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Papers call for knighthood for 99-year-old army captain’s £12M walk

Posted on: April 16, 2020 by admin

The Daily Star, the Daily Express and the Yorkshire Post have all backed a campaign calling for a knighthood for Captain Tom Moore, the 99-year-old army veteran whose NHS fundraising efforts have exceeded £12m.

This morning (April 16),  Captain Tom completed his target of walking 100 lengths of his garden in order to raise funds for the NHS in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Since starting his walks, the veteran has become a world celebrity and has seen his fundraising break the JustGiving website’s record for donations.

Captain Tom’s fundraising campaign was initially backed by BBC Breakfast and ITV’s Good Morning Britain to kick-start donations from the public, including a £10,000 donation from GMB presenter Piers Morgan.

The army veteran had set out to finish the walk before he turns 100 on April 30, with the original hope of raising just £1,000.

Captain Tom reached the finish line at his Bedfordshire family home flanked by a guard of honour from the 1st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. He told BBC Breakfast he was happy to complete the challenge “surrounded by the right sort of people”.

The funds will be managed by NHS Charities Together and will benefit around 150 NHS charities which support patients and families with welfare grants, counselling for NHS workers as well as sleep pods for staff and other initiatives.

Donations for the appeal can still be made on the JustGiving website