Learning to unicycle for a charity stunt has been an eye-watering experience for Frank Golden.

The 47-year-old father-of-two aims to pedal a mile on one wheel at Grafham Water next month in aid of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH).

But it’s been a painful process, which ended up with a trip to A&E at Hinchingbrooke Hospital after a crush injury that would make any man wince.

A course of antibiotics followed and he is now back on track, just wearing the same type of protection a cricketer wears when he goes out to bat – and we are not talking about the pads and gloves.

“It didn’t put me off,” he said. “You just have to find a solution to these problems.”

The idea for the fundraiser came after Mr Golden, who is married to Janet and has two sons, Daniel, 12, and Thomas, nine, received the unicycle as a gift.

“My wife said ‘What do you want for Christmas?’ and I said I didn’t want anything boring like a cardigan, pants or socks, get me something different, so she got me a unicycle.”

As a novice, Mr Golden, of Hempsals, Eaton Ford, investigated how to go about mastering the art of staying upright. “I’d never been on one before so I was a student of YouTube. I had to find the right height of railing so I drove around looking and found Duloe Village Hall.

“Stage two was Tesco car park, late at night with a shopping trolley. It was floodlit as well.”

He has now moved on to Grafham Water, where at 6pm on Sunday, June 1 he will attempt the mile.

“There was no chance of me doing this three months ago – now there is a chance. With a favourable wind and a few more hours of practice, maybe I could do it without putting my feet down.”

If he does put a foot down, he will be fined each time by colleagues at the printing firm he owns, Print Hut in Little Paxton.

INFORMATION: To support Mr Golden, visit www.justgiving.com/Unicycling-printhut