Fundraiser Les is honoured with Citizen of the Year Award by Gosport council

Les, from Gosport, was given the honour by Gosport Borough Council at last week’s mayor-making ceremony.

Since he started fundraising, Les has raised more than £10m and his total got so high he stopped counting.

His weekly quiz nights raise around £300 and he is always willing to give advice to other people holding fundraisers.

A council spokeswoman said of Les: ‘Les Heyhoe is a gentleman who gives all of his energy and devotes all of his time to organising and running events to raise money to help others.

‘One charity which Les helped raise the fantastic sum of £7,186 for was the Kids charity.

‘He also helped raise £500 for two years running at coffee mornings in support of Macmillan.

‘An individual he also helped fundraise for, together with local pubs, was Gosport girl Alicia Pannell.’

As previously reported in The News, Les was also named as Outstanding Individual Achievement award at the Charity Times Awards.

He beat fellow nominee Dame Esther Rantzen and three other volunteers.

The person who nominated him for the award says: ‘Nothing is too much trouble for Les, he gets communities united and has raised a lot of money for charities over the years.

‘He really deserves this award.’