The Keighley Bus Company dedicates bus to honour amazing 99-year-old Yorkshireman as his NHS charity walk raises over £28 million
He’s become a sensation in a matter of days, raising millions for NHS Charities Together by walking over a hundred lengths of his garden – and now his hometown Yorkshire bus company has dedicated a bus in his honour.
Captain Tom Moore has now raised an astonishing £28 million via his online appeal – and his charity single version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” performed as a duet with Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir has shot straight to the top of the iTunes download chart.
Captain Tom was born and raised in Keighley, West Yorkshire, and attended Keighley Grammar School before completing a civil engineering apprenticeship ahead of his military service in India and Burma in World War Two.
And now, the modest 99-year-old war veteran’s proud Yorkshire roots are being celebrated in his hometown by The Keighley Bus Company, which has named a bus in his honour and emblazoned it with the message: “A Big Thank You To Captain Tom – A Keighley Legend”.
Captain Tom’s own hometown bus made its first appearance this week at the opening ceremony of Harrogate’s new NHS Nightingale Hospital as the pensioner turned national hero appeared via a live video link from his home to be guest of honour. The hospital has been created in just two weeks in the town’s Convention Centre to provide 500 additional critical care beds for patients across the region.
The Keighley Bus Company CEO Alex Hornby said:
Along with everyone else across the country, we are truly amazed by Captain Tom’s incredible fundraising efforts for NHS charities, and as he is a proud Yorkshireman raised in Keighley, we feel it’s entirely appropriate for us to express our thanks to him by naming our bus in his hometown.
All of our team in Keighley share our pride in serving the town where this inspirational man was raised, and he absolutely deserves all our thanks for everything he’s done – and continues to do – for our National Health Service.
Inside our bus, specially designed displays tell Captain Tom’s amazing story, while outside at the back, there’s a wonderful illustration of Captain Tom completing his fundraising walk, created as an affectionate salute to this exceptional Yorkshireman by Yorkshire Post cartoonist Graeme Bandeira.
Captain Tom’s bus will now be seen in his home county of Yorkshire on our local bus routes throughout the Keighley area, as we continue to provide vital transport links for key workers and those needing to access essential services throughout the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s our way of saying thank you to this remarkable man for raising so much money for our NHS, and just as importantly, lifting the spirits of our nation.
More than 1.3 million people have donated to Captain Tom’s Just Giving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tomswalkforthenhs as he continues his fundraising efforts ahead of his 100th birthday on Thursday, 30 April 2020.
