Calderdale man, 76, sleeps overnight in an igloo to raise money for charity

Roy, 76, of Bailiff Bridge, came up with the idea on the “spur of the moment” during the recent heavy snowfall.

The dad-of-two decided to re-create a memory from 1982 when he built an igloo for his children Laura, then aged 10, and Owen, seven.

Roy, whose wife Mary, 77, has advanced Alzheimer’s, posted his fundraiser on Facebook – and was inundated by the response.

“It was just a spur of the moment thing,” said Roy.

“Because the weather was forecast to stay cold and the igloo wouldn’t melt the idea popped into my head, and the fundraising seemed to be the obvious thing to do too.

“It took me six hours non-stop and I could hardly move in the morning after all that shovelling. I cut out hundreds of blocks to make the igloo.”

Roy turned in at 10pm but wasn’t really prepared.

“The insulation sheet I slept on wasn’t very thick and I got really cold,” he said.

“Then during the night the temperature rose a bit and the ice started dripping on me. I was getting a cold shower so I eventually abandoned the igloo when it was almost morning.”

The fundraiser, which took place on Facebook, raised £850 and Roy added: “People have been very generous, even people I don’t really know.”

Roy, who still works as a private maths tutor, is originally from Essex and last year swam across a canal as part of an orienteering event.

Friends who teased him with the nickname “Southern Softie” might now have to eat their words!