YORKSHIRE war hero Captain Sir Tom Moore was guest of honour at The Coniston Hotel and Spa over the Yorkshire Day weekend.

The hotel hosted ‘A Meeting with Captain Tom’ taking in some small community sessions. Captain Sir Tom also officially cut the ribbon to the hotel’s new The View restaurant.

The Keighley born war veteran became a national hero after raising almost £39 million for NHS charities during the coronavirus crisis by completing 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday. He has recently received a knighthood from The Queen.

On his first public outing since shielding from coronavirus, Captain Sir Tom returned to his home county by visiting The Coniston Hotel to host some short sessions to engage and inspire the local community.

In attendance at the small, socially distanced sessions were representatives from the local emergency services, health care providers, schools, religious groups, farming community and tourism agency, as well as a number of Yorkshire businesses.

The sessions told the incredible story of Captain Sir Tom in his, and his family’s, own words, shared their highlights over the past four months and discussed important topics such as bereavement, loneliness and hope. It is these three themes that are close to the hearts of Captain Sir Tom and his family and underpin the next part of his journey - ‘The Captain Tom Foundation’ - a charity that has been set up by them to inspire hope where it is needed the most.

Captain Sir Tom said: “I remain truly humbled and grateful for the support I have received from far and wide but the warm reception I received returning home to Yorkshire was particularly special. The team at The Coniston Hotel took such great care of us and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with the local community. It really was great to be back.”

Nick Bannister, the hotel’s owner and director added: “It was a great honour to host Captain Sir Tom Moore and his family. We are proud to have played a part in the day and to support The Captain Tom Foundation.”