'Rubbish' animal artist raises £500k for charity

Animal artist Hercule Van Wolfwinkle has smashed through his target of raising more than £500,000 for charity.

Van Wolfwinkle made his name creating, erm, unique pet portraits.

Fans have called his work "the funniest", "great" and "cute". Van Wolfwinkle, real name Phil Heckels, has dubbed it "rubbish".

In March he walked 500 miles [805 km] to raise money for charities Turning Tides and StreetVet, and drawing a picture every day, while asking his fans to walk another 500 miles.

There was no shortage of pets to draw. According to Turning Tides the former estate agent, from Worthing, West Sussex, had about 80,000 requests in his inbox.

Despite bad weather he got through 20 miles a day in 25 days, so far raising £32,547.28 - donations are still coming in.

Heckels could not be reached for comment, but after finishing the challenge he said on Instagram: "This has honestly been one of the hardest challenges I've ever done in pursuit of my fundraising.

"It's been physicaly painful, exhausting and metally draining. But now I have finished... 500 miles."

Turning Tides thanked the artist, saying the challenge, which took him from Worthing to Hove Lagoon leisure complex and back, had been his most difficult yet.

A spokeswoman for the homelessness charity, added: "I really have no words to express how much we admire his resilience and determination.

"We know he found several days a real struggle, but he always powered through.

"The commitment he's shown to support our clients over the last six years is exceptional."

Animal charity StreetVet has been approached for comment.

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