SCAFFOLDERS have gone to great heights to show their appreciation for their hero Captain Sir Tom Moore.

A team of scaffolders from Total Access Scaffolding, who are based in Great Tey, decided to construct a giant 100 for The Captain Tom Foundation.

Thousands of people across the country have been getting involved in charity challenges to celebrate what would be Sir Tom’s 101st birthday.

As part of the Captain Tom 100 campaign, people are being encouraged to create their own charity challenge themed around the number 100.

When Andy Smith, director of Total Access Scaffolding, heard about the campaign, he immediately wanted to get on board with some of his staff members.

He said: “It would have been Sir Tom’s 101st birthday on April 30.

“As he gave so much of his life fighting for his country and helping others we at Total Access Scaffolding thought the least we could do was to try to give back to his and his family’s charities.”

“We can’t bake or sew so we decided to build the figure 100 out of scaffolding.

“Many people have baked for the challenge, but we thought we should stick to what we know - and what we are good at.”

The scaffolding took five members of the team a day to build and take down.

Mr Smith designed how to do the 100 in scaffolding poles.

“I had to create a design of how I wanted it to look before any building started,” he added.

Once his team constructed the figure, they posed for a quick picture in front of it before taking it apart.

So far, more than £1,500 has been raised from the team’s scaffolding project.

Mr Smith said: “The funding has come from our contacts and customers after we sent an email to them with the picture of the scaffolding attached.

“They have kindly donated as much as they could.”

More donations are expected to roll in over the coming days.

Mr Smith said Sir Tom was a true hero who deserves to be recognised.

“He gave a lot for his country and fought in the Second World War,” he added

“And he went on to raise an amazing amount of money for the NHS in the later part of his life.

“To us he will always be a true hero. He’s done so much for us, so we wanted to do our bit in his memory.”

War veteran Sir Tom raised more than £32 million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday last year.

A year on his family have been encouraging people to celebrate his spirit of generosity by taking on their own Captain Tom 100 charity challenge.

The Captain Tom 100 has been organised by The Captain Tom Foundation with London Marathon Events and supported by the Mass Participation Sports Organisers.

To find out more about The Captain Tom Foundation visit captaintom.org/captain-tom-100.