How 99-year-old Briton raised £ 28m to fight pandemic

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

A few days later a British WWII veteran Tom Moore will celebrate his 100th anniversary, which in itself would be a significant event in his life. However, on the eve of his anniversary date, the 99-year-old captain managed to become another national hero, raising 28 million pounds to help the British National Health System (NHS) to fight the pandemic. And this is already an event for the whole UK. Moreover, he literally became a media star, and the entire world community is now talking about him. How this happened, further - in the review.

It all started with a hip replacement surgery performed by Tom Moore shortly before the introduction of quarantine in the country. After discharge from the clinic, one of the conditions of the rehabilitation period was the obligatory daily walks. Then the daughter of the captain Hannah had an idea to combine the prescriptions of doctors with another useful thing …

The father agreed, and on April 6, 2020, on his behalf, a campaign was launched in favor of the UK National Health System, under which the British would donate to doctors, and Captain Tom Moore, in exchange for this, pledged to walk 100 circles around his garden. until its 100th anniversary, that is, until April 30th. It was decided to go through 10 circles every day, and this is neither more nor less - 1.6 miles (2.5 kilometers). Which in itself was a very impressive distance for a person of such a respectable age, and besides, with sore legs.

A week and a half before the anniversary date, the veteran completed a charity marathon, the original goal of which was to raise a thousand pounds for doctors in gratitude for his treatment at the clinic. But in the end, the hero of the day earned them 30 million pounds and became a national hero. By the way, the JustGiving platform, on which the charity campaign of the brave veteran was based, said that - and also donated 100 thousand pounds to a good cause.

The hero of the day overcame the home stretch live on the air by British Broadcasting Corporation, he told television journalists after completing the distance.

The result exceeded all forecasts and expectations - the veteran and his family were literally discouraged by the amount that grew rapidly throughout the marathon. Initially, Captain Tom Moore was going to collect at least a few thousand, which he had to transfer to the British National Health Service. But already in the first 24 hours, this amount exceeded 70 thousand pounds. Moreover, the money came from citizens and various organizations from all over the world.

So, a couple of days after the start of the charity event, more than 5 million pounds sterling was transferred to Moore's account, and after a few more, more than 620 thousand people donated and collected 12. By the end of the marathon, that amount was £ 23 million. However, donations continue to grow, and on April 24, the amount was already 28 million pounds (about 2.6 billion rubles), donated by 1.3 million people.

Of course, this action caused a huge resonance in public circles, as well as in the UK government. For example, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that

The 99-year-old veteran has won the hearts of many of his compatriots, including Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton. At a solemn meeting within the walls of the Air Force, William said: Of course, the future hero of the day was simply delighted with such a eulogy from such an influential and respected person. In one of his interviews, Moore said:. Now the moniker "superprince" has stuck to the royal.

The Duke of Cambridge hailed Tom as "the sole fundraiser." In addition, a petition was created this week with over 680,000 signatures and sent to the Honors Committee. And now the possibility of knighting Captain Tom Moore is being considered.

The charity event that shook the whole of Britain is over, and Tom Moore continues his daily walks around the garden and is preparing to soon celebrate his 100th anniversary. Initially, his daughter Hannah planned to invite about 100 people to the party, but due to the pandemic, the holiday had to be canceled.

But, as they say, there is a silver lining. And today the upcoming anniversary of Tom Moore has become a national one. The government has prepared a gift for the captain: the Pride of Britain prize. Ordinary British also did not stand aside: Tom already receives hundreds of postcards from all over the country every day. A kind of flash mob "make a postcard for Tom" was launched by an 8-year-old girl from Wales, Regan Davis, according to the rules of which children take pictures with self-made cards for Moore and launch these frames and videos on the network.

The culprit of all these events himself admitted in a recent interview: - and added, -

A little bit from the life of a hero of our time

Captain Tom was born and raised in one of the regions of West Yorkshire. There he graduated from the gymnasium, received the specialty of a civil civil engineer. From there he left for the service in 1940. During World War II he fought in France, served with British troops in India, and later Burma, and ended the war with the rank of captain. He was awarded many medals for his services. When the fighting died down, the captain retired. After the war, he was an instructor in the tank forces, a company manager and a motorcycle racer.

At the age of 48, he met his future wife Pamela. She was 35 years old and worked as an office manager. Tom decided to say goodbye to his bachelor life and in 1968 the newlyweds got married. And after a while they became the parents of two daughters - Lucy and Hannah. However, Pamela's health began to deteriorate 20 years ago, and 14 years ago she was gone. Tom, years later, describes their marriage to Pamela as "a happy time" and recalls it with nostalgia. Captain Tom Moore has been living with his daughter Hannah's family in Bedfordshire for many years.

- said the veteran in an interview with a local TV channel.

But there is still gunpowder in the flasks - one can say without exaggeration when looking at the brave 100-year-old captain of the British army.

All the funds raised by the veteran will go to NHS Charities Together, which helps hospitals in the fight against COVID-19 and directly for British health workers, as originally conceived by the initiator of the charity event, Tom Moore.

Continuing the topic of the pandemic, which literally holds the whole world in horror, our optimistic article about How a pandemic is helping our planet: When a person retreats, nature takes its.