Captain Tom Moore’s family made more than £1,000,000 from ties to charity in his name

Captain Sir Tom Moore’s household gained ‘significant idiosyncratic benefit’ from their links to a foundation acceptable up successful his name, a damning study has found. 

The record-breaking fundraiser’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, and her husband, Colin, made ‘repeated failures’ astatine the helm of the foundation, according to the Charity Commission.  

A 30-page probe papers published yesterday aft a two-year enquiry has acceptable retired the findings in detail.

The merchandise follows the Ingram-Moores being disqualified from serving arsenic foundation trustees by the regulator successful July.  

The watchdog’s CEO David Holdsworth cited ‘repeated instances of a blurring of boundaries betwixt backstage and charitable interests’, with the mates ‘receiving important idiosyncratic benefit.’ 

Among the findings were that the mates failed to abstracted their idiosyncratic interests from Captain Tom’s autobiography and an exertion for a spa excavation artifact astatine their erstwhile home successful Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

A £1.4 cardinal publication beforehand and an £18,000 awards ceremonial quality interest were among the deals wherever the links betwixt the Ingram-Moores and the Captain Tom Foundation were unclear, according to the commission.

Five cardinal findings:  

• The nationalist ‘would understandably consciousness misled’ to larn that income of Captain Tom’s autobiography ‘Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day’ person not benefited the charity, fixed that statements were made which implied donations from income would beryllium made to the foundation carrying his name, the watchdog found. The couple’s company, Club Nook, was to beryllium paid a £1.5 cardinal beforehand successful a publication publishing deal, according to a redacted papers provided to the committee by Penguin Books. This was reduced to £1,466,667 aft the cancellation of a planned 4th book. However the committee said that ‘to day the foundation has not received immoderate wealth from the archetypal publishing agreement’.

• Mrs Ingram-Moore mightiness person been technically close to authorities that she was ‘not offered’ a ‘six-figure salary’, arsenic the committee blocked the archetypal wage request, and nary ceremonial connection was made to her anterior to the regulator’s authorisation of a little salary. However, the enquiry recovered these assertions were ‘disingenuous’, arsenic it saw written grounds that she had stated, anterior to starting successful the role, that her expectations were for a £150,000 remuneration package. 

• Mrs Ingram-Moore retained £18,000 for judging and presenting an award named aft Captain Tom. While she claims she undertook the engagement successful a idiosyncratic capacity, the enquiry recovered nary grounds to enactment her position. Mrs Ingram-Moore committed the charity’s resources to the lawsuit without the non-conflicted trustees’ cognition oregon consent, the watchdog found. The study states that the foundation received a £2,000 donation, abstracted to her fee.

• Intellectual spot owned by the Ingram-Moores was offered to the foundation without due agreements, which led to disorder and imaginable fiscal losses to the charity, according to the regulator 

• The Ingram-Moores’ usage of the charity’s sanction successful an archetypal readying exertion for a gathering constructed connected their backstage land implied the gathering would beryllium utilized by the charity. They did not pass oregon question consent from the unconflicted trustees earlier utilizing the charity’s sanction for this purpose, the study states. The gathering was subsequently demolished by bid of the section authority. The enquiry recovered that the mates utilized the charity’s sanction inappropriately for backstage benefit, and that this amounted to misconduct and/or mismanagement. 

The Captain Tom Foundation was acceptable up to dispersed the generosity shown by the Second World War seasoned among a wide scope of bully causes.  

Captain Tom raised £38.9 cardinal for NHS Charities Together, a abstracted charity, by walking 100 laps of his plot for his 100th day astatine the tallness of the Covid lockdown successful 2020.  

Fundraisers organised by the instauration included the ‘Captain Tom 100’, marking what would person been his 101st day successful April 2021.   

The commission’s probe began 14 months later, with the regulator scrutinising issues including imaginable conflicts with businesses owned by Mrs Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin. 

Releasing the report, Mr Holdsworth said: ‘Captain Sir Tom inspired a federation and reminded america what work to others tin execute adjacent successful the astir challenging of times.  

‘His determined fundraising efforts, and the incredibly generous nationalist response, brought a grin and anticipation to galore of america during the pandemic.

‘We should retrieve his achievements and however grateful NHS Charities Together is for the £39 cardinal helium raised for the causes they support.  

‘Sadly, however, the foundation acceptable up successful his sanction has not lived up to that bequest of others earlier self, which is cardinal to charity. Our enquiry study details repeated failures of governance and integrity.’ 

Mr Holdsworth said the nationalist and instrumentality expect charities to marque an ‘unambiguous distinction’ betwixt their idiosyncratic interests and those of the causes they support.

He added: ‘This did not hap successful the lawsuit of The Captain Tom Foundation. We recovered repeated instances of a blurring of boundaries betwixt backstage and charitable interests, with Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore receiving important idiosyncratic benefit.  

‘Together the failings magnitude to misconduct and/or mismanagement.

‘The Commission conducts each its investigations successful a fair, balanced and autarkic way, led by the instrumentality and the facts alone.  

‘Where those investigations find that individuals person misused the spot that radical person successful charities, it is close that we instrumentality steadfast enactment to clasp them to account.’ 

In a erstwhile connection reacting to their disqualification arsenic trustees, the Ingram-Moores said they ‘fundamentally disagree’ with the determination and spoke of the ‘profound affectional upheaval and fiscal burden’ which prevented them from launching an appeal. 

In narration to the links betwixt the Ingram-Moores’ businesses and the foundation, Ms Ingram-Moore has antecedently admitted that ‘we’ve been incredibly naive’ but insisted the household are ‘wholesome, bully radical and we tally businesses we understand’.    

On her website, she has said that the instauration was acceptable up by autarkic trustees, not the family, successful May 2020. 

The Ingram-Moores described the probe arsenic ‘a harrowing and debilitating ordeal that has gone connected for implicit 2 years.’ 

The instauration said successful its 2022 accounts that it had closed each outgo channels portion the statutory inquiry remains unfastened and connected its website states that it is ‘not presently actively seeking immoderate backing from donors.’ 

The Ingram-Moores’ ineligible squad has since indicated that the foundation volition adjacent erstwhile the enquiry has concluded.   

Metro has contacted the mates for comment.  

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