Rollerskating great-grandad's 90th birthday challenge

A great-grandfather is aiming to rollerskate 90 laps of a courtyard before his 90th birthday for charity.

John Wilcock, from Warwick, has not skated for around 70 years but says he was inspired to raise money by Marcus Rashford's free school meals campaign and Captain Sir Tom Moore.

So far he has raised more than £3,600 for food charity FareShare.

Mr Wilcock said, being brought up in a poor family, he "knows what it is like to go to school hungry".

Initially planning to sell the skates after a disastrous first attempt, he was inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore's pledge to walk 100 lengths of his garden and decided to set his own challenge.

As a 19-year-old in the RAF, Mr Wilcock said he was stationed near Cromer in Norfolk and would go roller skating each Saturday, but admitted the "young ladies in their fancy dresses" were more of an attraction than the skating.

"During the pandemic and lockdown I was feeling short of exercise and I saw a boy in the park roller skating," he said

"I thought, 'well, what a good way to get some exercise', so I went online and bought some skates and that was my first mistake because as soon as I put them on I was very quickly on my bottom."

Mr Wilcock has attracted attention, and donations, after being spotted practicing while wearing his Union Jack helmet

Now using his wife's rollator frame for balance, he plans to do two laps a week until his birthday on the 21 January 2022.

Despite describing his courtyard route as "a bit hairy" due to its slopes, he has already completed eight laps.

He initially set a fundraising target of £500 but attracted attention while practicing in his local park while wearing his Union Jack helmet, and has now raised thousands.

"A lot of [people] said it put a smile on their face," he said.