The five major scandals facing Captain Tom Moore's daughter and her charity

When one veteran, Captain Tom Moore, walked 100 laps of his garden ahead of his 100th birthday, to support the NHS during the first coronavirus lockdown, he provided the injection of optimism everyone needed to get through a dark time.

He raised around £38m for NHS Charities Together, then died in early 2021 with Covid-19, less than six months after being knighted, having garnered international attention.

Capitalising on the wholesome energy he left in his wake, his family set up a foundation to honour his work and use his "brand" to raise money and awareness for a range of causes close to his heart, from supporting older people to children’s mental health.

“We are excited by the future direction of the foundation and the opportunities that lie ahead of us, so that we can deliver real change and help to build a more hopeful world,” the charity said at its inception.

But what seemed wholesome enough soon turned sour when the foundation, led by his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore soon became very shady, and the subject of an investigation.

Below, we look at every issue and scandal the charity has faced.

Captain Tom became an international icon PA Wire

Charity watchdog investigation

Since June 2022, the watchdog the Charity Commission (CC) has been investigating potential conflicts of interest between the charity and the Ingram-Moores' businesses.

This is because it first emerged that the foundation had spent more on management fees than it had released in charitable grants.

The charity released a statement defending its actions and saying that it had incurred costs "as a newly established charity" and that "expenditure has been incurred in building the team," but eyebrows were raised.

Especially when it later transpired that the foundation had paid out £54,039 to two charities, both owned by Captain Tom’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband, The Independent reported.

It then emerged that the foundation had been blocked by the CC from making Captain Tom’s daughter the foundation's CEO. If appointed, she would have been salaried £150,000 a year, though she disputed these claims.

Captain Tom branded products also had to be removed from sale amid the investigation, over reports that they breached charity laws.

The investigation is ongoing and Ingram-Moore is no longer running the charity, but her husband Colin remains a trustee. Both of them are directors of the companies Maytrix Group and Club Nook.

Covid loans

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In July 2023 was reported that Ingram-Moores' management consultancy firm took out Covid loans of at least £47,500 that the government earmarked for firms struggling during the pandemic, and claimed back tens of thousands from his foundation in expenses.

This was despite Maytrix Group reportedly making bumper profits during this year. In 2020, it saw profits rise to £227,532, which is over double 2019’s figure of £104,381, The Sun reports.

Home spa

Also in July 2023, Ingram-Moore and her husband used the Captain Tom Foundation name on plans to create a home spa in her building, with revised plans then turned down.

The plans included a spa pool, toilets and a kitchen, which the Design & Access and Heritage Statement said was "for private use".

The family defended their plans and hit back at critics.

An appeal hearing is due to be held on 17 October.

Paid events

This brings us to yesterday (11 October), when the BBC alleged that Ingram-Moore, was paid thousands of pounds via her family company for appearances at award ceremonies in 2021 and 2022 when she was meant to be there to represent the charity.

The awards ceremony was the Virgin Media O2 Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards, which included the name of the charity and the charity’s logo on its awards plaques. Her appearance fee was paid not to the Captain Tom Foundation but to Maytrix Group, a company owned by Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin.

When asked about the issue by the BBC, she sent an email saying: "You are awful. It’s a total lie." Six minutes later she added: "Apologies. That reply was for a scammer who has been creating havoc", then gave no further statements.

Book profits

Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore alongside his grandchildren Benjie Ingram-Moore and Georgia Ingram-Moore officially open a new garden at the Helen and Douglas House children’s hospice in Oxford (Jacob King/PA) PA Wire

This controversy is more to do with Ingram-Moore than the charity. Today, she said her family kept £800,000 from three books Captain Tom had written because he wanted them to retain the profits rather than donate them to the foundation.

In an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, which is scheduled to be broadcast on Thursday, she said her father wanted his family to keep the profits in Club Nook Ltd, a firm separate from the Captain Tom Foundation charity.

Ingram-Moore told TalkTV: “These were my father’s books, and it was honestly such a joy for him to write them, but they were his books.

“He had an agent and they worked on that deal, and his wishes were that that money would sit in Club Nook, and in the end … ”

Morgan asked: “For you to keep?”, and she replied “Yes. Specifically.”

The family told Morgan there was no suggestion that anyone buying the books, including autobiography Tomorrow Will be a Good Day, thought they were donating to charity.

Charity walk to watchdog investigation - who could have predicted such a butterfly effect?

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