A STAIRLIFT company has boosted moves to provide a permanent memorial in Keighley to fundraising hero Captain Sir Tom Moore.

More than 100 employees at Acorn Stairlifts in Steeton took part in a Walk for Tom challenge.

They each walked at least one-and-a-half miles – the distance covered by Captain Sir Tom when he completed 100 laps of his garden last year – and took a selfie en route, near a landmark where possible.

A ‘glamping trip’ prize offered by the company was won by service co-ordinator Kaynath Shiaz. Her ten-mile walk took in the High Crag monument on the moor between Addingham and Ilkley, which marks the site where a Halifax bomber crashed in January, 1944, claiming the lives of all seven crew members.

Funds raised through the challenge were boosted with donations from a ‘dress down Friday’ last month – and Acorn Stairlifts rounded-up the final total to £2,000.

All the proceeds will go to a memorial commission set-up to decide how best to commemorate in Keighley the achievements of the late Captain Sir Tom, who raised more than £32 million for NHS charities.

In a survey carried out by the commission, 89 per cent of people said there should be some form of memorial. And half of respondents felt the tribute should take the form of both a permanent memorial and a legacy project.

Acorn Stairlifts’ operations director, Nick Wilson, said: “It was great to see so many colleagues stepping-up and stepping out to honour Captain Tom.

“At the height of the pandemic we took pride in knowing Captain Tom – the nation’s hero – was a local lad, Keighley born and bred, so it’s only fitting he should be commemorated in his home town. He was also an engineer, so as a local engineering and manufacturing company, Acorn Stairlifts is keen to be involved in the memorial project.”