Promotion for UK fund-raising hero "Colonel" Tom as he turns 100

Promotion for UK fund-raising hero "Colonel" Tom as he turns 100

British World War Two veteran Tom Moore, who has become a national hero after raising almost 30 million pounds for the health service, celebrates his 100th birthday on Thursday with an honorary promotion and two military flypasts.

To celebrate his landmark, Captain Tom Moore has been appointed the first Honorary Colonel of the Army Foundation College, based near the town where he grew up, a position that came with the approval of Queen Elizabeth, the defence ministry said.

Moore has raised 29.4 million pounds ($36.5 million) for charities that help front-line National Health Service staff by completing laps of his garden with the help of a walking frame, having initially set out to raise just 1,000 pounds.

That figure means he now holds the Guinness World Record title for the most money raised by an individual through a walk, and he has also since also become the oldest person to notch up a number one single in Britain’s main music chart, featuring on a cover version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.