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Captain Beany (born Barry Kirk on 23 September 1954)
is a Welsh eccentric and charity
fundraiser
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
in
Sandfields,
Port Talbot
Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...
, South Wales.
Biography
Kirk worked in the computer department of the
British Petroleum chemical plant in
Baglan, Neath Port Talbot
Baglan is a large village in Wales, adjoining Port Talbot, named after Saint Baglan. Baglan is also a community and ward in the Neath Port Talbot county borough. In 2001, the population was 6,654. rising to 6,819 in 2011.
Baglan is on the side ...
. In May 1991, he changed his name by
deed poll
A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party (law), party.
Et ...
to Captain Beany. He began painting his face and bald head orange, donned a golden cape, pants, gloves and boots. To date, Captain Beany claims to have raised over £100,000 for charity through participation in various events, such as the London and
New York Marathon
The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...
s.
In 1986 Beany set a world record for the longest time sitting in a bath full of baked beans, which lasted over 100 hours.
In 2006, Beany appeared on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
programme, ''
Let Me Entertain You''.
In September 2008, Beany climbed
Snowdon
Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (historic ...
carrying baked beans in aid of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
research.
Later, in October, during the
2000s financial crisis, he registered the trademark "Credit Crunch" for use on chocolate bars. When
Selfridges
Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...
sold a similarly named product, Captain Beany earned a percentage of the sales under a licensing agreement.
In 2015 Beany raised £3,600 for charity by having 60 baked bean images tattooed on his head. Those sponsoring him had their initials inked inside one of the baked beans.
In 2018 Beany appeared on a Christmas special of ''
Blind Date
A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance.
Structure
A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...
'' as one of the choices. He wasn't chosen.
In 2022, Captain Beany appeared on ''Inside the Superbrands''.
In the same year he was mentioned in one of the final rounds of the ''
Jackbox Party Pack 9'' game ''Fibbage 4''.
Eccentric of the year
In April 2009, Beany was awarded the title of "Great British Eccentric of the Year" by the
Eccentric Club
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...
in London.
[Turner, Robin]
Port Talbot’s Captain Beany’s in line to be The Great Eccentric of 2009
''Wales on Sunday
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 20 ...
''. Published 29 March 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2010.[Beans means a marathon effort to help charity](_blank)
''South Wales Evening Post
The ''South Wales Evening Post'' is a tabloid daily newspaper distributed in the South West region of Wales. The paper has three daily editions – Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire – and is published by Media Wales, part ...
''. Published 4 August 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2010. He also officially transformed his
council flat
A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 a ...
into
the Baked Bean Museum of Excellence
The Baked Bean Museum of Excellence is a private museum located in Port Talbot, Wales, United Kingdom. The Baked Bean Museum Of Excellence was officially closed on 30th June 2023.
Founding
The museum is owned by Barry Kirk, who changed his na ...
, with British writer
Danny Wallace presiding over the opening ceremony.
In December 2009, he teamed up with other Port Talbot musicians to record a charity
Christmas song
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...
. He completed the
Sports Relief Mile 2010 whilst pushing a tin of baked beans on his hands and knees.
The Baked Bean Museum of Excellence in Port Talbot was featured in the 2010 book ''Behind The Scenes at the Museum of Baked Beans'' by author
Hunter Davies
Edward Hunter Davies (born 7 January 1936) is a British author, journalist and broadcaster. His books include the only authorised biography of the Beatles.
Early life
Davies was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four ...
.
He also planned to walk nearly 460 miles around the borders of Wales and England for the Cieran Jones Appeal whilst conveying a plate of baked beans on toast. His planned 'BEANS ON TOAST-A-THON' was to take place in mid August 2010.
Political career
He has also been a candidate in local and general elections throughout Wales. He stood as "Captain Beany of the Bean Party" in the
1991 Neath by-election, coming last with 262 votes (0.7%). He then stood as the "Real Bean" candidate in
Aberavon
Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distri ...
in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, again coming last with 707 votes (1.8%). In
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
, he stood in Aberavon again, this time as an Independent, and came last again with 341 votes (1.0%).
In 2000, he formed the New Millennium Bean Party, of which he was the sole member. On this line in Aberavon in the
2001 election, he came sixth out of seven candidates with 727 votes (2.4%). In the
2005 general election, Beany gained 159 votes in
Cardiff Central.
He contested Aberavon again in the
2010 general election, receiving 558 votes (1.8%), placing seventh out of eight candidates. In the
2015 general election, support for Captain Beany more than doubled, to 1,137 votes (3.6%), good enough for sixth out of nine candidates.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beany, Captain
1954 births
Living people
Charity fundraisers (people)
Welsh politicians
British political candidates
People from Port Talbot