A FIRE juggler wants to cap off a fundraising tour with a finale performance at the British Juggling Convention in April.

Nick Jones from Wrexham has been honing his skills in the dangerous street entertainment for the past two years.

He says he is one of a small band of street fire jugglers practicing their craft outside the UK’s big cities and believes he is “the only one” performing a street show in North Wales.

The next British Juggling Convention, which showcases all forms of juggling and object manipulation as well as other circus skills, is being staged in Canterbury between April 3 and 9.

“My aim is to do some busking for charity by working my way from one end of the country to the other,” said Nick, who has been entertaining Christmas shoppers at regular town-centre pitches in Wrexham and Chester. “I plan to start after Christmas and end up in Kent in April at the juggling convention.”

After being shown the ropes by a friend, the 24-year-old schooled himself on YouTube videos, but admitted: “They don’t really help until you get that stick in your hand.”

Nick has a repertoire of tricks to draw in a crowd and reports suffering no major injuries performing a show that requires an updated public liability insurance.

He added: “I practise eight hours a day and I have the dedication of a proper circus performer. This is the first type of street entertainment I’ve done, but I want to make a go of it as there’s not many of us. Let’s face it how many guitarists do you see on a daily basis?”

Pictures by Craig Colville / CC211217F