Wigan man's dinosaur-themed fund-raising for the NHS a huge success

He initially put together the Winstanley Park Dino Trail in Blundell’s Wood, giving children and families a map to locate number of fossils scattered around the green space.

Unfortunately that had to be canned due to vandalism and people helping themselves to the fossils, but undeterred Kris ploughed on with his quest to help the health service.

He discovered neighbour Ian Yates has a huge T-Rex costume and got one himself, with the two prehistoric creatures roaming Winstanley and the surrounding areas with collection buckets for charity.

The idea proved a massive hit with residents, bringing in around £1,500 to add to the £500 raised by the fossil trail.

Kris, 37, described his delight and surprise at just how generously Wiganers have responded to his call for donations to help the front line of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: “I am amazed how much we’ve raised. I expected we could get £1,000 in total so I’m elated to top £2,000.

“I’ve never seen so many likes, shares and comments on a community forum before, it’s unreal.

“We had to pull the fossil trail after four days. It was one of those things: you put things in the woods and if people don’t know about it they take them.

“I realised one of my neighbours had this T-Rex suit so I got one. We went round every morning during half term to different areas of Winstanley. People were waiting to see us in our costumes.

“We built up this narrative on the Winstanley Walks page about the dinosaurs escaping in the area and suggesting people gave them money because they would be hungry. The kids loved the costumes.

“Ian ended up mowing a lawn in his dinosaur outfit, which was hilarious. It was hard work in the heat, though, we were soaked with sweat afterwards.”

As well as walking around Winstanley for two hours each day fund-raising Kris and Ian also headed up to the Co-op on the Thursday evening of the final Clap for Carers, having been invited to collect donations at a sing-along there.

Kris set up his popular Winstanley Walks to stream his daily exercise during lockdown and is still expanding the page, recently beginning regular walks with a historian to explore the local area’s past.

He has also been in touch with Wigan Council and received litter-picking equipment for volunteers to spruce up the neighbourhood.