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Kindness comes in many forms. That thought is behind the new website, A Gift of Kindness, which promotes sharing stories of good deeds, all in memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore.
Almost two years after Moore’s death at the age of 100, his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, still gets stopped everywhere she goes.
“People feel that they know us,” Ingram-Moore told The Washington Post. “We talk about my father’s legacy, the gift of hope, tenacity, and positivity he left in the world.”
Walking ‘round the garden
A hero of the Covid-19 pandemic, Moore decided to raise money for the National Health Services in England by walking laps in his garden during the lockdown. On April 6, 2020, at the age of 99, Moore vowed to walk 100 times across his garden with the goal of raising £1,000 by his 100th birthday. In the course of 24 days, Moore made media appearances and became a beloved popular figure, earning accolades and attracting more than 1.5 million individual donations. Ultimately, Moore raised £32.79 million (US$45M) for the NHS.
Moore was personally knighted by Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle on July 17, 2020, not only for his spectacular fundraising efforts but for his career as a WWII veteran who fought in the Burma Campaign. Captain Tom lived in his daughter’s Bedfordshire home — about 50 miles north of London — for 14 years before his death in February 2021.
Ironically, when he was admitted to hospital for pneumonia just two months shy of his 101st birthday, Moore was also diagnosed with Covid-19.
A website in his memory
Now, Moore’s family is keeping his spirit alive with the inauguration of a website called, A Gift of Kindness. “My late father Captain Sir Tom, lived a long and fulfilled life that was brimming with joy, deep sorrow, love, loss, hope, positivity and kindness. He truly believed in the fundamental goodness of humanity. With that in mind, 'A Gift of Kindness' is a place to relate your kindness stories, to share joy and hope with others by recalling any small gift of kindness towards you or someone you know, and how that felt.” Sir Tom’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore told Country Living.
The idea came to Ingram-Moore while sitting with her family around the dinner table on a recent evening, according to The Washington Post. They were discussing how Moore’s fans continue to send warm wishes.
“People stop me wherever I am,” she said, adding that strangers often share their own acts of kindness, and how her father was a source of inspiration to them. The goal of the website, she said, is to serve as a message board for sharing personal stories of humanity.
Above all be kind
As the website expresses, “Captain Sir Tom Moore lived a long and fulfilled life that was brimming with joy, deep sorrow, love, loss, hope, positivity, and kindness. He spent years of his youth experiencing first-hand the horrors of war in defense of the country and the values that he held so dear. Despite this, he truly believed in the fundamental goodness of humanity and always said: ‘Above all be kind. It doesn’t cost you a penny.’”
In one short entry on the website, Diane from Phoenix, AZ, writes, “Nine of us, from Paradise Valley United Methodist Church, went to a homeless day-care center facility in Phoenix, to bring cheers, a holiday card and a gift to residents. Our leader led all in prayer; we then distributed the cards. Each person there, despite their lack of possessions, thanked us. We were touched. And humbly reminded of the blessings in our lives. Thank you for this forum.”
Since the website launched on December 8, 2022, dozens of entries have poured in. Ingram-Moore sifts through each one and posts them herself to the site. The message board is a place to relate stories of kindness, and to share joy and hope with others “by recalling any small gift of kindness towards you, or someone you know, and how that felt,” the website states.
“This has already picked up momentum. It’s traveled across the Atlantic,” Ingram-Moore said in The Washington Post. The stories emphasize that “the things we do every day have a huge impact.”
While Captain Tom is deeply missed by his daughter and grandchildren, “so much of our life is dedicated to ensuring my father’s legacy lives on,” Ingram-Moore continued. “We call ourselves Team Tom.”
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