If you spend any time around Gosport, chances are you’ve heard the name Les Heyhoe. And if you haven’t yet, you probably will soon.
Les Hehoe lives in Elson, and for more than five decades he has been quietly, and sometimes very loudly, raising money for charities. Not a few hundred pounds here and there, but an astonishing £12 million for good causes across Gosport, the UK, and beyond.
And he’s done most of it with little more than a microphone, a set of foam dice, a few hobby horses… and a lot of enthusiasm.
From ring pulls to a worldwide campaign
Les’ fundraising story started early. At just 16 years old, growing up in Norfolk, he spotted a small fundraiser where you could collect aluminium ring pulls from drink cans, and raise money for charity.
“In the early 70s, aluminium was quite valuable,” Les recalls. “People started collecting them and I wanted to get involved so I came up with the phrase ‘Give Les a Ring’ to start collecting them myself.”
What started as a small local collection quickly grew into something much bigger. Within 18 months Les’ campaign had raised £1.2 million for charity.
Having joined the Navy at 16, Les soon found his fundraising reputation following him to base.
“My admiral asked what I’d been up to. I told him a Lord was coming to see me about the fundraising and he said, ‘Why is he coming to see you and not me?’” he laughs.
Before long, military bases around the world were collecting ring pulls for Les. “The first time I realised people all over the world were collecting ring pulls for me, I thought, this has got slightly out of hand” he laughs.
“It was a crazy time as every day, navy ships would turn up with hundreds of bags of ring pulls. I then had thousands of bags, so I needed space to store them, so the military helped.
That early success sparked something in him.
“I got such a sense of achievement from it,” he says. “I thought – I quite like this feeling. So, I just carried on.”
The man behind Gosport’s most unusual fundraisers
Since then, Les has spent more than 50 years creating imaginative, and often hilarious, ways to raise money.
In the 1980s he organised an abseil down Norwich House for Cancer Research – something virtually unheard of at the time.
“We had 323 people abseiling in a day, including someone who was 98 years old,” he says. “It took a lot of logistics to organise that many people, but we did it, and raised £153,000 in the process, with £100,000 going towards building the Tenacious, an all-wooden sailing ship designed to allow disabled people to sail, and £53,000 Tenovus Cancer research”
But if there’s one event that has truly become a legend locally, it’s Les’ race nights.
Hobby horses, foam dice and £230,000 in a single night
Les has been running his now-famous race nights for 46 years, starting with a small event of around 40 people at HMS SULTAN – a venue that alone has raised £219,000 from hosting his events.
Today, they regularly attract 300 people, and he often has to turnover people away. “I once had over 1,000 that wanted a ticket to a single event. It was crazy!” he laughs.
The format is brilliantly simple.
Six pretend “jockeys” ride hobby horses, and a pair of foam dice determines the winner. The crowd buys horses, places bets and cheers their favourites across an imaginary finish line.
“You don’t need to know anything about racing,” Les says. “It’s pure luck and the roll of the dice.”
Les says the atmosphere is electric. “You see complete strangers cheering together like they’ve known each other for years. That’s the magic of it.”
Half the money from horse sales goes to the winner, the other half to charity. “The most I’ve ever sold a horse for was £7,000,” he laughs. “And that particular race night held in London, raising money for Macmillan nurses, brought in an extraordinary £230,000 in a single evening” Les recalls fondly.
The quizmaster who has asked 250,000 questions
When Les isn’t running race nights, he’s usually writing quiz questions.
Lots of them.
“Do you know…” Les leans forward inquisitively. “In 2025 I asked my 250,000th question,” he says casually.
Les also recently hosted his 5,000th quiz night, which he hosts regularly at the Kingfisher pub and 33 Green Bottles.
“Those quizzes alone raised £9,000 last year for Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent Community First Responders,” he says casually.
I find out that even during lockdown, Les found a way to keep his fundraising going.
