Captain Tom Moore raised a substantial amount of money for Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) at the age of 100. How? By walking laps in his garden. Captain Tom’s goal was 100 laps before his 100th birthday. People loved the idea. They donated money for each lap the elderly veteran completed.
Just three weeks after he started in April 2020, he had raised $45 million dollars. Captain Tom passed away in February. But his legacy lives on. People around the world are busy setting and meeting personal goals in support of others.
Imogen Papworth-Heidel is an 11-year-old soccer player. Her dream is to play for England. She watched Captain Tom pushing his walker up and down his garden to raise money for healthcare. Imogen decided to help by doing something she’s good at: “keepy uppies.” She kicks a soccer ball into the air and passes it from one foot to the other without letting it touch the ground. “I chose to do 7.1 million––one for every single key worker in the whole of the country,” Imogen says.
The soccer star needed a little help to achieve her goal. She asked other people who did keepy uppies to donate them to her via video. “People did 6 million keepy uppies in total and I did 1.1 million,” she says. “It’s just really amazing how many people donated and spent their time actually doing the keepy uppies. I’m really grateful for that.”
Margaret Payne is 90 years old. She walked up the stairs in her home 282 times to raise money for the NHS. Ms. Payne figured out that the total stair height she climbed equaled the height of Suilven. That is one of Scotland’s best-known mountains.
Tony Hudgell is a five-year-old who lost both legs. He decided to walk 6.2 miles to raise money for the Evelina London Children’s Hospital. People cheered him on and donated more than a million dollars to the hospital.
“Captain Sir Tom inspired so many people to take on their own extraordinary challenges, from running marathons to swimming lakes. And he gave us all hope,” says Ellie Orton. She’s the chief executive of NHS Charities Together. Captain Tom’s message was simple. Do whatever you can to help others. And remember, it’s never too soon or too late to start.
