Gedling Crematorium’s fundraising tribute to Captain Tom

When the team at Gedling Crematorium were challenged to come up with a way to raise money in honour of pandemic hero Captain Sir Tom Moore, they thought it was a piece of cake.

Several pieces of several cakes, actually, as the five staff members each baked a batch of homemade cakes to sell in the five days leading up to what would have been Captain Tom’s 101st birthday on Friday 30 April.

Gedling Crematorium is part of Westerleigh Group, the UK’s largest independent owner of crematoria, with 35 sites in England, Scotland, and Wales.

The Captain Tom Foundation supports many organisations which help people with life limiting illnesses or who are facing or coping with bereavement.

This resonated with the values shared by Westerleigh Group and prompted its leadership team to throw down the gauntlet to its sites to come up with their own ideas for raising money for the foundation.

Amanda Carr, multi-site manager for Westerleigh Group, said: “The team at Gedling felt it was important to give something back to the community and to remember Sir Tom and everything he stood for.”

Captain Sir Tom Moore captured the hearts of the nation during the Coronavirus pandemic when he raised an amazing £38.9m for NHS Charities Together by walking 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden before his 100th birthday.

On 17 July 2020 he was knighted by the Queen at Windsor Castle. He died on 2 February 2021 at Bedford Hospital after being treated for pneumonia and then testing positive for Covid-19.

The Captain Tom Foundation was launched in May 2020 to ensure his inspiring message of hope, and that “tomorrow will be a good day”, becomes a lasting legacy.

Amanda added: “Unfortunately, lockdown restrictions mean we were not able to invite people to our crematorium to take part in any fundraising activities directly.

“But anyone in the community who has used our crematorium can still be part of our fundraising effort, and pay their own tribute to Captain Tom, by making a donation to our Just Giving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/westerleigh-group

Westerleigh Group set itself a target of wanting to raise £1,000 in total for the Captain Tom Foundation, but with donations still coming in, the Group has raised over £3,000.