Captain Tom Day

[Puppylucky]

Really?! Supported by Esther Rantzen et all but now on hold - thank God

@ItsDisneyBitch

I was highly suspicious of the family and got told off for being a miserable cynic by my entire family.

I remember saying to my sister ‘the daughter is out for herself’ we had a full blown row over its

When the charity started to be investigated I sent her the link with the middle finger emoji. You know because I’m only in my 40s and not immature at all.

I had this too, and the same about my thoughts on Meghan Markle. They've all eaten large slices of humble pie with added cream, now.

It was really obvious what her and her husbands motivation was. The go fund me was in her company name.

The amount of times she just took over the interviews completely was embarrassing. Not forgetting the time she dragged her kids on camera, mid interview with GMB despite no one talking about them, who then recited a clearly rehearsed speech about the whole situation.

CTM might have known. Might not have known. He might have known and thought as long as the NHS got the money he didn't care. He might have known some of it bit never imagined the pair of them would gone to take the piss. We don't know.

But the really weird adoration of him and her was weird.

Someone on MN told me I was cynical the other day.
This story is one of the reasons why.
Whether it's children or old folk there's always someone ready to exploit them for money imo and it's often family.

Blimey about the son in law and the coughing major.

I had no real knowledge or foreboding about all this at the time and was surprised at the revelation of the dodginess but I do recall having to turn the telly off any time there was a Captain Sir Tom interview as it was all so mortifyingly cringey and I couldn’t cope.

I hope it means that Facebook will once more be full of weird photos of him ascending to heaven with his walking frame, surrounded by a covid banner.

Maybe they could do a red arrows flypast. Or a load of poppies planted in the shape of his face. The possibilities are endless really. This could go on and on.

Maybe we could combine it with a whole day clapping for the NHS?

It’s nonsense he was knighted that’s enough

And his family well …..

I don't think the SIL and the Coughing Major are related, from what I've read.

Don't have strong feelings re CTM and am willing to accept he was trying to do a good thing and got swept along on the rollercoaster. The Barbados trip always seemed an insane idea, both from the POV of his health and the optics at the time. Hannah and her husband from the outset were clearly revelling in the spotlight and made me feel uneasy. I'm not surprised about the current concerns, sadly.

There are thousands of unsung people who have done far greater things. When they all have days too then maybe....

@Fangdango

To be fair - the money Captain Tom raised with all that walking went to charity.

The Captain Tom Foundation that his family set up later to raise more funds is the one paying salary and consultants.

Exactly and the investigation as I understand it is under way . So why not let that finish and get full answers . You would be surprised how many charities run like this .

I went for a job at oxfam once and was surprised at the salary . But then if you want to raise huge amounts of money you need good people to do it .

In this case I would rather let the charity commission do their job.

Dare I say....just because he was 100, doesn't make him stupid.

I didn’t say he was stupid.

It’s possible he knew the families plans and was all for it. Or maybe not. Either way, his family knew that a 100 year old bloke doing laps was just the sort of story to grab our scummy media’s attention. The family couldn’t have done it without him, and there’s no doubt that they used him, whether he was aware of it or not. The media grabbed onto it to make money too. He was exploited.

Does anybody seriously think that he would have just done the laps round the garden for £40 from his family?

@Fudgein

Don't understand the hatred here I wouldn't be against this at all.

Informed or legitimate criticism (or even illegitimate criticism, for that matter) is not 'hatred'.

Problems happen when it's constantly touted as such. Cries of derision over the 'woke bros' becoming offended mean serious hate crime is increasingly likely to go unchecked.

The bloke became a poster-cause for a demoralized nation at a unique moment in history (as did the much-lauded NHS, which incidentally, if as a public institution it starts becoming propped up by charitable donations, is another serious problem in itself).

I'm paying the fella the courtesy of assuming that his gesture might have been well-meant to start with, but it's clear this quickly became a well of opportunism. His family have been savvy enough to seize the hay while the sun's shining.

Others can celebrate being easily taken in by this kind of emotive schmaltz, topped off by Queenie quoting Vera Lynn, if they want to. I'll be quite happy to stand back.

