Captain Tom’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband are disqualified from being charity trustees after spa row
CAPTAIN Sir Tom Moore’s daughter and her husband have been disqualified from being charity trustees.
A family statement confirmed the Charity Commission has barred Hannah Ingram-Moore and partner Colin after a row over an illegal spa built with money raised by the NHS Covid hero.
In a statement today, the Ingram-Moore family said they “fundamentally disagree” with the Charity Commission’s decision following an investigation.
The commission opened a case into the Captain Tom Foundation shortly after his death in 2021 and launched an inquiry in June 2022.
It came amid concerns about its management and independence from Sir Tom’s family, including money spent on a spa complex which was later ordered to be removed.
Hannah, 52, engineered her father’s publicity during the coronavirus pandemic when Sir Tom, then 99, began a walking challenge.
He had been challenged by his grandson to walk 100 laps of his garden before he turned 100 years old.
Sir Tom suddenly turned into a nationwide icon, with Hannah approaching a PR consultant to maximise exposure.
Towels, t-shirts, gin, dolls, books, a movie, and even a miniskirt emblazoned with Sir Tom’s face on it were all produced.
Hannah then set up Club Nook Ltd to protect all the intellectual property that had been made from the Captain Tom phenomenon as well as the Captain Tom Foundation for charity work.
With the public behind him, Sir Tom raised £38.9million for the NHS as the country endured the pandemic.
He was knighted by the late Queen during a unique open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle in the summer of that year.
Sir Tom died from Covid after he was admitted to hospital with troubled breathing soon after a family holiday to Barbados.
But in the years following his death, the family has brought itself negative publicity.
A proposal aimed to make Hannah Chief Executive Officer of the foundation with a pay packet of £150,000.
The eye-watering sum was rejected by the Charity Commission who said Hannah’s appointment was “neither reasonable nor justifiable”.
Hannah also admitted to pocketing £800,000 that was earned through the books sold by Sir Tom.
She also revealed she was paid £18,000 to attend the Captain Tom awards – but only donating £2,000 of it to his charity.
An investigation by the Charity Commission was subsequently started into the Captain Tom Foundation.
A court was also told it would be shut down when the probe was over.
And a “humiliating” spa row erupted into public view as the family illegally built a new wing of a building next to the home.
THE SPA
In 2021 the council gave the green light for a new office building at the Bedfordshire home for Hannah and Colin to run the charity.
Hannah and Colin had applied in their own names for planning — but used the foundation’s name in the design and access and heritage statement.
The application claimed it was The Captain Tom Building and said it was to be used partly “in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives”.
But the family instead built a 50ft by 20ft pool house with spa, changing rooms, toilets and showers in the garden of their £1.2 home in Marston Moretaine.
They filed a retrospective application for the add-on, but it was refused.
A court heard the add-on later “evolved” to include the spa pool.
Chartered surveyor James Paynter, speaking for the family in court, suggested it could be used for “rehabilitation sessions for elderly people in the area”.
But Richard Proctor, Planning Enforcement Team Leader, said: “The Council’s position is that the building is wholly different to the application.”
The £200,000 spa complex was ordered to be torn down by February 7 this year.
Hannah was snapped watching on from a gate at the family’s neighbouring residence as the demolition job got underway.
FAMILY STATEMENT
The family’s statement said: “We have been served an order of disqualification as trustees by the Charity Commission, it was stated that if we did not appeal this order, by the 25th June 2024 deadline, we would appear on the register of removed persons.
“The disqualification has been imposed without the conclusion of the statutory inquiry into The Captain Tom Foundation.
“The Commission’s failure to conclude the inquiry prolongs our deep distress and hinders our ability to move on with our lives, extending the pain and impact on our family and our father / grandfathers’ legacy. It has been a harrowing and debilitating ordeal that has gone on for over two years.
“We are increasingly concerned that the Charity Commission’s process may have evolved into a relentless pursuit, and question whether it is a tactic by the Commission to make our lives more difficult, by suspending us in constant fear and mental anguish.
“The orders of disqualification do not state that Hannah Ingram-Moore or Colin Ingram-Moore have misappropriated or received unauthorised payments from the charity’s funds, including public donations. We have never accessed or made any payments from the charity’s bank account.
“Independent Trustees have maintained full control over the charity’s finances since inception.
“We fundamentally disagree with the conclusions reached by the Charity Commission.
“Despite our vehement objections to the Disqualification Order, we have made the extremely difficult decision not to pursue an appeal.
“The profound emotional upheaval and financial burden make such a course of action untenable.
“It is widely recognised that the funds raised in April 2020 were directed entirely to NHS Charities Together. Public donations were managed by JustGiving and transferred directly to NHS Charities Together, without any involvement from our family in the distribution process.
“We have fully co-operated with the Charity Commission at all times.”
FROM NHS HERO TO SPA CARNAGE
How the Captain Tom Moore story unfolded:
- March 2020- D-Day veteran Captain Tom Moore walks 100 laps around his Bedfordshire garden before his 100th birthday, raising £30million for the NHS during the first lockdown
- April 2020 – Captain Tom walks laps of his Bedfordshire garden for NHS Charities Together, raises over £39 million
- June 2020 – Captain Tom Foundation established by daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore
- July 2020 – Captain Tom is knighted by the Queen in a special private ceremony at Windsor Castle
- September 2020 – Hannah Ingram-Moore launches the Captain Tom Foundation to combat loneliness
- December 2020 – Drones swarm into the shape of Captain Tom’s face at the New Year’s Eve firework display in London
- February 2021 – Captain Tom dies after contracting Covid-19
- 2021 – Council give permission to build garden office for foundation
- February 2022 – The Charity Commission launches a probe into the Captain Tom Foundation after it paid £50,000 to companies run by Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin
- June 2022 – Charity commission investigates questions over foundation finances
- July 2023 – The foundation stops accepting donations. Planning chiefs order Hannah to tear down an unauthorised spa at her Bedfordshire home. The building had been approved to be used “in connection with the Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives”. But a larger building with a spa pool was built instead and was denied retrospective planning permission. Hannah appeals
- September 2023 – Accounts reveal Hannah received more than £70,000 to head the foundation
- October 2023 – Hannah loses her appeal and is ordered to demolish the spa and restore the garden to its original condition
- January 2023 – Demolition work begins
- February 7, 2024 – Spa complex due to be demolished
- July 3, 2024 – Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore barred from being charity trustees
