Captain Tom Moore three years on from his death – how the circus has distracted from this 100-year-old man’s extraordinary act

The British nationalist tin astir apt each hold that Captain Sir Tom Moore was 1 of the champion of us.

The nonagenarian, walker successful hands, circled his backmost plot 100 times during the archetypal coronavirus lockdown successful 2020 to raise £38.9 cardinal for the NHS.

But 3 years connected from Captain Tom’s death, his bonzer deeds and hard enactment person been overshadowed by the actions of others – including those helium should person been capable to spot to transportation connected his legacy.

The Captain Tom Foundation promised immense things, but lone 3 years aft his death, the charity is closed down.

Money to the tune of £800,000 promised to the foundation was pocketed by his ain daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore.

And present a damning Charity Commission study concluded Captain Tom’s household gained ‘significant idiosyncratic benefit’ from their links to the charity.

The family’s autumn from grace is being rounded disconnected by the demolition of a spa – which they attempted to walk disconnected arsenic being for the payment of section aged radical – built without readying support astatine their Grade II listed household home.

Metro.co.uk takes a look astatine everything that’s happened since Captain Tom’s decease and however it’s tarnished his family’s reputation.

The Captain Tom Foundation

The Captain Tom Foundation was archetypal established successful June 2020 to ‘recognise and rise wealth for organisations supporting the aged successful the UK’.

Hannah Ingram-Moore and her hubby Colin became trustees of the foundation successful February 2021, astir the clip of his decease – though she resigned arsenic a trustee a period later.

In July 2021, the Charity Commission stepped successful to forestall Ms Ingram-Moore from being appointed arsenic the foundation’s main enforcement and receiving a £100,000 salary, calling the determination ‘neither tenable nor justifiable’.

A period later, Ms Ingram-Moore became main enforcement of the instauration connected a nine-month declaration worthy £85,000 a year. After this declaration expired a caller main executive, Jack Gilbert, an experienced foundation assemblage manager, was appointed.

In February 2022 it emerged that the Ingram-Moores paid £50,000 successful expenses related to consultancy, transport, and information for Captain Tom’s publicity tours to different companies ran by themselves.

The Charity Commission aboriginal ruled that these expenses were legitimate.

Missing money

In the 2020-21 fiscal year, the accusation commissioner and fundraising regulator raised concerns astir the charity’s accounts – issues which were past resolved.

During an interrogation with Piers Morgan connected TalkTV, Ms Ingram-Moore confessed to taking wealth from the NHS fund-raising seasoned – from the merchantability of his books.

She said they kept £800,000 from 3 books helium had written – contempt their prologue insisting the wealth would spell to charity.

She told TalkTV’s Piers Morgan that Sir Tom wanted them to support the publication profits.

She said: ‘These were my father’s books, and it was honestly specified a joyousness for him to constitute them, but they were his books.

‘He had an cause and they worked connected that deal, and his wishes were that that wealth would beryllium successful Club Nook.’

Club Nook is the sanction of Ms Ingram-Moore’s ain business.

In January 2022 Ms Ingram-Moore was paid £18,000 for judging a foundation grant successful Bristol, appearing astatine the Ashton Vale Club for Young People and handing them the ‘Virgin Media O2 Captain Tom Foundation Connector Award’.

But the instauration received conscionable £2,000.

The Charity Commission

In June 2022, the Charity Commission announced it would analyse the instauration aft questions arose regarding its fiscal narration to members of the Ingram-Moore family.

Concerns were raised that Captain Tom’s household personally profited from the charity, which was acceptable up successful his name.

The Commission held a fig of conversations with the foundation, but it launched the ceremonial enquiry aft caller grounds of perchance superior misconduct emerged.

In July 2023 the instauration stopped taking wealth from donors and a connection connected its website says this volition proceed portion the enquiry continues.

Solicitors representing the Ingram-Moores said the instauration was ‘unlikely to exist’ successful the future – arsenic they whitethorn take to unopen the foundation down.

It’s looking into claims that a backstage institution controlled by Ms Ingram-Moore and her hubby perchance profited by trademarking the ‘Captain Tom’ marque without objection from the foundation.

In response, the mates said it had trademarked the sanction successful April 2020, earlier the instauration was formed.

The unauthorised spa

Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband applied successful 2021 for permission to physique a Captain Tom Foundation gathering successful the grounds of their Grade II listed location successful Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

The L-shaped gathering was fixed readying permission, and it was acceptable to beryllium utilized ‘in transportation with the Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives’.

But successful February 2022, planners received a part-retrospective plannning application, which would summation the size of the building, alteration its signifier from L-shaped to C-shaped, and location a spa pool.

Those retrospective plans were refused, and Central Bedfordshire assembly ruled that the ‘now-unauthorised building’ indispensable beryllium demolished successful July 2023.

The Ingram-Moores challenged this ruling, but their entreaty failed successful November of past year.

The accusation that the household had used Captain Tom’s sanction to effort and propulsion done the excavation plans sparked outrage.

Inspector Diane Fleming said the ‘scale and massing’ of the gathering had ‘resulted successful harm’ to The Old Rectory – their household home.

They were ordered to demolish the building by February 7 of this year, with the bulldozers rolling successful days earlier that deadline.

The damning Charity Commission investigation

A 30-page papers has present been published aft a two-year probe by the Charity Commission.

It concluded Hannah Ingram-Moore and her hubby Colin made ‘repeated failures’ astatine the helm of the foundation.

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.’ 

He added: ‘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 £39million 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.’ 

This nonfiction was primitively published connected February 5, 2024

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