A 99-year old veteran who is aiming to walk a hundred lengths of his back garden before he is 100 years old at the end of the month has broken the £2M barrier on his Just Giving fundraising page.
Captain Tom Moore initially hoped to raise £1,000 for the NHS fund charity – NHS Charities Together.
This morning before appearing on an array of TV breakfast shows, Tom’s fundraising page had reached £850,000.
But following a rush of donations, including £10,000 pledged live on air from TV presenter, Piers Morgan, it was soon clear Tom’s appeal would be on course not only to break the £1M barrier, but within a matter of hours, the £2M barrier too.
Tom told BBC News: “The reason I am doing it is because of the service I have personally got from the National Health Service…and for the nurses who were always so kind and patient.”
Tom was brought up Keighley, Yorkshire and enlisted in 8 DWR (145 RAC) at the beginning of World War 2. In 1940, he was selected for Officer training. He was later posted to 9DWR in India and served and fought on the Arakan and fought the Japanese until their surrender. He later went on to become an Instructor at the Armoured Fighting Vehicle School in Bovington.
Captain Tom, from everyone at Pathfinder International magazine, we salute you!
Now can Tom make it to 3, 4 or 5 million?
To make a donation to Captain Tom’s page please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tomswalkforthenhs