The giving spirit

The 100th birthday of Captain Tom Moore from Bedfordshire was celebrated around the world yesterday. He’s become a global phenomenon after raising more than 32 million pounds for Britain’s health service by doing a sponsored walk involving a hundred laps around his garden.

Captain Tom has received more than 125,000 birthday cards from across the globe and has also been awarded the prestigious World Health Organisation Medal.

The fly-past in his honour was carried out in classic British fashion by two planes from the second world war era.

Captain Tom’s house is about 50 miles north of London in the village of Marston Moretaine. It’s in the Bedford area where I lived for many years. So I can easily imagine those two old aircraft in the cloudy skies yesterday above the clay-rich plain where Marston Moretaine sits. I’m grateful for the use of these photos which were taken by a neighbour of Captain Tom’s.

His determined fund-raising efforts have inspired many people to follow suit, including three amazing people from the west of England where I now live. I saw their stories on the local Points West BBC programme and wanted to share them with you.

Frank Mills from Bristol is just six years old and has spina bifida. He has been using his walking frame to walk repeatedly on a ten-metre track outside his home. So far he has raised more than 260,000 pounds for the NHS. You can read more about him here.

Ed Jackson is a 31-year-old former professional rugby player who was paralysed in all four limbs after an accident in a swimming pool. Despite that, as a walking quadriplegic, he still hopes to climb Mount Everest one day.

During this lockdown at his parents’ house in my home city of Bath, Ed decided to climb the flight of stairs 5,566 times to match the height of Everest. This is 8,898 metres above sea level, the equivalent of 89,056 individual steps. It took Ed four days to finish this task. So far he has raised more than 45,000 pounds for the NHS and a spinal cord charity.

Mike Biggar is 70 and is a former Scotland rugby captain. He suffered severe brain damage in 1992 in a car crash and has very limited walking capability. His fund-raising scheme was to walk 500 steps in a month. Mike lives in the town of Malmesbury in Wiltshire and so far he has raised more than 50,000 pounds.

These are just three examples of people in my region wanting to contribute to society at a time of crisis. Everyday I see or hear about stories of local men and women, boys and girls, doing heart-warming voluntary work behind the scenes. This includes making protective equipment for front-line health workers, delivering food to the vulnerable or making supportive phone calls to those stuck in their homes alone with no family support.

These acts of generosity are replicated countless times across the world during this pandemic. The giving spirit is truly alive and well.