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The British public can probably all agree that Captain Sir Tom Moore was one of the best of us.
The nonagenarian, walker in hands, circled his back garden 100 times for his 100th birthday during the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020 to raise £38.9 million for the NHS.
His daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, was at the forefront of what would become a record-breaking fundraising effort after he set out at their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, five years ago today.
The World War Two veteran died in February 2021, after which his family continued the high-profile fundraising campaign in his memory.
But his extraordinary deeds and hard work have since been overshadowed by the actions of others – including those he should have been able to trust to carry on his legacy.
The Captain Tom Foundation promised huge things but is no longer taking donations as it is being wound down, with the charity now formally known as the 1189808 Foundation, unable even to use his name.
Money to the tune of £800,000 from books that the figurehead had written was kept by the family, despite statements being made about his autobiography which the Charity Commission found gave the impression that sales would go to the charity.
In a damning report, the watchdog concluded Captain Tom’s family gained ‘significant personal benefit’ from their links to the charity.
The family’s fall from grace has also included the demolition of a spa – which they said was for the benefit of local elderly people – built without planning permission at their Grade II-listed family home.
Metro takes a look at everything that’s happened since Captain Tom’s death and how it’s tarnished his family’s reputation.
The Captain Tom Foundation
The charity was established in June 2020 to ‘recognise and raise money for organisations supporting the elderly in the UK’.
Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin became trustees of the charity in February 2021, around the time of his death – though she resigned as a trustee a month later.
In July 2021, the Charity Commission stepped in to prevent Ms Ingram-Moore from being appointed as the foundation’s chief executive and receiving a £100,000 salary, calling the move ‘neither reasonable nor justifiable’.
A month later, Ms Ingram-Moore became chief executive of the foundation on a nine-month contract worth £85,000 a year.
After this contract expired, a new chief executive was appointed.
There is now only one trustee left, who has said he is ‘imploring the Ingram-Moores to rectify matters by returning the funds due’ so they can be donated ‘to well-deserving charities as intended by the late Captain Sir Tom Moore’.
In February 2022, it emerged that the Ingram-Moores paid £50,000 in expenses related to consultancy, transport and security for Captain Tom’s publicity tours to other companies run by themselves.
The Charity Commission later ruled that these expenses were legitimate.
The Captain Tom Foundation has since become the 1189808 Foundation, known only by its charity registration number.
Missing money
In the 2020-21 financial year, the information commissioner and fundraising regulator raised concerns about the charity’s accounts – issues which were then resolved.
During an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, Ms Ingram-Moore confessed to taking money from the NHS fundraising veteran – from the sale of his books.
She said they kept £800,000 from three books he had written – despite their prologue insisting the money would go to charity.
She told TalkTV’s Piers Morgan that Sir Tom wanted them to keep the book profits.
She said: ‘These were my father’s books, and it was honestly such a joy for him to write them, but they were his books.
‘He had an agent and they worked on that deal, and his wishes were that that money would sit in Club Nook.’
Club Nook is the name of Ms Ingram-Moore’s own business.
In January 2022 Ms Ingram-Moore was paid £18,000 for judging a charity award in Bristol, appearing at the Ashton Vale Club for Young People and handing them the ‘Virgin Media O2 Captain Tom Foundation Connector Award’.
But the foundation received just £2,000.
The first concerns
In June 2022, the Charity Commission announced it would investigate the foundation after questions arose regarding its financial relationship to members of the Ingram-Moore family.
Concerns were raised that Captain Tom’s family personally profited from the charity, which was set up in his name.
The Commission held a number of conversations with the foundation, but it launched the formal inquiry after new evidence of potentially serious misconduct emerged.
In July 2023 the foundation stopped taking money from donors and a statement on its website said this would continue while the inquiry continued.
Solicitors representing the Ingram-Moores said the foundation was ‘unlikely to exist’ in the future – as they may choose to shut the charity down.
The Ingram-Moores were disqualified from serving as charity trustees by the regulator in July 2024, while the investigation was still taking place.
In a previous statement reacting to their disqualification, the Ingram-Moores said they ‘fundamentally disagree’ with the decision and spoke of the ‘profound emotional upheaval and financial burden’ which prevented them from launching an appeal.
The unauthorised spa
Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband applied in 2021 for permission to build a Captain Tom Foundation building in the grounds of their Grade II listed home in Marston Moretaine.
The L-shaped building was given planning permission, and it was set to be used ‘in connection with the Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives’.
But in February 2022, planners received a part-retrospective plannning application, which would increase the size of the building, change its shape from L-shaped to C-shaped, and house a spa pool.
Those retrospective plans were refused, and Central Bedfordshire council ruled that the ‘now-unauthorised building’ must be demolished in July 2023.
The Ingram-Moores challenged this ruling, but their appeal failed in November of last year.
The implication that the family had used Captain Tom’s name to try and push through the pool plans sparked outrage.
Inspector Diane Fleming said the ‘scale and massing’ of the building had ‘resulted in harm’ to The Old Rectory – their family home.
They were ordered to demolish the building by February 7, 2024 with the bulldozers rolling in days before that deadline.
The home itself is currently on the market for £2 million.
The damning Charity Commission investigation
A 30-page document was published in November after a two-year investigation by the Charity Commission.
It concluded Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin made ‘repeated failures’ at the helm of the foundation.
The watchdog’s CEO David Holdsworth cited ‘repeated instances of a blurring of boundaries between private and charitable interests’, with the couple ‘receiving significant personal benefit.’
He added: ‘Captain Sir Tom inspired a nation and reminded us what service to others can achieve even in the most challenging of times.
‘His determined fundraising efforts, and the incredibly generous public response, brought a smile and hope to many of us during the pandemic.
‘We should remember his achievements and how grateful NHS Charities Together is for the £39 million he raised for the causes they support.
‘Sadly, however, the charity set up in his name has not lived up to that legacy of others before self, which is central to charity. Our inquiry report details repeated failures of governance and integrity.’
Captain Tom’s family has previously stated: ‘We remain dedicated to upholding Captain Sir Tom’s legacy and want the public to know that there has never been any misappropriation of funds or unauthorised payments from the charity’s bank account, by any member of our family.’
In relation to the links between the Ingram-Moores’ businesses and the foundation, Ms Ingram-Moore has previously admitted that ‘we’ve been incredibly naive’ but insisted the family are ‘wholesome, good people and we run businesses we understand’.
The Ingram-Moores described the investigation as ‘a harrowing and debilitating ordeal that has gone on for over two years.’
This article was originally published on February 5, 2024
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