“I called it my ‘UK Quarantine Quiz’” he laughs, before explaining that his small-scale online quiz ended up attracting 174 teams from across the world, with participants from as far as the Ukraine and Spain.
“During lockdown people were stuck at home, but when the quizzes started it felt like the whole world had come into the same room. One charity asked if we could raise £400,” he says. “We hit the target in 26 seconds.”, he laughs, before telling me that the next quiz raised £1,000 in its first 15 minutes. “It’s crazy!” he laughs.
A family affair
Despite the huge sums raised, Les insists he’s never done it alone.
His wife Lyn, who he married in 1977, has been beside him for nearly the entire journey.
“They say behind every man is a great woman,” Les says. “Well that’s definitely true for me. I’d be lost without Lyn”
While Les is the one on the microphone at these events, proudly front and centre, Lyn runs the operation behind the scenes.
“I’m the one shouting into the microphone at the events, and Lyn’s the one quietly making sure every penny is counted properly and everyone is happy and everything is functioning.”
Their children were involved from the start too.
“From the age of four or five they were handing out raffle tickets,” he says. “Our kids grew up with it. For them, fundraising wasn’t something special, it was just what Mum and Dad did.”
Les says even now, with their children in their forties, their children and grandchildren get involved where they can.
“My granddaughter Megan, who’s 12, is already on the microphone selling the horses,” Les smiles proudly.
A life full of surprises
Les’ working life has been just as varied as his fundraising.
After leaving the Royal Navy due to seasickness, he moved into finance and banking, later working as an administrator in the Submarine Escape Training Tank (SETT) in Gosport, followed by a PA to a Colonel in the Ministry of Defence, and eventually as a homeless officer at Gosport Borough Council.
His final role was with Hampshire County Council, where he led an administration team that supported people with disabilities and learning needs. He completed this role for three years before finally retiring.
Recognition – and resilience
Les’ efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.
In 2017, he received the British Citizen Award for volunteering, presented at a ceremony at the Houses of Parliament in recognition of the millions he had already raised.
“I never planned any of this. I just discovered that helping people gives you a really good feeling, and once you’ve felt that you want to keep doing it.”
More recently, he appeared on the TV game show 99 to Beat, hosted by Adam & Ryan Thomas
But during filming, Les suffered a stroke.
Fortunately, he recovered well – and, true to form, was soon back planning his next fundraiser.
Always the next idea
I ask Les where he gets his ideas from, and the answer is simple – “everyday life” he says.
“I’m always thinking of something people haven’t done before,” he says.
Right now, his latest idea involves Nerf gun battles inspired by a gift he bought for his grandson.
“I still get excited before every event. After all these years, you’d think it would wear off, but it never does. The events are so fun, yet incredibly worthwhile. And if you can make people laugh while they’re giving to charity, you’ve cracked it.”
The man who can’t resist a competition
Away from fundraising Les has another hobby that keeps him entertained. “I love entering competitions,” he says. And I can tell that he takes it very seriously.
“If there’s a competition, I’ll enter it,” he says deadpan.
Over the years Les has gone to extraordinary lengths for the chance to win, including once driving 100 miles to buy a particular brand of dog food just to collect the competition labels.
“I didn’t even have a dog,” he laughs, and I can’t help but erupt into laughter myself.
Speaking to Les about his wins, it seems his effort has certainly paid off. He has won trips to Hawaii, Ireland, France, and Disney World! He has even managed to win cars for friends through competitions.
“The only thing I haven’t won yet is a house,” he jokes.
“Whenever there’s a raffle, people want to sit on my table,” he says. “I’ve only lost about half a dozen raffles in my lifetime.”
What Gosport will remember
After raising millions and entertaining thousands, what does Les hope people will remember most?
“Forget the money,” he says.
“Just remember little Les – the cheerful charity man who loves bright colours.”
Then he adds the philosophy that’s guided more than half a century of fundraising: “If people have fun, the fundraising will follow.”
After 50 years and £12 million raised, it’s hard to argue with that.
