Sculpture for Captain Tom as he is knighted

A SCULPTURE has been unveiled of Captain Tom Moore in tribute to his role as a “beacon of light” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The bust of the Second World War veteran – complete with medals and his trademark blazer – was commissioned by Garry Mcbride, of Derbyshire-based Monumental Icons.

Captain Moore, who raised almost £33million for NHS charities by walking laps of his garden and who turned 100 in lockdown, is due to be knighted by the Queen in a personal open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle today.

Mr Mcbride hopes the bust can be displayed at the Warwick headquarters of NHS Charities Together, the charity for which the centenarian raised money.

Explaining why he had decided to commission and pay for the bust, Mr Mcbride said: “When we were in lockdown, they said ‘You have got to stay at home and do nothing’.

“Every television programme you put on, there was Captain Tom.

“As he progressed with his walk, he was more and more on the screens and so I thought that for his achievements it would be really, really sad if, after five or 10 years, everyone had for- gotten what he had actually done.” Mr Mcbride added: “He became everyone’s champion and he was our beacon of light, so to speak, through our darkest hours.

“I was in a fortunate position, being in the monument and sculpture business, and my sculptor, Andy Edwards, was locked down as well.

“So we found some clay, we worked on the photographs that were on Captain Moore’s Facebook page and we made a bust.”