Harrogate family to throw virtual birthday party fundraiser honouring Captain Tom Moore with rousing speeches, songs and tributes

All 12 members of the Hick family, spread out over six households across Harrogate, Beverley, Manchester, Huddersfield and London, will be logging on to mark the special occasion in style on April 30, and have felt so moved by Captain Tom's selfless efforts in raising more than £28 million for NHS Charities Together, that they will all individually be making a donation.

Having never thrown a party for a centenarian before, the Hicks took to the internet for some inspiration and found a raft of suggestions - covering appropriate colours, cards, cakes, and speeches. The family will each read one out, and end the party with a glass of fizz to toast Captain Tom, singing happy birthday, with the grand finale of a slightly adapted version of Yorkshire's anthem, fittingly re-named 'On Keighla Moor Baht'at"!'

Jonny Hick, who is also working on an adaptation of a David Bowie classic, 'Ground Control to Captain Tom,' said: "The impending approach of Captain Tom Moore's centenary has unwittingly, but inevitably, become a focal point - a countdown to what I think will become the pinnacle of his campaign. I think there will be a groundswell of extra support this next week as the day looms, and our idea of holding virtual parties is one way of helping turbocharge the final figure, which I think will receive global attention and support and could possibly catapult the JustGiving total to a mind-blowing £50 million-plus.

"The feel-good factor of a nation and world joining in such a momentous occasion on the day will be a long remembered highlight of a low period in our lives. I recall the street party we had in the June sunshine in my village in East Yorkshire for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977. There were 12,000 such parties across the country. I was 13 and I remember it like yesterday as a highlight of my life. Everyone came together to salute the greatest person in our country.

"Captain Tom shares a number of the Queen's values - service, stoicism, selflessness, leadership, determination. I think the analogy is a good one. It is so poetically fitting that Captain Tom's 100th birthday comes in the month of his campaign and that it falls on a Thursday, which has fast become NHS Day - which is why have organised our party for 7pm, so that we can then go out onto our doorsteps and clap for our carers at 8pm.

"Wouldn't it be nice if the nation sang happy birthday dear Tom at the end of that? Having spent a total of 15 months in five Yorkshire NHS hospitals, including Harrogate, through three bouts of serious illness over the years, I have long clapped for my carers - they are incredible. Captain Tom shares with me the love, thanks and gratefulness that being in the frontline of serious illness gives you for these wonderful people, motivated entirely by vocation and devotion, never money or self-gratification."

Mr Hick has invited families across Yorkshire and the whole country to follow suit and do something special to celebrate Captain Tom's birthday in their own way - and help give more encouragement to the inspirational veteran fundraiser.

He said: " It's one thing to send him a card, but to throw a party will take it to another level. I am sure he would be thrilled to think everyone is coming together for an evening of fun at a time of separation.

"We have recently seen so much of the goodness of heart we Brits have in our blood - that famous 'Dunkirk spirit' embodied by Captain Tom's era. I hope it will be one enduring good to come out of this dreadful virus - a recognition that real life should not be about selfishness and possessions. Tom's spirit has touched us all and deserves a party. What a welcome escape from many weeks of nothing but daily grim news."

The Hick family said Captain Tom has struck a chord with the nation due to many endearing factors.

Mr Hick said: "At a time when everyone in the world is coming up with ideas - from ordinary to genius - to raise funds for the NHS, I think there are a few key personal ingredients that have catapulted Captain Tom's very simple idea into a phenomenon:

"He served as an officer in the last great war, a majority of it, and is one of the last survivors left to remind us of the huge sacrifices made by that generation. The daily wearing of his regimental blazer, tie and medals is a hugely endearing and powerful image.

"He is an elderly man with impaired mobility and yet he has soldiered on day after day, aided by his frame, determined to hit his target. Coupled with the overpowering media interest, he must be very tired at times,.but that won't stop Captain Tom.

"At times of great adversity, nations have always needed a figurehead or two to attach their hopes to as an inspiration to smile, soldier on and get to the other side. Churchill and Vera Lynn were two such figures in the Second World War. I think Captain Tom has joined the omnipresence of our Queen as the people's representative of resilience, hope and wisdom. His own simple quote, based on one hundred years of experience, says it all: 'for all those finding it difficult, the sun will shine on you again and the clouds will go away.'

"What really touches me is that Captain Tom, the product of a bygone era, has connected so much with the younger generation."

In a moving illustration of this, Jonny's 23-year-old daughter Rebecca said: "Captain Tom is so adorable and you just want to put your arms around him. He has such humility and it's such a heart warming story. His connection with the war is there to see in his medals and it's so important we respect that and remember what Captain Tom's generation sacrificed for us to be here today."