BBC Breakfast and local newspapers have been celebrating the 100th birthday of Captain Tom Moore.
The Keighley-born war veteran has now raised more than £29m for the NHS and as part of the celebrations, he was promoted to Colonel by the Queen.
Colonel Moore also received a message from the Prime Minister and was made an honorary member of the England cricket team by fellow Yorkshireman, Michael Vaughan.
Ahead of his birthday he gave interviews to the Telegraph and Argus in Bradford and the Yorkshire Post, he also spoke to BBC Breakfast and GMB this morning.
“All that is happening to me – it is awesome. Never ever did I ever think we might get anything like this,” he told BBC Breakfast.
BBC Breakfast broadcast archive footage they’d found of him appearing on Blankety Blank in 1983.
This morning, publishers Newsquest and JPI Media have come together to pay tribute to the NHS, by turning their mastheads blue. This will continue every Thursday for the rest of the period.
“We wanted to demonstrate our appreciation for our NHS workers putting their lives on the line for our communities – and as Thursday is Clap For Carers day it seemed the perfect time to do it,” said Toby Granville, Editorial Development Director at Newsquest.
“Very timely it also coincided with Captain Tom’s 100th birthday – who one of our North East editors Nigel Burton managed to get a group-wide exclusive with – thanking our readers for supporting his fundraising campaign.
Jeremy Clifford, JPI Media’s Editor in Chief added:
“It is so inspiring to see the whole nation come together to support our national treasure, the NHS, every Thursday, and our titles want to do what we can to show our gratitude and support for everyone caring for people with Coronavirus. “Turning our mastheads blue is a simple gesture but one full of sentiment for the courage and professionalism of NHS staff.”
