By day, he's a page editor for a local weekly newspaper group.

But at the weekends, it’s a different story... Meet James Hardaker, alias 'Dave the Dog'!

The 27-year-old works for the South East Target group in Lincolnshire.

But little do some of his colleagues know, he has a mysterious 'other' life dressing as a 7ft canine to support the Skegness charity, Keith's Rescue Dogs.

James said: "It's all in the name of a good cause, and it's fun – I can act the fool in public and no one knows who I am!

"When you've sat at a computer all week, trying to make 500 words fit into a 300-word box, a bit of light-hearted charity work is always welcome."

James, a trustee of the registered charity, turns into 'Dave the Dog' - wearing a costume hand-crafted by his mum Joan, who is also a volunteer with the group - to attract attention at fundraising events.

Dave's most recent outing was to the charity's Christmas Fair earlier this month, which raised more than £2,400.

Dave with Watson, who was rehomed
through the charity

James also handles much of the group's PR work - and won a sought after slot on Radio 1 to talk about charity, which aired earlier this week.

James took part in the station's MyTunes feature, which sees listeners choosing the music on JK and Joel's Early Breakfast Show for half an hour, and was able to chat with the presenters in between songs.

He said: "I sent in my list of songs as a bit of fun really, and the next thing I knew I was invited to take part.

"JK is an animal lover as well, so he sympathised with the cause."

Target Group editor Glyn Belsher said: "I never thought I would be working with Santa Paws. After seeing his pictures I wonder if we made the right choice for page editor..."

The Skegness-based dog rescue, which covered the whole of Lincolnshire and beyond, last year cost £44,000 to run. If you would like to make a donation, call 01754 763543.

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