This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

A 99-year-old war veteran has raised more than £9m for the NHS by aiming to walk 100 lengths of his back garden before his 100th birthday.

Capt Tom Moore, originally from Keighley in West Yorkshire, initially planned to raise £1,000 through the challenge.

However, after launching his campaign on 8 April and raising £70,000 in 24 hours, he extended his fundraiser and hit £1m on Tuesday morning. By 3.30pm he reached £2m, and had passed £4m by midnight.

On Wednesday morning his Twitter account said: “6 MILLION POUNDS!! Thank you everyone, this is all for our incredible NHSCharities.”

Moore, who lives with his family in Bedfordshire, told the BBC: “I think that’s absolutely enormous. At no time when we started off with this exercise did we anticipate we’d get anything near that sort of money.

“It just shows that people have such high regard for matters of our National Health Service and it’s really amazing that people have paid so much money.

“It’s almost unbelievable isn’t it?”

The number has continued to climb, and shortly after the veteran was name-checked by the health secretary, Matt Hancock, in the Downing Street daily briefing on Wednesday, the total passed the £8m mark. By the evening it was well on the way to £10m

He is walking 10 laps of the garden a day with the help of his walking aid, and had hoped to hit 100 laps in time for his birthday on 30 April – but according to his daughter, Hannah, he is likely to reach his goal on Thursday.

Moore served in the second world war after being selected for officer training in 1940 and completed postings in India and Sumatra. He returned to work as an instructor at an armoured fighting vehicle school in Bovington, Dorset.

“Our brave nurses and doctors are frontline in this case … this time our army are in doctors and nurses uniforms and they’re doing a marvellous job,” Moore said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Moore served in the second world war, completing postings in India and Sumatra Photograph: Maytrix Group

His wife was ill for several years and died in 2006, while Moore had been treated for a broken hip and skin cancer, so he continued to feel a close connection with the NHS, his daughter said.

Hannah said that although her father was overwhelmed when he raised £1m he responded with a determination to walk more.

She said: “He’s a typical Yorkshireman, so he’s very stoic, very controlled and takes everything in his stride. We always knew that he was this incredible gem of a man, but we never had any idea that his story would capture the hearts of the nation.

“We thought we could give people a little bit of happy and we wanted to share a little bit about him, and it has just gone beyond even our wildest, wildest, dreams.”

All the money Moore raises will be donated to NHS Charities Together to go towards wellbeing packs and rest and recuperation centres for staff on the frontline, as well as electronic devices for patients to communicate with their families while in isolation.

Ellie Orton, the chief executive of NHS Charities Together, said: “I think I join the rest of the country in being truly inspired and profoundly humbled by Capt Tom and what he’s achieved.

In a direct message to Moore, she said: “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and thank you for being such a good role model … let’s also get other people doing the same and following your example.”

A fellow war veteran, Harry Billinge MBE, 94, also offered his support: “I’m very pleased for you. Carry on, you’re doing a good job. Carry on, old boy!”

Hannah said she was feeling the pressure to make Moore’s next birthday a special one after they had to cancel his big party.

Moore has announced his determination to walk another 100 lengths if it means he can raise more money.

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