John Burkhill BEM Bar, BCAv, is known as 'The Man with The Pram' and he can be seen almost every day walking around the streets of Sheffield wearing his trademark Green Wig and Pushing a Pram around raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Whether it is pouring it down with rain, snowing or blistering heat...John is absolutely determined to be out there raising money to help people affected by cancer. He originally set a target of raising £250,000 for the charity but in 2013 he reached this goal and then immediately set his sights on raising £1 million for the charity which he hit in 2023. “Even the Queen thinks I am barmy.”

He now has his sights set on the target saying: “I can’t believe we hit the million, it’s incredible. I’m not stopping, I’ll keep going…here’s to the next million!”

We should also mention that John, from Handsworth in Sheffield, is now aged 86 and has been decorated with many awards - in 2021, even a film was made about his life.

John sadly lost his wife, June, to cancer a year after they lost their daughter, Karen, during a routine operation (this was not cancer related). Since then, he has dedicated his life to raising funds for Macmillan having seen the support they provide. He has completed more than 1,000 races (1,055 as of June 2025!), poignantly pushing the pram that was originally bought for his daughter in 1961. "Whilst I'm pushing that pram, both my wife and daughter are with me," John says.Follow John on social media:Twitter | @JohnBurkhillBEMInstagram | @John_manwiththepram_BurkhillFacebook | Facebook.com/manwiththepram

His amazing fundraising efforts were recognised as he was chosen to carry the Olympic torch in Chapeltown on 25 June 2012.

And in the New Year's honours list, John was chosen to receive the British Empire Medal for his services to charity in 2013. A second bar for the medal was awarded to John in 2021.

He also received the Douglas Macmillan award for his services to Macmillan Cancer Support in 2013.

“The hardest part some days is thinking can I go out and do this, but what keeps me going is a few years ago, I was pushing my pram on a thousand mile walk, part of the Sheffield Star walk. This car stops and I see this young girl in the front, who is obviously ill, surrounded by oxygen tanks, I stopped to let her put money in my bucket and gave her a high five, with my big green foam hand, her little face lit up.“As I walked away, her dad got out the car, crying, and explained she had leukaemia, he said, “She’ll be talking about that for days to come, you made her so happy”. That, I’m not ashamed to say, made me cry and whenever I am having a bad day I just think of her face and it drives me on.”

Such were John's achievements, a film was commissioned about his life titled 'One in a Million'. The film premiered at Sheffield's Showroom Cinema in October 2021. You can watch the film here https://youtu.be/Je4yh1UA3IU

John received yet more nominations for awards in 2022, including BBC Sheffield's Make a Difference Award and a JustGiving Award for 'outstanding commitment'. John was over the moon to win the JustGiving award at the glittering ceremony in London in October 2022.In January 2023, John attended Westminster Palace to receive a 'British Citizens Award' for services to charitable giving. John'

Please note - this page is looked after by the fundraising team at Macmillan as John admits himself - he can't use social media!