Captain Sir Tom Moore’s disgraced daughter has apologised if the British public ‘feel misled’ over the charity set up in her fundraising hero father’s name.
The World War II hero captured the hearts of the nation during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, raising £38.9 million for NHS charities by walking the length of his driveway in Bedfordshire.
In February 2021, Captain Sir Tom Moore passed away at the age of 100 from coronavirus, with his family going on to set up a charity in his name to support ’causes close to [his] heart’.
However the Captain Tom Foundation – directed by his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore, 54, and her husband Colin Ingram-Moore, 67, – has come under intense scrutiny after a damning Charity Commission’s report.
It revealed the duo had ‘misled’ the public and made ‘repeated failures in integrity’ as they pocketed around £1.5million from the foundation set up in his name, and benefited ‘significantly’ through their association with the high-profile charity.
There was also a misleading suggestion that proceeds from a £1.4million book deal would be made to the foundation, including from Captain Tom’s autobiography Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day, the watchdog found.
The report revealed the grasping couple had twice been invited to ‘rectify matters [over the book deals] by making a donation to the charity in line with their original intentions as understood by those involved’ but had ‘declined to do so’.
Now the Mrs Ingram-Moore has spoken out for the first time since the inquiry, and has said ‘there was never any intent to mislead,’ before adding: ‘If there was any misleading it wasn’t our doing’.
Hannah Ingram-Moore making ‘disingenuous’ public statements suggesting she had not been offered a six-figure sum to become the Captain Tom Foundation’s chief executive, when she had actually requested a £150,000 remuneration package to take on the role. This sum was rejected by the Charity Commission and she ended up receiving the equivalent of £85,000 per annum for a maximum of nine months on a three-month rolling contract.
The Ingram-Moores issuing misleading suggestions that donations from book sales would be paid to the foundation. An advance of almost £1.5 million for a three-book deal was paid to Club Nook, a company where the Ingram-Moores are directors, but none went to the charity. Requests to hand the funds over to the foundation were ‘declined’. Captain Tom wrote in the prologue of his autobiography that it had ‘given [me] the chance to raise even more money for the charitable foundation.’
A claim by Mrs Ingram-Moore that an appearance at the Virgin Media Local Legends Award ceremony, for which she was paid £18,000, was undertaken in a personal capacity. The Commission said there was no evidence to support this and the money should have gone to the foundation, which received a separate £2,000 fee.
Confusion over handling of intellectual property rights, which the Commission said were owned by the family but offered to the foundation to use without appropriate agreements in place, leading to possible financial losses to the charity. A £100 limited edition bottle of Captain Tom gin was sold without a ‘written agreement in place’ over the ‘exact amount of money that will be donated’.
Using the foundation’s name in a planning application for a luxury spa facility in the grounds of the family’s £2.25 million home in Bedfordshire. The Ingram-Moores claimed this was an error that occurred while both were ‘busy undertaking global media work’. The building – which was larger than agreed by Central Bedfordshire Council – was torn down earlier this year after the couple lost an appeal against the local authority’s order to demolish it.
Sir Tom Moore’s daughter said her father, who she said was of ‘very sound mind’, wanted to ensure the family ‘lived well’, that they had a ‘future income’ citing that the pandemic had placed financial pressure on their business.
Mrs Ingram-Moore revealed that after fees the family bagged £800,000 from the book deal, but most of this was depleted by legal costs.
However the book’s publisher Penguin as well as its promoter Carver PR told the BBC that they were repeatedly told by the family that part of the autobiography’s advance would be used to help finance the charity.
A press release from the World War II hero’s memoir also reiterated that the funds would be going to the Captain Tom Foundation.
When asked if they where going to make a donation to charity as previously requested by the Charity commission, Mrs Ingram-Moore was adamant that they already had, but refused to give an exact amount.
‘Do you know what I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,’ she said.
‘I don’t think its helpful now for me to put another number out because that is the number everyone will talk about.
