Captain Sir Tom’s incredible legacy
CAPTAIN Sir Tom Moore’s memory lives on in the difference his extraordinary fundraising feat is making to those toiling in the NHS.
Exhausted heroes battling Covid in hospitals yesterday thanked the national treasure for bringing light into the darkness.
The inspiration, who died on Tuesday at 100, raised £33million through his garden walks.
Every penny of the sum – which rose to £39million with gift aid – was passed to NHS Charities Together.
His legacy is that the cash is now helping doctors and nurses working around the clock – and their seriously sick patients – during the greatest crisis in the NHS’s history.
Writing in the paper today Ellie Orton, chief executive of NHS Charities Together, said: “Every now and then an extraordinary person comes along and changes people’s lives for ever. Captain Sir Tom was one of those.”
She added: “The money he inspired others to donate is being used by NHS charities.
“It provides urgent practical and emotional support to NHS staff and volunteers working in extremely difficult circumstances and making life-saving decisions every day.”
His money has funded counselling and helplines for NHS staff and paid for practical support such as food, drink and rest areas for exhausted staff.
Money has also funded bereavement support for families who have lost loved ones to the virus and allowed hospitals to buy hundreds of iPads allowing anxious and isolated patients to stay connected with family and friends.
NHS Charities Together represents 241 NHS charities in hospitals, mental health trusts, ambulance trusts and community health trusts. They give more than £1million every day so people can stay well for longer and get better faster, funding projects to enable the health service to go beyond what would otherwise be possible.
Half of the 1.2 million working across the NHS said their mental health had suffered during the crisis – rising to 71 per cent of young health professionals.
The unimaginable psychological toll has seen the focus shift to providing practical and emotional support to staff and patients.
The NHS Charities Together Covid-19 Urgent Appeal, which launched in March, has raised £150million, with £120million already allocated across Britain.
Last year £48million was handed out – £30million within the first six months – to meet urgent needs. This year another £71million is being distributed to support communities outside of hospitals and the recovery of staff and patients affected by the pandemic.
Captain Sir Tom’s fundraising heroics helped swell the coffers and meant extra support services could be provided during an unprecedented time. The North Wales NHS Charity, Awyr Las, got £214,500 and over the next six months expects a further £717,194.
Cash has enabled it to fund a staff support service offering psychological help.
It has also been used to buy digital devices to enable virtual visiting, which has proved critical as Covid has left patients isolated from loved ones. Patient care has been transformed with the purchase of baby monitors and blood pressure machines to monitor heart failure patients in their own homes.
It has also paid for a bereavement support service, a carers’ support service, a chronic pain
management virtual support service and a talking therapy service for mental health service users.
Young people have also benefited with children’s inpatient activity bags and a small grant given to help provide extra monitoring equipment for children with diabetes. NHS Charities together has given £252,000 to help children and young people with mental illnesses in Birmingham.
The project – the first of its kind in the UK – will provide support to those aged 16 to 24.
Alex Borg, director of mental health services at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS
Foundation Trust, said: “We’re incredibly grateful and focused, more than ever, on providing long-term support to deal with the lasting effects of Covid-19 on youth mental health.
“This initial funding will help us to start the programme but our ambition is to increase capacity to help even more young people.”
Second World War veteran Captain Sir Tom was unknown a year ago but became a symbol of hope as Covid wreaked havoc.
The inspiration for his daily garden walk came after he fell on the kitchen floor in 2018, breaking his hip, fracturing his ribs and puncturing a lung, and was hospitalised. He later developed skin cancer. He was nursed back to full health thanks to the care he had on the NHS and wanted to show his appreciation.
In April last year, aged 99, he set about raising £1,000 by walking 100 lengths of his garden before his 100th birthday at the end of that month.
His daily walk, with the aid of a stroller, saw him become an inspiration to millions and encapsulated the very best of Britain at a time of huge suffering.
His fundraising total reached £32,796,355. In an interview with the Daily Express, his favourite newspaper, Captain Sir Tom said he wanted his achievements to be the catalyst for everyone to appreciate those in the NHS.
He said: “I hope we continue to recognise and support our front line heroes of the National Health Service and indeed all the key workers who have worked so tirelessly to see us through these recent months. Tomorrow will be a good day.”