Captain Tom Moore says knighthood would be 'marvellous' as campaign for honour continues

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Stephanie Cockroft16 April 2020

Captain Tom Moore has said it would be "marvellous" if he were to be knighted but that he does not expect to receive the honour.

The 99-year-old war veteran has become a household name after raising more than £12million for the NHS by completing 100 laps of his 25-metre garden.

After finishing the challenge at his Bedfordshire home on Thursday morning, he was asked for his reaction to the the campaign for him to be knighted over his efforts to support frontline staff during the coronavirus outbreak.

He laughed and told BBC Breakfast: "It would be marvellous to have such an honour.. But I'm don't expect anything like that."

Captain Tom Moore - In pictures

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He added: ​​​​​​"I think it would be absolutely enormous if I was knighted to be Sit Thomas Moore. I've never heard of such a thing before!"

The hashtag #knighthoodforcaptaintom has been trending after Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan called for him to receive the honour .

A poll among Evening Standard online readers shows 92 per cent of people believe he should be knighted.

Speaking after reaching his target, completed with a guard of honour from the 1st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, Mr Moore said he felt “fine” and that he was glad to be “surrounded by the right sort of people”.

His achievements – which started at a modest target of £1,000 last week, ahead of his 100th birthday on April 30 – were singled out by Matt Hancock during the Wednesday evening press conference at Downing Street.

In his opening address, the Health Secretary said: “I want to pay a special tribute today to Captain Tom Moore. Captain Tom, you’re an inspiration to us all, and we thank you.”

Mr Moore began raising funds to thank NHS staff who treated him for a broken hip.

His daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, told the BBC that the amount raised was “beyond our wildest expectations”.

When the JustGiving page went live last week, they thought their £1,000 target was a “real stretch”, she said.

“No words can express our gratitude to the British public for getting behind Tom, for making this into a heartfelt story,” she added.

Mr Moore said he felt 'fine' after completing the challenge
Jeremy Selwyn

“He’s a stoic Yorkshireman, he’s an unruffled straight-down-the-line kind of person and has embraced this adventure as the next stage of his life.

“I believe that life is all about purpose, we all need purpose, and, whilst he’s had a life full of purpose, he did fall and break his hip and became much less independent than he had been for the preceding 98 years, and what you have done, the British public, and everyone who’s supported him, is giving him his next purpose.

“He is articulate, he’s alive, he’s doing this and I think he’ll do this until everyone says, ‘Stop, don’t do it any more’.”

Originally from Keighley in West Yorkshire, Mr Moore trained as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Army for the Second World War, rising to captain and serving in India and Burma.

Meanwhile, an eight-year-old girl has started an online campaign for children to make birthday cards for Mr Moore’s 100th birthday.

Reegan Davies, from Port Talbot, South Wales, set a target of 1,500 virtual cards after posting a video online to thank him for his fundraising efforts.

She says in the video posted on Twitter: “You’ve got to make a birthday card for Tom, any social media you post it, and tag #makeacardfortom”.

Donations to NHS Charities Together can be made at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tomswalkforthenhs

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