Captain Tom Moore: Keighley sign to honour £32m fundraiser
- Published
Captain Sir Tom initially set out to raise £1,000 for the NHS
A giant sign celebrating Captain Sir Tom Moore and his fundraising efforts will be installed in the centre of his hometown.
The 100-year-old war veteran raised more than £32m for NHS charities by completing 100 laps of his garden.
Plans for the sign in Keighley - his birthplace - have been approved by Bradford Council who said it would "benefit community morale".
Capt Sir Tom was knighted in May for his fundraising efforts.
His sponsored walks up and down his Bedfordshire garden in the run up to his 100th birthday in April captured the nation's imagination and raised more than £32m.
The sign will be placed on a site in the centre of Keighley
Capt Sir Tom was born and raised in Keighley and the town council submitted a planning application for a temporary 24m by 2.3m sign at the former Keighley College site.
The sign will say "Captain Tom - Keighley Lad" or something similar, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
One of the conditions of the approval is that the sign can only remain in place for seven months.
The sign is the brainchild of councillor Russell Brown, who represents Worth Valley ward on Bradford Council.
Mr Brown, who has been building the sign for several weeks in Haworth, said the idea grew out of original plans by several local people to erect a sign highlighting Keighley's involvement in Bradford's City of Culture project.
"Unfortunately that came to a halt because of Covid-19, but when we heard about Capt Tom and realised he was from Keighley we wanted to pay tribute to him," he said.
"Keighley is a great place with great things going on. Tom is just one of those characters from Keighley that says what the town is about."
Capt Sir Tom served in India and Myanmar during World War Two
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