Pants-on-head man raises a few nicker for charity

Mark Robson with short grey hair and a blue raincoat wearing white pants on his head with a green Christians Against Poverty logo. He is looking at shops to his right. There are shops on both sides of a pedestrian street and some shoppers are walking down it.Image source, Martin Heath/BBC
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Mark Robson could not go undercover and had to wear his pants with pride

  • Published

A man has been using his briefs for debt relief by wearing them on his head for a day.

Martial arts instructor Mark Robson wore his unusual attire around Daventry, Northamptonshire to raise funds for Christians Against Poverty.

He also took his Taekwondo classes with the non-regulation headwear.

He said he was hoping to raise hundreds of pounds and described the experience as "a bit embarrassing but for a good cause".

Image source, Martin Heath/BBC
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Oliver Hall, serving in a health food shop, said: "I think it's beautiful, I think more people should walk around with their underpants on their head"

Mr Robson set off on a gentle stroll around the town, so did not pant too much.

He thought some people found him hilarious, some were confused and others did not even notice.

The idea came from the debt counsellor at Christians Against Poverty in Rugby, the nearest branch to Daventry.

Image source, Martin Heath/BBC
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Some shoppers were taken aback by the headgear, but many donated

He said: "It's a little bit embarrassing wandering around town with pants on your head but you've just got to take it as it is and just go, 'well, it's for a very good cause'.

"Looking an idiot beats running for 26 miles!"

He added the underwear was "a great conversation opener, a good ice breaker".

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Bookshop worker Tom Welch thought the pants were "very practical at this time of year" and the "second-best thing to a knitted hat"

After a couple of briefs from the charity, several other people have put up a united Y-front and donned the drawers in Rugby for Christians Against Poverty.

Explaining why he wanted to support its work, Mr Robson said: "So many people these days have managed to spiral themselves into unmanageable debt and they want to help people work their way out of that debt."

Image source, Martin Heath/BBC
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Michael Okundaye said the pants were "a bit strange" and he was unlikely to follow Mr Robson's example

Mr Robson said his headgear had prompted several pant jokes, including: "Why is it OK for a Taekwondo instructor to wear Y-fronts on his head?

"Because they don't care much for boxers!"

That joke is, as they say, absolute pants.

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