Making friends with Captain Tom Moore and answering calls in a Leeds newsroom - ITV journalists reflect on reporting during a global pandemic

“Tom said to me, I’m doing this but it’s not going to make much difference really is it? And I remember saying well you never know...it’s great what you’re doing, just keep going.”
Yorkshireman Sir Captain Tom Moore has inspired people across the globe. Photo: Jacob King/PAYorkshireman Sir Captain Tom Moore has inspired people across the globe. Photo: Jacob King/PA
Yorkshireman Sir Captain Tom Moore has inspired people across the globe. Photo: Jacob King/PA

It was April 8 and Rebecca Haworth had been sent to meet a then soon-to-be centenarian who planned to walk 100 laps of his garden before his hundredth birthday, in the hope, initially, of raising £1,000 for NHS charities. That man, of course, was Keighley-born Captain Sir Tom Moore.

In a new book made up of essays from ITV News journalists reflecting on reporting during a global pandemic, Haworth writes on the remarkable story of Captain Tom and how their continued contact over the past few months means she now considers the Second World War veteran a personal friend.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On that sunny April afternoon, Haworth, a reporter for ITV News Anglia, arrived at the home Captain Tom shares with his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her family in Bedfordshire.

Journalist Rebecca Haworth with Captain Tom. Picture: Jonathan StevensJournalist Rebecca Haworth with Captain Tom. Picture: Jonathan Stevens
Journalist Rebecca Haworth with Captain Tom. Picture: Jonathan Stevens

“Hannah, Benjie and Georgia [Captain Tom’s grandchildren] were smiling and waving in the drive when we turned up and I thought already I really like this, it was such a warm welcome,” Haworth tells me.

“We went into the garden and Tom walked out and my heart immediately melted because he was in a really smart suit and I thought oh it’s lovely he’s dressed up with all his medals on show...He’s just charming.”

Writing for Reporting Coronavirus: Personal Reflections on a Global Crisis from ITV News Journalists, published on October 1, Haworth says Captain Tom’s story “couldn’t have come at a better time”, with people keen to “get behind something good” in the early days of lockdown, amid bleak news.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Still, neither she nor Captain Tom and his family could predict quite the turn of events that has followed. “I was hoping he could raise some money,” she reflects, “because I wanted to show him that what he was doing was worth it. But none of us anticipated what happened. I think that’s part of what has made it so lovely though because it was all so unexpected.”

There’s a lot that she means by ‘all’. Captain Tom’s efforts were picked up by both national and international media. His story and character resonated so much with a world in turmoil that people across the globe both rooted for and were inspired by the man who Prime Minister Boris Johnson has since described as “provid[ing] us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus”.

Read More
Captain Tom Moore's message of thanks to Yorkshire as national hero turns 100

More than £32 million of fundraising, a knighthood, UK number one single, autobiography and two Guinness World Records later - not to mention the newly-formed foundation in his name - it’s been an extraordinary few months for one of Yorkshire’s true finest.

“I feel honoured to be able to call [him] my friend,” Haworth writes. “I was the first journalist to meet him and, since then, I have got to know not only a man who has lifted the nation’s spirits, but also a much-loved dad and grandad who has been inspiring his family all of his life.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Clearly his determination and resilience in the face of adversity is admirable, but what I will treasure the most is the conversations we have had off-camera, and the support and kindness he has shown me during such a worrying time.”

Haworth tells me how Captain Tom and his family reminded her of her own at a time when she, like everyone else, was unable to see her loved ones. Her grandad spent his career with the RAF and Haworth’s husband has recently left the army after 16 years.

“It was lovely to be able to chat to Tom about the military connection,” she says. “He would always be so proud and talk to me about his medals. Once, I remembered to bring my grandad’s medals and he loved looking at those.”

“They did remind me so much of my family,” she adds, “And it really was comforting having people to go back to and it being such a positive story. We have all felt low at times during this and I knew every time that I’d go back to Tom and see his family, I’d come away feeling very much happier.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Haworth recounts getting to know a man she describes as quick-witted, inquisitive and graceful, a man with resolute optimism who “doesn’t believe in age being a barrier at all” and who has remain unchanged and humble amid his new-found fame.

“I said to him are you not fazed by what’s going because [the pandemic] is quite frightening for a lot of us and he said no because we will get through it, it will get better.

“Having someone of that age who has been through so much heartache, with being in the war, losing many friends, losing his wife, and still being able to say things will be better and having that hope, for people who were losing loved ones and being stuck inside for god knows how long, their mental health deteriorating...It gave people a boost and that was what was needed.”

For Emily Kerr, a content editor for ITV News Calendar, who has written about some of the many phonecalls she answered in the newsroom in Leeds during the first months of the pandemic, April 30 - Captain Tom’s 100th birthday - was a particularly memorable day.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“A proud Yorkshireman, and a man people in Yorkshire are rightly proud of, his fundraising efforts moved several people to call our newsroom to express their admiration for everything he had achieved,” she notes.

“They wanted to make sure their birthday wishes were passed on to ‘our Captain Tom’. It was lovely to hear how his positive attitude and determination were inspiring people to adopt a similar approach to their own situations.”

Kerr writes of answering a range of calls; emotional from the recently bereaved, angry from those wanting to report their neighbours for not following the guidelines, heartwarming tales of communities pulling together and moments of joy and fun, and distressed cries for help from those falling through the cracks and feeling powerless.

Among those who called were colleagues of a Yorkshire Ambulance Service worker who had died from coronavirus, requesting that a tribute to their friend was filmed as a way to ensure their contribution to the fight against the pandemic did not go unnoticed.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Sending a camera down to record that moment and show it to people was something we could do,” Kerr says. “It doesn’t change the situation but it’s a way of capturing them marking their respect and reflecting on the impact that that person’s life and death had on family and friends.”

People were picking up the phone more often to speak to the newsroom, Kerr says. With many feeling isolated at home, calling was one way to feel connected to the outside world.

“[I’ve been touched the most by speaking to] those people who are by themselves and knowing I might be the first person they’ve spoken to all day. You feel for them as a human being and want to take the time to listen to them.”

Like many journalists, Kerr has found it hard to switch off at times. “It’s one of those strange situations where you’re living a story that you’re covering,” she muses. “It’s quite intense. Whatever profession people are in, it’s really challenging, difficult times for everybody and I think being in news you almost learn and find out a bit too much about what’s going on.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

For Haworth, Captain Tom, has helped with staying positive. His motto ‘tomorrow will be a good day’ has provided comfort when the pandemic has felt like an “all-consuming, never-ending story”.

“Tom’s story took off for so many reasons, but it was mainly down to him just being himself,” she writes. “His ability to remain calm during a crisis united people from around the world, and gave us all hope when we needed it most...

"His motto, ‘tomorrow will be a good day’ is one we should all cherish, because if a 100-year-old can achieve everything he has...then it stands us all in good stead for overcoming this crisis.”