Captain Tom’s family benefited from the charity

The family of famous pandemic fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore damaged public trust in charity by refusing to donate £1.4m he received from his book deal, a long-awaited report has found.

The Charity Commission said the daughter and son-in-law had shown a “pattern of behaviour” benefiting from Captain Tom’s Foundation and that people “will be blamed”.

World War II veterans became household names during the first Covid-19 lockdown, by walking up and down the driveway in Marston MoretaineBedfordshire.

The £38.9m raised by Captain Sir Tom for NHS Charities Together, as a result of his efforts, did not form part of the commission’s investigation, and the entire amount went to NHS charities.

Captain Sir Tom’s family said he had been treated “unjustly and unfairly”.

“Charities created in his name are no match for the legacy of others before him,” said Charity Commission chief executive David Holdsworth.

“Society – and the law – rightly expects those involved in charity to distinguish between their personal interests, and the interests of the charity and the beneficiaries it will serve.”

Mr Holdsworth said there had been repeated instances of “blurring the line between personal and charitable interests” and that Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore had benefited greatly.

“Together, these failures are misconduct and—or mismanagement,” he said.

He added the report found “repeated failures of governance and integrity”, and that the inquiry was fair, balanced and independent.

In July 2023, the Captain Tom Foundation announced not actively seeking donations or make a payment, but the foundation has not been closed.

The Captain Tom Foundation was registered as a charity grant two months after the veteran’s walk began, and celebrities including Sir David Beckham and Dame Judy Dench then helped to promote various fundraisers.

Father of two died at the age of 100 in February 2021with the corona virus.

Mr Ingram-Moore’s son-in-law became a foundation trustee the same month, and Sir Capt Tom’s daughter – Mrs Ingram-Moore – became interim chief executive later that year.

The role of the couple comes into question in June 2022, when the commission opened a statutory inquiry to determine whether they benefited personally at the expense of the charity.

The regulator’s findings show that Club Nook, a private company founded by Ingram-Moores in April 2020, was paid £1.47 million for three of Sir Capt Tom’s books, including his best-selling autobiography, Tomorrow Will be a Good Day. .

Publisher Penguin, and promoter Carver PR, said the family gave repeated assurances that part of the advance would be used to set up and finance the foundation.

In addition, the press release, various marketing materials and the prologue of Sir Capt Sir Tom’s memoir, all state that the books will be used to support or raise money for the foundation.

However, so far the charity has not made any money from the publishing deal.

In 2022, the commission said the inquiry had twice asked Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore to “correct the problem by making a donation to charity” but “on both occasions they refused”.

The publication was a “purely commercial endeavour” and “undermined public trust” in the charity, the report concluded.

Between 2020 and 2021, Captain Sir Tom was a judge for the Virgin Media Local Legends Awards and was paid £10,000.

The following year, his daughter was asked to be a judge and signed an ambassadorship deal with Virgin Media O2 while chief executive of the Captain Tom Foundation, which was paid £18,000.

Next Virgin Media O2 Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards included charity logo on award plaque.

He has been the charity’s interim chief executive, on an annual salary of £85,000.

However, the report said there was no record of him informing the charity’s trustees when he entered into financial arrangements with Virgin Media.

The commission said it disagreed with Mrs Ingram-Moore’s claim that the work was carried out in a personal capacity.

It was found that this created a conflict of interest, and his failure to avoid or manage this situation “becomes an act of misconduct and-or mismanagement”, adding that this also means that the payment received is an “unlawful benefit” for his wife, who is the guardian. in time.

In 2021, the Ingram-Moores received approval from the council to build the Captain Tom Foundation building next to the house, after referencing the charity’s name and number “many times” in the planning application.

However, the resulting building, which contains a spa pool and home cinema, was described by council enforcement officer Richard Proctor as “illegal” and the family forced to demolish in February.

The Charity Commission found the couple had failed to consult trustees about the spa complex, which suggested “they used the charity and its name inappropriately for personal gain”.

Ingram-Moores told the inquiry The inclusion of the name of the charity in the initial planning application was a mistake, claiming they were busy with “global media work” at the time, but they wanted to use the building for charitable purposes.

Other findings contained in the report indicate:

• Mrs Ingram-Moore was “very involved in discussions about setting the salary” and told trustee Stephen Jones that “the expectation is in the region of £150,000 a year”. Her claim that she was not offered a six-figure salary was described as “outrageous” by the inquiry.
• He “deliberately” removed a conflict of interest clause from his employment contract with the charity, telling Mr Jones: “It’s not a legal requirement … to ask the authorities every time, my life would stop.”
• Since the Ingram-Moores company, Club Nook, owns the Sir Capt Tom trademark, the trustees must consult with them when they want to use his name for charitable purposes, including by asking permission to sell mugs printed on them.

In July, Mr. and Mrs. Ingram-Moore were disqualified from being a trustee or hold a senior management position in a charity for a period of eight and 10 years.

A month earlier, he had described the inquiry as “horrendous torture” and a “relentless pursuit”.

Mr Holdsworth urged the Ingram-Moores to “follow through on the commitment they made and donate a substantial amount to charity”.

He said there were still trustees on whether to take legal action and the Commission “stands ready to advise as they consider”.

In a statement, Ingram-Moores said she was treated “unfairly and unfairly” in the report.

He said the two-year investigation had taken a “serious toll” on the family’s health, “unfairly tarnishing” his name.

He described the process as “unfair and excessive” and that the charity’s watchdog had a “fixed agenda”.

“True accountability requires transparency, not selective storytelling,” the statement said, adding that he had “never taken a dime” of public donations.