John Burkhill: I hit the street with Sheffield's iconic Man with the Pram and was touched by how loved he is

On May 17, 2024, I went out to interview Sheffield’s legendary John Burkhill about his latest fundraising goals. It exactly didn’t go to plan - in fact, something much better happened.

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John was telling me about how Her Majesty The Queen was “a lovely lass” when he met her, how the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip told him “never lose that Yorkshire accent,” and of his sympathy for King Charles after his cancer diagnosis.

“It shows cancer can affect everyone,” said John. “In another life you or I could have been royals. You don’t choose that sort of thing.”

The interview was going well - however, the Man with the Pram has many, many fans.

As the footage above captures, it was difficult to conduct an interview with the fundraising icon because, wherever he goes, he is swamped by his adoring public.

“He’s a lovely man,” said one lady, Monica, who says she sees John every week to drop some coins in his bucket. “What he has done is unbelievable. And he always has time to talk to you.”

Monica was just the first of dozens to come forward in the 45 minutes I spent with John. Every single minute saw another of his friends appear, drop in a few pounds and shake his hand.

I would never begrudge John or Sheffield’s public for interrupting the video. The people who said hello have known him far longer than me.

And besides, this is the man who politely had to turn down receiving an award from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak because it conflicted with an award ceremony at The Moor Market - John’s priority is always the city that loves him.

The people on Fargate were more than fans. Many stopped to ask how he was and update John on some gossip in their lives - until it became clear it was because this was something they did every single week.

One man, Alan Clark, told me how John had been “a true friend” in recent years while he was going through a rough time. Another lady ran up, hugged him, threw in a two pound coin and called him “my inspiration”. While she was doing that, another man stepped in, put a fiver in and left without John even seeing him.

One long time friend gave John a chocolate bar from Hotel Chocolat to “keep him going,” hugged him, and left. John confided he “can’t eat it,” and gave it to the next lady to put coins in the bucket.

It has been a year since the charity superstar, who turned 85 in January, achieved his ‘Magic Million’ dream of raising £1m for Macmillan Cancer Support through running marathons and bucket-rattling in the street and at football games.

And in that year since, he has raised another £100,000. He has run over 1,045 races in total. In the 45 minutes I spent with him, I estimate I saw £30-35 added to the total.

Several fans remarked that John was on his way to “his second million.” John humbly brushed this off as a joke, but it’s a certainty that his friends around Sheffield really believe he can do it.

“As long as I can keep putting one foot in front of the other I’ll keep at it,” said John.

“I’ve been out in some terrible weather. Snow, rain... sometimes I end up with a bucket of water and five goldfish, but if there’s as much as 10p in there then that’s 10p more.”

See The Star’s gallery of photos below with just some of John Burkhill’s fans, or watch the footage of my attempts to interview him above.