TALK about having the gift of the gab.

Author Fred Butler from Mirfield raised a massive £10,000 for Kirkwood Hospice from doing talks at venues across Yorkshire.

The chatty pensioner has done 391 talks altogether and each time instead of pocketing payment he’s asked for a donation to the Dalton hospice.

Fred, 65, penned the Shoddy Town Tales trilogy after he retired from teaching at Batley High School for Boys.

He had lots of anecdotes about the life and times of living in West Yorkshire which he used in the semi-autobiographical books.

The humorous tales proved popular and Fred was invited to speak at St Andrew’s Church ladies Group in Littletown, Liversedge in 2001.

Fred told the Examiner: “Afterwards they asked what’s your fee?

“I said I haven’t got a fee, so I asked them if they would donate something to Kirkwood Hospice and that’s how it all started.”

Fred helps out as a part-time gardener at the Albany Road hospice every Monday.

The father-of-two said: “It’s just about me putting something back into the community.

“I’m one of life’s lucky ones.

“We’ve never known hardship and we’ve been very fortunate, so it’s nice to give something back.

“I’ve been doing the talks regularly over the years.

“It’s important that people who have contributed money towards my talks know they have played a huge part in me getting to the £10,000 total.”

Kate Leadbeater, of Kirkwood Hospice said: “This is such an amazing amount of money for one person to raise.

“We are so thankful to Fred and the money will help us continue the good work done at the hospice.”

You can buy a copy of one of Fred’s popular books from jeremymillspublishing.co.uk