‘There is nothing dishonest about what happened. The book said it would support the launch and it did,’ she added.
It was also revealed that the Captain Tom Foundation given grants totalling to £160,000 to four charities whilst spending over £162,000 on management within the same time frame.
As well as the the book agreement, the Charity Commission raised concerns about deals with Virgin Media – worth £28,000 – that Mrs Ingram-Moore was paid for.
The commission’s report found a ‘repeated pattern of behaviour’ which saw Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin make private gains which the regulator said will have left the public feeling ‘misled’.
When questioned about the report, Sir Tom Moore’s daughter said it would have been too expensive to argue the finding, quipping that they ‘gracefully bowed out’ in a bid to carry on with their lives.
The hard-hitting 30-page report concluded Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore’s failings ‘amount[ed] to misconduct and/or mismanagement’.
The Commission had already banned Mrs Ingram-Moore, 54, from being a trustee or holding senior management roles in any charity in England and Wales for ten years, while her 67-year-old husband was struck off for eight years.
It confirmed it had not referred the contents of its report to the police or Crown Prosecution Service ‘as we have not found evidence of criminal activity’.
Regarding Mrs Ingram-Moore’s latest comments, a Charity Commission spokesperson said: ‘Our rigorous investigation found repeated instances where Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore actions blurred the boundaries between their private interests and those of the charity.
‘We stand by the findings of our inquiry which are based on robust evidence.
It comes as the Ingram-Moore’s put their grade II listed home on the market for £2million.
Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore were previously criticised for not consulting trustees about a spa complex built at their home.
They further sparked fury when in August 2021 they used the charity’s name to apply for planning permission for an indoor swimming pool building in the grounds of the family’s Grade II-listed home.
Initially approved by Central Bedfordshire council, largely because of its supposed charitable purposes, the family went on to build a larger structure, containing a pool, spa, kitchen and toilets.
They removed references to Captain Tom in a retrospective application for the changed structure, later telling the Charity Commission inquiry that its original inclusion was ‘an error’ and that they were both distracted because they were ‘busy undertaking global media work’.
They were ordered to bulldoze the unapproved £200,000 structure, and later lost an appeal as an inspector determined the construction wasn’t in keeping with the historic attributes of the mansion. The complex was demolished in February 2023.
It comes shortly after it was revealed that Sir Tom Moore’s name had been dropped, with the Captain Tom Foundation renamed as the 1189808 Foundation, reflecting the organisation’s charity number.
A foundation spokesperson said it was the family that demanded Sir Tom’s name be removed.
The change came just over two months after the charities watchdog found there had been ‘repeated’ misconduct and mismanagement on the part of Sir Tom’s daughter and her husband in their running of the foundation.
March 2020
Captain Sir Tom Moore captures the nation’s hearts and raises almost £39million for NHS charities by walking around his garden 100 times using a walking frame.
April 2020
Captain Tom partners up with legendary singer Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir to record a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone – the hit made famous by Gerry and the Pacemakers and adopted by Liverpool FC.
Their version of the hit soars to number one on The Official Big Top 40 chart.
Over 100,000 birthday cards were sent for his 100th birthday on April 30, while Great Western Railway names one of their new trains after the captain and a special Battle of Britain flypast was organised to mark his special day.
July 2020
Captain Tom is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during a special private ceremony at Windsor Castle.
When was the Captain Tom Foundation founded?
September 2020
The Captain Tom Foundation is set up, inspired by the memory of his late wife Pamela, who died in 2006 after a battle with dementia.
The foundation aims to combat loneliness and support people facing bereavement.
New Year’s Eve 2020
A drone silhouette of Captain Tom appears at London’s annual fireworks display for New Year’s Eve.
February 2021
Captain Sir Tom Moore dies at the age of 100 after testing positive for Covid-19 and contracting pneumonia. His funeral takes place in Bedfordshire.
