Nick Knowles reveals he is helping Captain Tom and his family with home security

Nick Knowles is putting his practical skills to good use by assisting Captain Tom Moore after the retired war veteran raised more than £27 million for the National Health Service. 

The former serviceman had originally pledged to raise £1,000 through online platform JustGiving by walking 100 laps of his garden before celebrating his 100th at the end of April. 

But the fundraising initiative gained traction after winning the hearts of people across the country, and his kindhearted gesture quickly became the biggest fundraiser in JustGiving history. 

And Nick, 57, admits he was keen to assist Captain Tom after the 99-year old subsequently caught the attention of media outlets across the world.

Speaking from his Cotswolds home on Wednesday’s edition of Lorraine, the presenter revealed he was personally asked to help give the former serviceman and his family some extra security following the record breaking achievement. 

‘He’s done an extraordinary thing,’ he said. ‘I think it’s over 27 million now and when they started it was to raise a thousand pounds.

‘But the world’s attention has been quite oppressive as well as beneficial. They’re very grateful. They want things to keep going and the money they’re raising is very important, but they’re also feeling a bit under pressure.

‘Through a friend of theirs I got asked to join in and help out and do a couple of things to keep them safe, and I’ve managed to do that. He’s an amazing man and the family are really lovely too, and I was happy to help out there.’

He added: ‘There’s a bunch of people who are able to still work and are two metres apart and we’ll be putting some extra protection for them.’  

While the country remains on lockdown for the foreseeable future, Nick admits his DIY SOS team are already looking at ways to help those most affected by the coronavirus pandemic. 

‘We’re looking around at things we can do that are relevant,’ he explained. ‘People say to me will you be doing something for emergency services? And it’s important to us – like at Grenfell, when we were there a few days after Grenfell. 

‘People say are you gonna build something. If it’s relevant – we don’t want to do a token build. If there’s something genuine that we can do then yeah.’ 

He added: ‘We’re looking around to see if there’s something we could genuinely do that will help, you know. We don’t want to do something that looks like a sticking plaster on a severed leg.’