Captain Tom Moore fund donates £20m to hospital charities
More than £20m raised by Captain Tom Moore has been handed out to NHS charities across the country.
Each charity has been given £35,000 from the £32.8m fund and a second grant based on the size of the trust they serve, said NHS Charities Together. The charity at the hospital where Capt Tom was treated for a broken hip and skin cancer received £122,500. NHS Charities Together said the donations were "already having a huge impact and will continue to do so". Chief executive Ellie Orton said funds raised by Capt Tom were part of a total of £116m which would support staff, volunteers and patients. They include paying for tablet devices for them to keep in contact with loved ones, counselling services, food and drink, and comfortable places for them to take a break. "We have been completely overwhelmed and delighted by the response our appeal has received," she said. With gift aid added, the war veteran raised £38.9m for NHS charities by walking 100 lengths of his garden in Bedfordshire before his 100th birthday in April. The day was marked with an RAF flypast, some 140,000 birthday cards, and Capt Tom being made an honorary colonel. On Tuesday it was announced he had been awarded a knighthood. Capt Tom was initially inspired to raise money for the NHS in its efforts against coronavirus by the quality of care he received during his own time in hospital in 2018. The charity serving Bedford Hospital, where Capt Tom was treated, and the Luton and Dunstable Hospital, which it has merged with, was awarded £122,500. Each of the 220 members of NHS Charities Together was granted £35,000 in the first wave of hand-outs. The second wave to the charities was then calculated at £7 per staff member at the NHS trusts its supports. Among the largest donations so far are £315,000 to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Endowments, £196,000 to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust Charity and £182,000 to University Hospitals Birmingham Charity. Other payments, to the more than 250 charities given money, include: More than one and a half million people donated during the fundraising, after which the 100-year-old reached number one with You'll Never Walk Alone. Capt Tom has since announced he is to set up a loneliness foundation, to support those "who are feeling so very much on their own" during the coronavirus pandemic. Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk