John hitting charity targets
JOHN Barlow is a busy man.
The keen archer also has fundraising in his sights.
He collects soft drinks cans – even though he doesn't drink them.
TRACY WALKER reports.
FUNNY how he seems to hit the target in whatever he does,
John Barlow, 54, is a bit of a dab hand at archery. The sureshot is just as good at fundraising.
In fact, he is so good he has raised around 5,000 by collecting and recycling soft drinks cans.
There's a certain irony in it all.
He says: "I don't even drink that many soft drinks and my wife has a lot of bottled drinks."
For the past 22 years, John and his wife Di have been collecting aluminium drinks cans, which they weigh in for money that they give to charity.
The NSPCC, the Great North Air Ambulance, the RSPCA and the RNLI are just a handful of the good causes the couple have turned cans into cash for.
The father-of-two has raised around 5,000 for the organisations over the years – having bagged up an estimated 30,000 cans.
John said he gets permission to get cans from the recycling bins at work.
The IT trainer for District of Easington Council, added: "We first chose the NSPCC to benefit as it was the then-chairman of the council's chosen charity. Me and my wife thought it was a good way of recycling and raising money at the same time.
"Most people just bung them in the recycling bins but you can get money from the scrap merchants for them.
"People at work are quite impressed with it."
John, who is father to Jonathan, 25, and Melissa, 22, said what began as a "small collection" now sees him taking up to 20 bin bags, containing 200 flattened cans in each bag, every three months to the Pout and Foster recycling yard in Hartlepool.
"We used to get them cashed in and get 50 on a regular basis but the price has fallen," said John.
"The last time I took a batch over we got 37 for 24 bags. But I have seen as much as 22 bags get 130."
John said he chose the Great North Air Ambulance as he is a keen fell-walker in the Lake District, "you never know when you might need them".
John, from the Howletch area of Peterlee, also spends his time helping to run the East Durham Archers, which meets at Dene House Community School of Technology in Peterlee on Monday nights.
He got involved after seeing the club coach Arthur Armstrong doing archery displays at the Peterlee Show and persuaded him to start a club in Peterlee.
That was back in October 2006 and the group now has 58 people signed up, 30 of which are regulars.
"I think I have a natural bent for archery, I seemed to always be able to hit the target at the Peterlee Show," said club secretary John.
"I heard there's an ancient law that says if an archer doesn't practice archery on a Sunday you could be fined and imprisoned.
"I do it on a Monday and that's good enough."
A new scoring system has been introduced to archery and John is currently trying to master his 'handicap', which involves him shooting 60 arrows in one hour.
And archery is not the only ancient art John loves.
He set up the Easington Folk and Acoustic Club, which meets in the Easington Miners' Welfare Hall on Wednesdays.
John plays the guitar, the mandolin, harmonica, penny whistle and the Irish bodhran.
And he is keen to add another string to his bow – he is currently learning to play the fiddle.
He first got into folk music in the 1970s and his love of the genre was reignited when his wife's sister, who was visiting from Australia in 1999 and played the concertina, asked if he knew of a local folk club.
John duly responded and set up his own club.
He teaches guitar at the club, is a member of folk trio Miner Key with Alan Barker and Paul Thompson, and has also written around 50 songs and poems.
They are mainly about mining history but his council colleagues have even been the subject of his lyrics.
"I've even written a poem about the dangers of putting tinsel around your computer monitor at Christmas," he mused.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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