'Yorkshire veteran, 99, should be formally recognised after raising £5m for NHS'

Captain Tom Moore said he was "completely out of this world" that people have donated millions of pounds to his campaign, during which continues to push for a century of 25-metre laps before he turns 100 on April 30.

Originally from Keighley in West Yorkshire, Mr Moore trained as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Army for the Second World War, rising to captain and serving in India and Burma.

Mr Moore, who now lives with his family in Bedfordshire, had hoped to raise £1,000 for the NHS when he started the challenge last week.

Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore said that while he was conscious that people up and down the country, including those in his own constituency, were volunteering, the veteran can be seen as a symbol for such national efforts.

He said: "I've already donated to his campaign, I know when I put my money in a couple of days ago it was at half a million.

"[To get to £5m], that just shows how an individual can really change hearts and minds of the whole country, really.

"I think the fact that an individual has now raised £5m effectively, it does probably need some sort of recognition at a high level."

He added: "How cool would that be in his 100th year?"

“Well done and happy birthday Captain Tom!”

Lisa Shattock, Director at SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, told The Yorkshire Post: “Captain Moore served his country during one of the most devasting wars the world has ever seen.

"Almost 75 years to the day after that war came to an end, he is showing his selfless dedication to his country once more; supporting the NHS as they fight against this new invisible and deadly enemy.

"He is a beacon of light and has captured the imagination of this country in a very dark time, we hope that he will be formally recognised for his inspirational efforts.

"Everyone at SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity is supporting and cheering him on.”

Reacting as he was told that his fundraising drive had broken the £5 million barrier, Mr Moore said on BBC One: "Completely out of this world!

"Thank you so much to all you people who subscribe to the National Health Service because, for every penny that we get, they deserve every one of it."

He told the broadcaster: "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."

Mr Moore began raising funds to thank NHS staff who treated him for a broken hip.

His daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, told the BBC that the amount raised was "beyond our wildest expectations".

When the JustGiving page went live last week they thought their £1,000 target was a "real stretch", she said.

"No words can express our gratitude to the British public for getting behind Tom, for making this into a heartfelt story," she added.

"He's a stoic Yorkshireman, he's an unruffled straight-down-the-line kind of person and has embraced this adventure as the next stage of his life.

"I believe that life is all about purpose, we all need purpose, and, whilst he's had a life full of purpose, he did fall and break his hip and became much less independent than he had been for the preceding 98 years, and what you have done, the British public, and everyone who's supported him, is giving him his next purpose.

"He is articulate, he's alive, he's doing this and I think he'll do this until everyone says 'Stop, don't do it any more'."

Mr Moore is ahead of schedule with his walking and is hoping to finish the challenge by Thursday.

His Twitter account said: "5 MILLION!

"Huge thank you to @JustGiving who had over 90,000 people on Tom's page at one time, and had to try ensure that the site didn't crash.

"WOW - just speechless."

- Donations to NHS Charities Together can be made at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tomswalkforthenhs