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Captain Sir Tom Moore’s family benefitted from charity

The family of renowned pandemic fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore damaged public trust in charities by refusing to donate any of the £1.4m received from his book deal, a long-awaited report has found.

The Charity Commission said his daughter and son-in-law displayed a “pattern of behaviour” in which they benefitted personally from the Captain Tom Foundation and people “would understandably feel misled”.

The World War Two veteran became a household name during the first Covid-19 lockdown, by walking up and down his driveway in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire. The £38.9m raised by Capt Sir Tom for NHS Charities Together, as a result of his efforts, did not form part of the commission’s inquiry, and all of that sum went to NHS charities.

Captain Sir Tom Moore’s family

Tom Moore

Capt Sir Tom’s family said they had been treated “unfairly and unjustly. The charity set up in his name has not lived up to that legacy of others before self,” said Charity Commission chief executive David Holdsworth.

“The public – and the law – rightly expect those involved in charities to make an unambiguous distinction between their personal interests, and those of the charity and the beneficiaries they are there to serve.” Mr Holdsworth said there were repeated instances of a “blurring of boundaries between private and charitable interests” and that Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore benefitted significantly.

“Together the failings amount to misconduct and-or mismanagement,” he said. He added its report had found “repeated failures of governance and integrity”, and that its inquiry had been fair, balanced and independent.

In July 2023, the Captain Tom Foundation announced it was not actively seeking donations or making payments, but the foundation has not been closed down.The Captain Tom Foundation was registered as a grant-making charity two months after the veteran’s walk began, and celebrities including David Beckham and Dame Judi Dench later helped to promote its various fundraisers.

The father-of-two died aged 100 in February 2021, with coronavirus. His son-in-law Mr Ingram-Moore became a trustee of the foundation that same month, and Capt Sir Tom’s daughter – Mrs Ingram-Moore – became interim chief executive later that year.

The couple’s roles came into question in June 2022, when the commission launched a statutory inquiry to determine if they had benefitted privately at the charity’s expense.

Source: BBC

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