Captain Tom drawing brings smiles and hope to Leighton Buzzard

A talented Vandyke Upper School pupil has captured the hearts of the Leighton-Linslade community with her beautiful drawing of Captain Sir Tom Moore.
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GCSE student Chelsea Cobley, 16, received a sketch book for her birthday, and was inspired to draw our Bedfordshire hero who raised almost £33m for the NHS.

Chelsea’s mum, Emma Poynter, then shared the picture on the Facebook page Family Lockdown Tips, with the post receiving 14,600 likes and 2,100 comments.

Chelsea said: “I just felt inspired. I kept seeing people draw him and obviously he’s been quite an inspiration to everyone.

Chelsea (right) and her drawing of Captain Sir Tom Moore. ‘I kept seeing people draw him and obviously he’s been quite an inspiration to everyone.’Chelsea (right) and her drawing of Captain Sir Tom Moore. ‘I kept seeing people draw him and obviously he’s been quite an inspiration to everyone.’
Chelsea (right) and her drawing of Captain Sir Tom Moore. ‘I kept seeing people draw him and obviously he’s been quite an inspiration to everyone.’

“I’ve always loved the crafty side of things and drawing. I’m taking art as a GCSE and I’m hoping to take it at A-level.

“I showed it to my art teacher, Mr Bennett, and he said it was really good. We have Google Classrooms and he changed the photo to my drawing.”

Chelsea’s head of year, Mrs Williams, has also proudly printed the picture and put it up in a school office on display.

Meanwhile, Chelsea is considering sending the drawing to Captain Sir Tom’s family.

Her mother, Emma, 36, said: “When she showed me the drawing I was really surprised. I said ‘Wow, that’s amazing!’. Chelsea said: ‘Are you joking?’. I said ‘It’s really, really good!’ - she

hasn’t got much self belief. There were all sorts of comments on Facebook, people saying she’s got an amazing talent, and some people have asked if she can do drawings for them.”

Chelsea is now considering a career in the arts industry as a potential option for the future.

Sadly, Captain Sir Tom Moore died on February 2, the day after Chelsea’s birthday, but at the LBO we are sure that he would think Chelsea’s drawing is splendid!

Captain Sir Tom Moore was born on April 30, 1920, and was a British Army officer during World War Two, serving in India and Burma (now Myanmar).

On April 6, at the age of 99, he began a challenge to walk 100 laps of his garden to raise funds for NHS Charities Together.

He was knighted by the Queen at Windsor Castle on July 17.

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