Captain Tom Moore's fundraiser for the NHS has hit £25million just over a week after it was launched.
The 99-year-old pledged to do 100 lengths of his garden to mark his 100th birthday later this month - a feat he accomplished on live TV on Thursday morning in one of the most inspiring stories to come out of the coronavirus pandemic.
As he vows to keep going, he has captured the hearts of the nation and now has a No 1 hit song on iTunes after collaborating with singer Michael Ball on a version of You'll Never Walk Alone.
The cash will go to NHS Charities Together - but what exactly will it be spent on?
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The millions raised by the World War II veteran will help buy food parcels and counselling sessions for NHS staff, as well as electronic tablets to allow patients to talk with their loved ones.
Ian Lush, chairman of NHS Charities Together, said its around 160 members had already received £35,000 each - and the money they get will go towards staff wellbeing and helping patients and their families.
He told the BBC: "For example, we're paying for extra counselling for staff because they're going through a really traumatic time, we're paying for food packages, for wellbeing packs they can pick up after a shift and take home so they don't have to worry about shopping.
"And for patients things like electronic tablets they can use in the wards, we're paying for extra WiFi as well, so they can communicate with their loved ones who aren't able to visit them. And that's making a real difference too."
Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick said at the daily briefing at No10 that Captain Moore would be guest of honour at the opening of a Nightingale hospital in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, next week.
Captain Moore, born in Keighley in West Yorkshire, will praise the efforts of NHS staff by video-link.
He said on Saturday he had been "amazed by the amount of kindness and generosity from the UK public".
He added: "I think the amount raised demonstrates just how much we all value the dedication and sacrifices made by our NHS workers. I have fought during a war and they are now fighting in a war too.
"I'm honoured to be opening the NHS Nightingale Yorkshire and Humber and to get to thank many of the NHS workers directly.
"I know that having extra beds available for the sick, if needed will be reassuring to those workers, as it would have been to me when I was on the front line."
He initially aimed to raise just £1,000 for the NHS by walking 100 lengths of his garden in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire before turning 100 on April 30.
After completing his 100th lap on Thursday, he vowed to keep going with his challenge, which has inspired many Britons, including OAPs, to take up their own challenges to raise money for charity.
The campaign passed the £25million mark on Saturday night as donations continued to pour in from around the world.
Sir Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, said: "Inviting Captain Moore to be our guest of honour at the opening of NHS Nightingale Yorkshire and Humber is the least we can do to thank him for his inspiring service and example, and no doubt there will be further ways in which we will be able to express our gratitude.
"Just like the amazing campaign Captain Moore has inspired, the Nightingales are a symbol of how people have come together as part of a nationwide effort to prepare - should they be needed now or in the months to come - for the greatest global health emergency in more than a century."
Harrogate Convention Centre will be used for 500 beds.
Captain Moore has been personally thanked by the Duke of Cambridge, who described him as a "one-man fundraising machine", while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is looking at ways to recognise his "heroic efforts".
A Spitfire flypast is also reportedly being organised to mark his centenary year.
Keighley Town Council will honour the "fundraising hero" with the freedom of the town.
Children have made cards for him and a mural of him has gone up in a street in Pontefract.
At the Downing Street press conference on Saturday, Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick added: "I can't think of a more worthy person to be the guest of honour at the opening of the new Nightingale Hospital in Harrogate next week."
Captain Moore trained as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Army for the Second World War, rising to captain and serving in India and Burma.
Donations to NHS Charities Together can still be made on this JustGiving page.
Talking about conversations with frontline staff, Mr Lush, the chairman of NHS Charities Together, said: "They were also the people who came to us and said 'It's tragic that these patients, sometimes at the end of their lives, can't talk to their families, if you can get us some tablets to have on the wards and pay for better WiFi then we can arrange for them to at least see their families and communicate with them.'
"So that very much came from the front line."
