Woolly Hat Poet set to walk 125 miles on a 12-date tour for charity - and he needs a member of the audience to put him up each night

Benjamin Guilfoyle, the Woolly Hat Poet, is coming to Littleborough on 29 May on his 125-mile charity hike

Lancaster-based Benjamin Guilfoyle will strap on his walking boots for an epic 125-mile hike from Lancaster to Brighouse in Yorkshire for his first big poetry tour, passing through Littleborough on the way.

But audiences on the 12-date tour are in for a shock - because he will make an on-stage appeal every performance for one of them to give him a bed for the night.

Benjamin is raining money for two charities – the Lancaster and District Homeless Action Service and the Lancaster Children’s Library – with every penny from ticket sales and donations while on the tour donated to the charities.

And to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness, the poet will have nowhere to stay each night of his tour – and will be sleeping rough unless someone in the audience steps forward and offers him a bed for the night.

Benjamin said: “The Wandering Poet tour is all about being kind and doing something for others to make their day a little bit brighter. I want to be able to use my poetry and this tour to make a difference, however small, and to support these two local charities because without support they might not be around that much longer.”

“My poetry comes from a place of happiness. I use my poems to tell stories and to focus on the smaller things in life that we might overlook and those small victories that get us through our everyday lives.”

“My poetry, I hope, will make my audiences laugh and there will be at least one poem in the show that they can relate to on a personal level.”

The performance poet – known as the Woolly Hat Poet – heads out on the road in May for a gruelling 12-date tour, taking in Lancaster, Garstang, Preston, Wigan, Bolton, Prestwich, Salford, Oldham, Littleborough, Hebden Bridge, Halifax and finally his home-town of Brighouse on consecutive nights.

The Littleborough show will take place at the Ebor Studio & Gallery Frank at 7pm on Wednesday 29 May.

Benjamin will be joined by local poetic talent, musicians and artists to give each show a local voice.

The tour kicks off on May 21 in Lancaster and will run each day until June 1.