John McCririck was known for his deerstalkers, capes and chunky jewellery [Will Palmer]

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK. CLICK BANNER.

CLOTHES belonging to the famous racing pundit John McCririck, who was known for his larger-than-life outfits, have been donated to a homeless organisation based in Camden Town.

TV personality and journalist Mr McCririck lived in Primrose Hill with his wife Jenny for 30 years until his death in 2019.

He was the face of British horse racing, where he became known for his flamboyant style: deerstalker hats, sideburns and chunky jewellery.

Some of his clothes have now been donated to Maverick Humanity, an organisation that provides rough sleepers with clothing, toiletries and meals prepared by former chef Simon Rapkin who has previously cooked for the royal family.

Mrs McCririck, known by her nickname The Booby, told the New Journal that she donated her husband’s iconic outfits to the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket and has been auctioning off his hats to raise money for racing welfare charities and Ukrainian refugees.

Jenny McCririck

But she has now given her friend and homeless­ness volunteer Phil Cowan his remaining clothes.

“I wanted to help Phil and his people. I don’t want these things in my house and if he can use it, there you are,” she said.

“I gave him some Brooks Brothers shirts, a leather jacket – because what happens if you’re in the media is you’re often given things. I think John only wore the jacket once and it’s in the wardrobe and I’m thinking what am I going to do with it?”

Mr McCririck wore a “different hat every day usually”, but his quirky clothes were rooted in practicality, Mrs McCririck said.

“He had these leather things sewn onto hats and you could fasten it underneath the chin because it was windy and people tried to steal his hats, I suppose for a souvenir,” she said.

“When John first started working in the betting ring, because nobody else had done this before, there was a problem because the camera was high up in the stand. Can you imagine how difficult it is at somewhere like Aintree or Cheltenham trying to find someone in that crowd?

“So John would be near the bookmaker and wear a colour or a flamboyant sort of hat so that the camera could find him. So that was why and then of course he quite liked it.”

Volunteers Russell Eke, Yann Guenancia, Abdel Tchatchet, Simon Rapkin and Chelsea Dutton

As for his capes, she added: “The cape was warm and he had all sorts of pockets inside that he could put things in but he could wave his arms around and it was warm. Everything was sort of practical. He wore fingerless gloves so he could write on racecards.”

Mr Rapkin said: “Phil has been passing them on to me and we’ve been having these donations every week. They’ve been really nice clothes as well, beautiful clothes.”

The clothes are hung up in their “kindness cart” for people to choose what they want.

“The trailer has got nice lighting on it. It’s got music, and Neal’s Yard smells coming out of the atomiser in there,” he said.

“We’re trying to make it into a place where when people come, it’s warm and friendly. It’s absolute mayhem in there because everybody needs something.”

Afterwards, people can enjoy his freshly cooked meals: bunny chow, gazpacho, vichyssoise and crepes.

Mr Rapkin said: “We push the boundaries a bit. It sounds like a cliché, but I’ve cooked for various members of the royal family and lots of celebrities but what we do now is the absolute best.”