'Chuffed!' Model trains named after Captain Sir Tom make £20,000 for hospital charity

Model maker Dapol made hundreds of model locos badged up with the name of Captain Sir Tom Moore, the 100 year old Bedfordshire man who completed 100 laps of his garden in the 2020 lockdown.

Andrea Bowen, Dapol's personnel and accounts manager said the N Gauge Class 66 model loco was made in conjunction with GB Railfreight which owns the full-size locomotive, in memory of Captain Sir Tom.

"Captain Sir Tom was such a fantastic person, he inspired a lot of people with what he did," said Andrea.

The elderly knight of the realm initially raised £38m for NHS Charities Together by his garden-lapping efforts. So Dapol thought it would be appropriate for them to raise as much as possible for a local NHS cause.

Andrea said: "RJAH is a local hospital for us, our staff use it and I think everybody knows somebody that has used the hospital."

Dapol, which employs some 28 people at its site at Gledrid Industrial Park, near Chirk, produced the model and announced at the time that for every one they sold they would donate £40 to the hospital. Its recommended retail price is £110 or £140 with a DCC chip.

"We decided to make the donation in one go instead of paying in a number of times," said Andrea.

It means that should fans of model locos want to get their hands on one they still can by contacting Dapol.

Andrea handed over a big cheque from the company to Victoia Sugden, the charity director of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, in Gobowen, near Oswestry, on Monday.

Victoria said: "We are absolutely blown away - chuffed to pieces you might say - with the donation. We are incredibly grateful for this donation which came in such an innovative way."

She said a huge variety of schemes could benefit from the donation, which will go into the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital Charitable Fund's priority fund.

"It helps us to be reactive to the needs of staff and patients," said Victoria.

The charity recently benefited from the efforts of 23 runners in the recent London Marathon, and another team is set to lace up their running shoes in the April outing of the capital's pavement-pounding test.

The hospital serves the local population in Shropshire, North and Mid Wales, Cheshire and the West Midlands, with a patient catchment extending nationally.

It has around 20 individual funds - the majority of which are for specific wards or departments and they are generally used to benefit both staff and patients. There is also a general fund, which is used to support hospital-wide initiatives and those areas which do not have their own fund.

Fundraising events are held throughout the year.