@Girlmumdogmumboymum

No thanks. I think he and his family set out to capitalise on him raising money for the NHS. I remember reading an article about how HD and his family decided he would do his walk around the garden, didn't seem to me to be much more than a way to grab attention.

Then he lapped up his free holiday to the carribean with his family, which ultimately ended his life.

And now his daughters been removed from his charity after trying to pay herself about £125000 a year from it.

I certainly wouldn't be taking part in a captain Tom day.

but he wasnt raising money for the NHS in the first place its not a bloody charity I hated the way the media kept spinning it. the money was meant to go to nursing charities not the NHS itself.

@queenMab99

I thought it was just me being hard and cynical about Captain Tom and the Thursday clap for the NHS, so I said nothing at the time and cringed if I ever remembered at 8pm on a Thursday, because I just couldn't bring myself to stand on the doorstep and clap, and hoped I wouldn't get shaming notes through the letterbox So I feel a sense of relief now.

My cat misses the clapping. He was accidentally patrolling the garden the first week and everyone started clapping Every time after that he was parading around the garden watching everyone clapping. For him

went for a job at oxfam once and was surprised at the salary . But then if you want to raise huge amounts of money you need good people to do it

But they aren't the right people for the job. Which is why she had to step away. Because either they ar enough or dont know what they are doing.

So why would they be paid a fortune?

My children were walking the dog around the village one Thursday evening and accidentally walked through the clapping. One guy said to them “We’re clapping for you, you know.” No, they don’t know. They’re teenagers, don’t work for the NHS and don’t wear scrubs.

I kept pointing out at the time that there was another old man trying to raise money who got nothing like the coverage.

I concluded the reason why was because the other old man was indian and working class, not some posh old white man from the military.

the other guy raised about 30k and no one really gave a stuff, but I think captain tom appeals to brexit voter types.

and I am happy to say no one around my way clapped like seals on a Thursday night.

Well for someone who works in PR, the 'grabby' daughter has potentially spectacularly shot herself in the foot, I'd have thought, in terms of future business.

@VelvetChairGirl

I kept pointing out at the time that there was another old man trying to raise money who got nothing like the coverage.

I concluded the reason why was because the other old man was indian and working class, not some posh old white man from the military.

the other guy raised about 30k and no one really gave a stuff, but I think captain tom appeals to brexit voter types.

and I am happy to say no one around my way clapped like seals on a Thursday night.

So…. Name him

Because all we know from your post is that he is “Indian”and “working class”

@VelvetChairGirl

Captain Fucking Tom Fucking Day. Fuck off!

@VelvetChairGirl you mean Mr Choudhary. He was awarded the mbe I believe.

Sadly it’s not true that Colin Ingram and Charles Ingram are brothers. However, I would very much like to watch a TV drama about the whole thing, along the lines of the one ITV did about Charles Ingram. Dodgy as hell.

[quote CharlotteTuesday]@VelvetChairGirl you mean Mr Choudhary. He was awarded the mbe I believe. [/quote]
yes thats him the skipping Sikh, turns out he only made 14k for charity not 30k.

imagine if he'd had the wall to wall coverage that the other guy had.

@CathyorClaire

I'm not surprised by how this has panned out.

Quite soon after it all kicked off I saw reports on the daughter being a specialist in PR. Anyone who watches BBC breakfast knows they're a sucker for a human interest story and sure enough, once planted, gullible Auntie did the daily heavy heaving then sat back and celebrated at how it snowballed.

The daughter knew exactly how to play it.

There was a report on Breakfast this week about James Brokenshires widow and a lung cancer survivor who have formed a charity. The build up to the report was about how the woman had formed a 'close online friendship' with JB when he announced he had lung cancer - the report plays and she actually said that she has contacted him when he announced he has cancer, he replied to thank her and then they didn't really communicate again after that hardly what I would call close online friendship.

But good old Breakfast- why let the truth get in the way of a good story eh?

It's not hatred towards the man but the corruption and opportunism the whole thing stinks of

Precisely - and the reason the "Captain Tom Day" won't be happening has nothing to do with the man himself and everything to do with the additional money his family would no doubt aim to make out of it for themselves

To say nothing of the questions the media would be asking them at every appearance, which I suspect would be unwelcome