I love this !!

[Kohinoor]

Wow, talk about emotional - here we are locked up at home while the country faces up to the COVID19 pandemic. Not so much locked up now, thankfully, as the Govt relaxes their rules bit by bit, but a chance comment from the wife had me searching the Internet for one "Captain Tom".

Of course, I'd heard of him on the news for days prior - he is 99 years old, an old soldier, and he wanted to raise money for the NHS in Britain. He thought "I am going to walk lengths of my back yard and I'll ask for donations - I am going to walk 100 lengths and hopefully raise 10 Pounds for each length I walk. That will raise 1000 Pounds for the NHS. And I want to walk the 100 lengths before I turn 100."

Now, you probably know the story - as he walked, more and more folk heard of him and supported his efforts. We were daily gobsmacked as we heard how the donations were faring - 40,000 Pounds, 100,000 Pounds, 1 million Pounds, etc. Captain Tom gave us all hope and put huge smiles on millions of faces, I'm sure.

So, that chance comment from my wife? She said "Did you know he has a song out? I heard it last night on the radio, and it brought me to tears." "No", I said "I hadn't heard. Do you know the song?" She couldn't name it, but said it was a well-known, quite beautiful song..... So I went looking....

And damn - it reduced me to tears too. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Have a listen for yourself:-
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbi...number-1-song/

It's that good ol' football anthem from Liverpool - "You'll Never Walk Alone". First sung by Gerry and the Pacemakers way on back (was it the 60's?) - and even then it was a gorgeous piece of music.



But this rendition, very tastefully engineered with the "NHS choir" all in split screens because of the pandemic, interspersed with shots of Capt Tom doing his laps, and with the lead singer (a really nice voice on that bloke) combined with Tom's efforts at song, and the whole thing just lifted me up. Talk about good news in bad times.


But wait, there was SO MUCH MORE..... even as I watched, there were other highlights shared that had this whole effort shining like the Sun !!

1. That this rendition has now gone to #1 on the charts in the UK
2. Capt Tom is now the oldest ever #1 artist in history (and I suspect he will keep that record)
3. He turns 100 in a few more days, and folk are hopeful he will keep the #1 spot for that occasion
4. A Canadian Singer called "The Weeknd" is #2 on the charts, and he was closing on the #1 spot - so The Weeknd himself said to his followers, "Please go and back Capt Tom - he's doing a great job!" thus allowing the Capt to keep the #1 spot for now.
5. And just check out how much the Capt is able to gift to the NHS now !! They tell you in the article. And all he wanted was to offer them 1000 Pounds - the world(?) got in behind and blew that figure away.
6. As more recordings sell, that final figure keeps on growing - who knows just where it will top out?

7. In closing, Capt Tom has plans for a followup song too.

God Bless this upstanding old gentleman. They don't come any finer than this. And a huge appreciation for the whole troupe that put this video together. I hope it brings you much joy too,

Koh

[Kohinoor]

Aww, the good stuff just keeps on coming.....

8. He has received 140,000 Birthday cards from well-wishers all over - shown covering the floor of a hall. Including one from Her Majesty on his 100th b'day
9. And Queen Elizabeth has bestowed upon him the honorary rank of Colonel - a step up from Captain.
10. For his birthday the RAF gave him a flypast of two Spitfires in recognition of his achievement.
11. The video shows he has raised 28million pounds - but I last heard that figure is now 32million - what a boost for the National Health Service.
12. Oh, and he did keep the #1 spot on the charts for his birthday - with thanks to "The Weeknd".....

Awesome stuff, Colonel Tom and his supporters. Thanks for the good feelings.


Go here to see the great man on his birthday plus much more:-
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-...herts-52472132


Go on - click it. There is SO much more that I didn't mention above, and it is all great reading. Put a smile on my dial, that's for sure.
Koh

[Kohinoor]

A few more weeks have passed now. The good Captain - sorry, Colonel Tom has inspired a host of other veterans and folk with disabilities to "have a go themselves" at walking or whatever to fundraise.

Check out his Wikipedia under the heading of "Similar Fundraising Efforts" to see a rundown of the efforts of some of these (also inspiring) other folks. One of these was a young boy with spina bifida who has only recently begun to walk. He wanted to walk 10 metres to fundraise 99 pounds - in the end, his efforts raised 2000 times that amount. How cool !!!

Oh, and I just realised I made a mistake in naming him Colonel Tom, as he is now officially Colonel Sir Tom Moore.

Sir, I salute you !!