Captain Sir Tom Moore’s disgraced daughter has apologised if the British public felt ‘misled’ over the charity set up in her fundraising hero father’s name.
The World War II veteran 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, Sir Tom 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 report.
It revealed the duo had ‘misled’ the public and made ‘repeated failures in integrity’ as they pocketed around £1.5million from the foundation, 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 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’.
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Hannah Ingram-Moore (pictured) has apologised if the British public ‘feel misled’ over the charity set up in her fundraising hero father’s name
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Mrs Ingram-Moore pictured with her lockdown hero father Captain Tom in April 2020
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Captain Tom Moore died in February 2021 aged 100. He rose to fame during the pandemic, raising millions for NHS charities by walking laps of his garden in lockdown
Sir Tom’s daughter said her father, who she said was of ‘very sound mind’, wanted to ensure the family ‘lived well’, and 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 were repeatedly told by the family that part of the book deal’s advance would be used to help set up and finance the charity, the BBC reported.
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 were 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 gave grants totalling £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’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: ‘Charity law is very clear – charity trustees cannot misuse their position to gain personally.
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The charity – directed by Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin Ingram-Moore – has come under intense scrutiny after a damning Charity Commission’s report
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Hannah Ingram-Moore pictured with her late father Captain Tom Moore in the garden of his home near Milton Keynes in April 2020
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The Ingram-Moores 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 (pictured)
‘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’.
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The home of Mrs Ingram-Moore and her husband (left) next to their unauthorised home spa (right) in their garden, which has been demolished after a planning row
The unauthorised spa pool block at Mrs Ingram-Moore’s home in Bedfordshire before and after its demolition
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.
