Beginning in April 2020, the then 99-year-old Sir Tom decided he would walk, walking frame in-hand, 100 laps of his garden with a modest target of raising £1,000 for the NHS.
Within a few weeks, after receiving global acclaim with celebrities, members of the cabinet and even the Prime Minister recognising his efforts, Tom completed his 100th lap – ahead of his 100th birthday, as planned.
Upon completion, his fundraising total amounted to an astonishing £32million and for his efforts he was was knighted by the Queen at a July special ceremony in what was Her Majesty’s first official engagement since the lockdown.
Captain Sir Tom was able to do something truly remarkable: he brought together the nation at a time when people were unable to meet, he rallied the troops in support of those in need – just as he had almost 80 years earlier, he personified the sense of duty found so often in the ex-servicemen and women of our Armed Forces.
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