Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter and her husband have been disqualified from being charity trustees amid an ongoing inquiry into the foundation set up in the war veteran’s name.
Hannah Ingram-Moore and husband Colin ‘fundamentally disagree’ with a decision made by the Charity Commission, the family has revealed in a statement.
The couple had an option to appeal but made the ‘extremely difficult decision’ not to do so, saying the ‘profound emotional upheaval and financial burden’ made it ‘untenable’.
World War Two veteran Captain Tom was knighted by the late Queen for walking 100 laps around the garden of the house during the Covid pandemic in 2020, raising £39million for NHS charities.
He died on February 2, 2001, at the age of 100, with Buckingham Palace announcing the Queen had sent the family a ‘private message of condolence’.
The Captain Tom Foundation was set up in September 2020, inspired by the memory of his late wife Pamela who died in 2006 after a battle with dementia – with the stated aim of tackling loneliness and supporting people facing bereavement.
Hannah Ingram-Moore, pictured with her late father Captain Tom Moore in the garden of his home near Milton Keynes in April 2020, has been disqualified from being a charity trustee
Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin are pictured at the Royal Albert Hall, at an event supporting the Royal British Legion
But it became the focus of an investigation by the Charity Commission amid concerns about its management and independence from Sir Tom’s family.
Now the family has responded to the findings made by the commission, saying they ‘fundamentally disagree’ with the decision to disqualify the pair as charity trustees.
The Charity Commission this evening confirmed Hannah Ingram-Moore had been disqualified for 10 years and her husband Colin Ingram-Moore for eight.
The watchdog said the legal test for disqualification was met ‘because there has been misconduct and/or mismanagement, the individuals are not fit to be a trustee or hold senior management functions and disqualification is in the public interest’.
Despite the option to appeal, the Ingram-Moore family said they have made the ‘extremely difficult decision’ not to do so, saying the ‘profound emotional upheaval and financial burden make such a course of action untenable’.
A statement issued by the family 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.
Despite the option to appeal, the family said they have made the ‘extremely difficult decision’ not to do so, saying the ‘profound emotional upheaval and financial burden make such a course of action untenable’.
‘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.’
Captain Tom Moore on holiday in Barbados at the end of 2020 with grandchildren Benji and Georgia, daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin
Hannah Ingram-Moore, pictured arriving for a planning hearing at Central Bedfordshire Council last October, was initially made CEO of the Captain Tom Foundation
Captain Sir Tom Moore and his daughter Hannah are seen here in 2020 after he completed 100 laps of his garden during lockdown, raising £39million for the NHS charities
They accused investigators of pursuing a ‘relentless pursuit’, adding that they ‘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 statement added: ‘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.’
Mother-of-two Mrs Ingram-Moore and her husband have been beset by a series of PR disasters in the last couple of years.
It emerged the Charity Commission turned down an application for her to be paid £100,000 as interim CEO of the CTF. She was later employed for nine months on the equivalent of £85,000 a year.
She was also been criticised for attending awards ceremonies as Foundation CEO but having payments made to her consultancy firm, Maytrix Group.
Ms Ingram-Moore spoke out last October in a tearful interview with Piers Morgan about the £85,000 salary she earned as interim CEO of the Captain Tom Foundation.
She also received £7,602 in expense payments for travel and administration between June 2021 and November 2022.
Captain Sir Tom Moore wrote three books under a deal with Penguin Random House that has earned his family more than £800,000
Captain Tom Moore’s family received money from various sources including awards appearances, Covid loans and book sales
She further admitted she was paid £18,000 for attending the Virgin Media O2 Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards in 2021 – when already being paid as chief executive of the body.
The money was paid to her family firm, Maytrix Group, and she banked £16,000, donating just £2,000 to the Captain Tom Foundation.
Maytrix Group has faced criticism for taking up to £100,000 in furlough cash and £47,500 in Covid loans during the pandemic.
The family also opened up about their regret over building a controversial spa and pool complex at their mansion which has since been demolished.
Rising building costs mean the price of the office and spa complex could have been in the region of £200,000, according to two local estate agents who spoke to the Mail in July.
Ms Ingram-Moore said her father wanted them to keep the profits from his three books – Captain Tom’s Life Lessons, One Hundred Steps and his autobiography Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day.
The family was also adamant that people buying the books were never told their money was going to charity.
The prologue of his autobiography reads: ‘Astonishingly at my age, with the offer to write this memoir I have also been given the chance to raise even more money for the charitable foundation now established in my name.’
Captain Tom Moore, who died in February 2021, rose to fame after he raised almost £39million for NHS charities by walking around his garden 100 times using a walking frame
Ms Ingram-Moore wiped away tears out last October in an interview with Piers Morgan in which she discussed her £85,000 salary as interim CEO of the Captain Tom Foundation
Discussing his books, which were written before his death aged 100, Ms Ingram-Moore said the money made went into Club Nook Ltd – a firm separate from the charity in his name.
The last remaining walls of Ms Ingram-Moore’s unauthorised £200,000 spa block were bulldozed in February this year.
A team of experts were seen coming to the end of demolishing the building in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire she and her husband Colin weregiven a deadline to take the structure down.
The family lost an appeal against Central Bedfordshire Council to keep their spa complex after a planning inspector ruled it was ‘at odds’ with their Grade ll listed home.
During a hearing last October, chartered surveyor James Paynter, for the appellants, said the spa pool had ‘the opportunity to offer rehabilitation sessions for elderly people in the area’.
Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore had been given permission to make a Captain Tom Foundation Building in their garden to store cards and gifts sent by admirers, but they added a sauna and spa which were not part of the original plans.
Central Bedfordshire Council issued an enforcement notice last July to demolish the unauthorised building and their appeal was dismissed last November.
They were given three months to remove the sauna and spa and told it must be pulled down by February 7.
A demolition crew was seen at the home of Hannah Ingram-Moore in February ahead of a deadline to take down an illegal spa
Experts were called in to tear down walls of the complex at Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire
Meanwhile, Ms Ingram-Moore has posted a personal blog on her website with the headline: ‘BOUNCING BACK: HOW RESILIENCE WILL TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE’.
She wrote: ‘I have had to dig deep recently to become more resilient both at home and work.
‘It’s tempting to put your head on your desk, sob, and say it’s impossible to move forward when things go wrong and seem unjust, but life is short so we can either let external pressures get the better of us or we can stand straight and learn from experience.
‘This means we can only be stronger and wiser the next time we’re faced with an unwanted challenge.’
The family’s Grade II-listed property, which has seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, was put on the market for £2.25 million in April.