August 2021
Hannah Ingram-Moore, and husband, Colin, apply for permission to build a Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of their £1.2million home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
Hannah and Colin make an application to build an L-shaped building next to their property before later adding a 50ft by 20ft pool house complete with changing rooms, showers and toilets, according to planning documents.
September 2021
The family of Captain Sir Tom Moore launch an illustrated children’s book – titled One Hundred Reasons to Hope – to commend the achievements of inspirational people during the pandemic.
What did Captain Tom’s daughter do?
February 2022
Captain Tom’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, says she can still feel the presence of her father ‘in everything’ around her, as the family mark the first anniversary of the former Army officer’s death.
The family becomes embroiled in controversy for the first time, after charities watchdog The Charity Commission announces it is investigating the Captain Tom Foundation following concerns over its accounts and governance.
The investigation comes after the charity pays over £50,000 to companies run by Mrs Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin.
They were both appointed trustees of the charity in February 2021, but Mrs Ingram-Moore resigned just six weeks later, while Colin remained as one of three trustees.
March 2022
Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter defends the charity’s set-up on ITV’s This Morning, denying reports that the charity set up in her late father’s honour had at one stage planned to appoint her chief executive on a six-figure salary.
June 2022
The Charity Commission opens a probe into the foundation after identifying fresh ‘concerns’ about the involvement of Captain Tom’s family within the charity.
It says it will investigate payments by the charity to a company linked to Mrs Ingram-Moore and her husband’s companies, in a statutory inquiry centering on the foundation’s independence from the family.
July 2023
The Captain Tom Foundation stops taking donations amid a probe into its finances by a charity watchdog.
Planning chiefs had already ordered an unauthorised building to be demolished at the family’s Bedfordshire home, after retrospective plans for a building containing a spa pool were rejected.
Mrs Ingram-Moore and her husband apply for permission to construct a ‘Captain Tom Foundation Building’ in the garden of their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, in 2021.
The building was approved to be used ‘in connection with the Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives’, but this approval is later revoked after a larger building containing a spa pool was built.
Mrs Ingram-Moore appeals against the demolition order.
September 2023
A probe into the charity claims it had a ‘massive adverse impact’ on fundraising, as accounts revealed that the late veteran’s daughter received more than £70,000 to head the charity.
October 2023
At a planning hearing, the Ingram-Moores claimed the building would be used for rehabilitation sessions for local elderly people.
It was believed the new building would be a community space to store thousands of cards and gifts sent by admirers. But neighbours were aghast when a larger, luxury spa with a pool and sauna appeared.
Council planners say the new building was not what was intended and have ordered the couple to pull it down, issuing a ‘now unauthorised building’ notice.
Mrs Ingram-Moore breaks her silence in an appearance on Piers Morgan: Uncensored, regarding the £85,000 salary she earned as interim CEO of the Captain Tom Foundation.
She also confessed to pocketing £800,000 from books written by the NHS fundraising war veteran.
She also admits that she received £7,602 in expense payments for travel and administration between June 2021 and November 2022.
Furthermore, she concedes that she was paid £18,000 for attending the Virgin Media O2 Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards in 2021 – when already being paid as chief executive of the body.
The money was paid to her family firm, Maytrix Group, and she banked £16,000, donating just £2,000 to the Captain Tom Foundation.
January 2024
Demolition teams arrive at Hannah’s home to start tearing down her unauthorised £200,000 luxury spa complex at their family home – after being ordered to take it down.
June 2023
Colin Ingram-Moore quits his role as a trustee at the Captain Tom Foundation
November 2023
The Charity Commission published the findings of its statutory inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation following a three-year investigation.
The revelations proved damning. The commission found the couple guilty of misconduct and warned the public had been ‘misled’ when buying items they thought would benefit the Captain Tom Foundation.
The Ingram-Moores’ biggest payday came from the ‘misleading’ suggestion that the proceeds from a £1.4 million book deal would go to the organisation.
The commission revealed they had been asked to ‘rectify matters by making a donation to the charity in line with their original intentions as understood by those involved’ but they had ‘declined to do so’.