Army veteran and hero fundraiser to be knighted

The Associated Press

5 years ago

99-year-old war veteran Captain Tom Moore, poses for a photo at his home in Marston Moretaine, England, after he achieved his goal of 100 laps of his garden, raising millions of pounds for the NHS with donations to his fundraising challenge from around the world, Thursday April 16, 2020. Moore started walking laps in his garden as a humble fundraising challenge to walk 100 lengths of his garden by his 100th birthday on April 30, and has now raised millions for the National Health Service and become a national rallying point during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. His family thought it would be a stretch to raise 1,000 pounds, but donors have pledged millions of pounds and still counting. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — A British army veteran who shuffled the length of his garden 100 times to raise funds for the National Health Service is to be honored with a knighthood.

Tom Moore received a special nomination for the honor from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, just weeks after he raised 33 million pounds ($40 million) for completing a challenge to mark his 100th birthday.

His simple determination and promise that “tomorrow will be a good day!’’ cheered a nation in lockdown.

“Col. Tom’s fantastic fundraising broke records, inspired the whole country and provided us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus,’’ Johnson said.

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