donations in final push for the ‘magic million’

To help, Owls bosses are allowing John and a team of volunteers to take collection buckets to Hillsborough for SWFC’s first game of the season against Portsmouth on Saturday, July 30.

MORE: Sheffield school raises £1,500 to help 'man with the pram' John Burkhill reach his £1m fundraising target

John will collect from his usual spot on Penistone Road while volunteers will be stationed around the stadium before the game, with money in all the buckets going towards John’s fundraising total.

Fans at the game can also donate to help John reach his magic million, by texting PRAM to 70550 to make a £5

donation.

John has raised hundreds of thousands for Macmillan over the years by completing more than 1,000 races while pushing his daughter’s pram along wherever he goes, earning him the nickname ‘the man with the pram’.

Hannah Lumb-Smith, helping to organise the fundraising event at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground next weekend, said: “We are so thrilled that Sheffield Wednesday have allowed John and his volunteers to collect on his behalf for the match against Portsmouth.

“John is a well-known face at both Hillsborough and Bramall Lane, and all fans have been very generous to John’s fundraising down the years.

“We would ask everyone spare whatever they can for John to help him reach his magic million, be it loose change, by texting to donate or donating online. Monies raised ensue Macmillan continues to be there for people living with cancer, whatever it takes.”

Fundraising took on a whole new meaning for John when he lost his wife, June, to cancer and his daughter, Karen, just a year later.

He then made it his mission to do all he could to support Macmillan, and has since been raising money for them for the last fourteen years.

His first target was to raise £250,000, but he has been so relentless in his fundraising that he is now eyeing up the £1m mark.

Anyone wishing to volunteer to help at Hillborough next week should email [email protected].

Visit John’s JustGiving page here.