Captain Tom Moore receives Pride of Britain award for enormous £28m fundraising effort
23 April 2020, 09:20
Captain Tom Moore has been awarded with the Pride of Britain trophy after raising more than £28m for the NHS in the face of coronavirus.
Announcing the news on Thursday, the organisation said it was "absolutely thrilled" to hand over the award to the Second World War veteran after his fundraising for the NHS amid the coronavirus crisis.
It said: "Every now and then a hero comes along who takes your breath away," adding: "Steadfast, strong, brave and true.
"Captain Tom Moore is the very definition of the Pride of Britain. All we've done here is to make it official!
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"We cannot wait to thank him in person at our awards ceremony later on in the year.
"He has inspired a nation and what he's done goes way beyond raising funds for our amazing NHS - he is the captain of our hearts.
"Captain Tom, the Pride of Britain, we salute you."
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The 99-year-old has, at the time of writing, raised more than £28.1 million for NHS charities in the middle of fighting Covid-19.
He originally aimed to raise £500,000 by walking a hundred laps of his garden before his 100th birthday next week - but his efforts went viral, earning him a legion of fans and donations to his cause.
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Despite completing his hundred laps on 16 April, donations continue flooding in to the Just Giving page.
A dedicated sorting office has also been opened at his grandson's school in Bedford to help deal with the tens of thousands of cards that have been sent ahead of his birthday on 30 April.
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More than 90,000 cards have been received, and they are being carted to the sorting office by the school mini bus load.
Captain Moore is said to have been "overwhelmed" when he was shown the cards via Skype, and thanked all who had sent them.
