Captain Tom Moore Has Now Raised £6 Million For NHS By Walking Lengths Of His Garden

Army veteran Tom Moore, 99, has managed to raise a whopping £5.6 million for the NHS by completing laps of his garden using his walking frame.

Originally Tom aimed to raise £1,000 by doing 100 laps before he turns 100 at the end of the month, as a way of saying thank you to the NHS for all the help he's received over the years.

To complete the challenge, every day he's been doing laps of his 25m-long garden in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

However, after beginning last Monday (6 April), he's not only absolutely smashed his target - having already raised more than £5.6 million - he's also vowed to carry on with another 100 laps.

Tom told the BBC: "I thank the British public from the bottom of my heart.

"Who would have thought that when I set a target of £1,000 a week ago, it could have reached £800,000?"

He added: "It's difficult to imagine all these kind people who have donated so far. It's just amazing."

Tom was born and raised in Keighley, Yorkshire, and went on to be enlisted in the eighth battalion of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (8 DWR) at the beginning of the war. In 1940 he was selected for Officer training, and was later posted to 9 DWR in India, later serving and fighting on the Arakan.

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He also went to Sumatra after the Japanese surrender, before returning to be Instructor at Armoured Fighting Vehicle School in Bovington.

More recently, Tom said the NHS has been 'marvellous' in helping him recover from both a hip replacement and skin cancer over the past couple of years.

The fundraiser, which was set up by his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, is his way of showing his gratitude to those who have helped him - at a time when resources are stretched due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Hannah first set the target to £1,000, but this was then raised to £100,000. Once Tom also beat that, it jumped up to £250,000, followed by £500,000.

At the time of writing, Tom's managed to raise a total of £5,786,050.

Hannah took to Twitter to say: "We are overwhelmed by the response. It's extraordinary. We remain proud and humbled by the generosity of the British public."

To support Tom's walk, visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tomswalkforthenhs.

Topics: UK News, News, Inspirational, NHS

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman