Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter and her husband are under fire for “repeated” misconduct detailed in a report by the Charity Commission regarding their alleged mismanagement of the Captain Tom Foundation.
The foundation was established in the war veteran’s name during the Covid-19 pandemic – “a period of global turmoil”, as described in the report.
It added: “The Commission has concluded that Mr [Colin] and Mrs [Hannah] Ingram-Moore’s misconduct and/or mismanagement was not an isolated incident but a repeated pattern of behaviour which continued past the worst of the pandemic.”
The Ingram-Moores’ company, Club Nook, was set to receive an advance totalling £1.5 million in a book publishing deal, according to a redacted document provided to the Charity Commission by Penguin Books.
This was reduced to £1,466,667 following the cancellation of a planned fourth book. However, the Commission noted that “to date the charity has not received any money from the first publishing agreement”.
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The damning report revealed that the private limited company Club Nook Limited was incorporated in April 2020, with the Ingram-Moores as company directors who, along with their two children, hold shares in the company.
Bev James, the literary agent who represented Captain Tom, informed the inquiry that she believed the Ingram-Moores “were very clear that they did not want the money from the books to go to charity, but they would make a donation when the Captain Tom Foundation was set up”.
The investigation revealed: “It appears that Captain Tom himself believed or intended that [his book] Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day would in some way financially support the charity.
“The Ingram-Moores’ failure to honour the donation to the charity following the first publishing agreement, and the misconduct and/or mismanagement as evidenced in this report, has seriously damaged the reputation of the charity.”
The Ingram-Moores used the name of the charity in an initial planning application for a Captain Tom Foundation building in their home grounds.
The Charity Commission revealed that local council documents show decision-makers gave “significant weight … to the fact that the charity was to use the proposed building for its charitable purposes”.
A revised planning application, which included a spa pool facility, did not mention the word “charity” or “foundation”, was denied permission and a demolition notice was issued. The building was demolished in February this year.
The Ingram-Moores admitted that the inclusion of the charity’s name in the original planning application was an “error, though they did have the intention to use the building for charitable purposes”, according to the report.
Hannah referred to the commission’s investigation as a “harrowing and debilitating ordeal” that left the family in a state of “constant fear and mental anguish”.
She expressed on her website a “weight of responsibility for doing the right thing, for not letting people down and responding to the love and compassion that has come our way”.