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Dame Judi Dench will eat 100 Maltesers in honour of Captain Sir Tom Moore’s 101st birthday
Dame Judi Dench will eat 100 Maltesers in honour of Captain Sir Tom Moore, taking part in a charity challenge on what would have been his 101st birthday.
Captain Tom died on February 2, almost a year after raising more than £32million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden ahead of his 100th birthday last April.
In honour of what would have been his 101st birthday today, his family and famous fans are taking on their own ‘100 challenges’ to raise money.
And Dame Judi decided to eat her favourite chocolates for the cause.
In a video shared on Sir Tom’s official Twitter account, the 86-year-old is shown sitting in a garden in front of a bowl of her favourite chocolates.
The Shakespeare In Love star said: ‘Last year, Captain Tom inspired us all by doing 100 lengths of his lawn and raising a huge amount of money.
‘Now I am completely inspired by him, and I’ve decided to do it. Only I’m going to eat Maltesers. Lovely. My fave.’
Thousands of people are taking part in their own charity challenges, themed around the number 100 and using #CaptainTom100 when shared online.
A host of celebrities have pledged to take part, with David Beckham aiming to do 100 keepy-uppies and Mary Berry will bake 100 cakes.
Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is taking on 100 pogo jumps while Joe Root will hit a cricket ball 100 times.
Sir Tom’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, rang the five-minute bell at Lord’s cricket ground in London to officially launch the Captain Tom 100 challenge on Friday.
The bell is rung before the start of play at the ground, known as the Home of Cricket, and Sir Tom was a huge fan of the sport.
Ms Ingram-Moore told BBC Breakfast: ‘It’s really hard not to get emotional because he would have loved to have done this.
‘We talked about it and he was really, really looking forward to it.’
‘His grandson Benjie, 17, said: ‘I would have loved to have experienced this with him, but I think he will be looking down and he will be thinking what a pleasure for our family to be here.’
Ms Ingram-Moore urged people to create their own challenge to raise money for the Captain Tom Foundation or a charity of their choice.
Ideas suggested including scoring 100 goals, walking 100 steps or building 100 sandcastles.
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