100 ways you can pay tribute to Capt Tom
Hero’s legacy lives on with 101st birthday fundraiser
ONE year ago today, a 99-year-old man no one had heard off embarked on a little walk in his garden.
As the Covid lockdown swept Britain, former soldier Captain Tom Moore decided to use the time to raise a few quid for the NHS.
With his 100th birthday approaching, his family set him a modest target: walk 100 laps by April 30 and we will donate £1,000.
Capt Tom, as he was then known, just about squeezed over the line.
At the last count his fundraising efforts had raised £39million.
Feted across the world as a symbol of hope and inspiration, Capt Sir Tom, as he became known after being knighted by the Queen, died on February 2 aged 100.
But his memory and legacy live on in The Captain Tom Foundation, the charity set up in his name to ensure others know “tomorrow will be a good day”.
Now his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, wants the world to unite with his family on what would have been his 101st birthday.
Today, she launches Captain Tom 100, a challenge to raise funds over his bank holiday birthday weekend.
Speaking for the first time since his death, she said: “Amid the mayhem and in a quiet moment my father said, ‘Why are they so interested in me?’ I said, ‘Because you give hope that things will get better.’ He loved that.And it became his purpose.
“It was so amazing to go on that journey with him. We were father and daughter cheek by jowl and for a lot of the time we were talking to the world.
“I remember being sat with him saying, ‘Next we are going to Nashville, Dad’ and like a flash he would appear on live American TV and say, ‘Good morning, Nashville.’
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And speaking to the French he’d quip, ‘If the Rosbif can do it the French can do it too.’ People loved him. He was 100 years old but had this unique skill to connect with people on a basic human level.”
Capt Sir Tom would have turned 101 on Friday, April 30.
Captain Tom 100 invites everyone to dream up a challenge to raise funds for his foundation or a charity of their choice. Challenges can be completed anytime and anywhere over the bank holiday weekend.
The message is simply Do it Your Way – in a nod to his favourite song, Frank Sinatra’s My Way.
Famous
Speaking exclusively to her father’s favourite newspaper, Hannah launched the drive alongside family friends Karl Clark and Saira Nunn, who run The Bell pub in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, and their children Maison, six, and Myla, five.
The millions Capt Sir Tom raised are already making lives better, helping Covid workers and training 60,000 community first responders.
Hannah said: “My father left us with the most extraordinary gift. But what an amazing thing to leave – the gift of hope to the world.”
“He died knowing he made a difference to people’s lives and that’s all we could ever ask for.”
To mark the occasion Hannah, husband Colin and children Benjie and Georgia will complete 100 laps of the garden Captain Sir Tom Moore made famous the world over.