Captain Sir Tom Moore's daughter has defended herself against "hurtful" claims that she siphoned money from her father's lockdown NHS fundraiser.
Hannah Ingram-Moore, intermin chief executive of her veteran dad's namesake charity, has been accused of swindling cash but insisted: “We have not taken one single penny.”
Account reports for The Captain Tom Foundation showed only £162,000 was awarded in the year the organisation launched, while roughly £240,000 of £400,000 of expenditures went towards fundraising and administration, the Mirror reports.
Records also showed the charity reimbursed £50,000 of outgoings to businesses run by Hannah and husband Colin, including their consultancy firm Maytrix - however this doesn't tell the whole story.
Hannah, 51, wept as she explained: “People think the foundation received £38.9million raised by my father. All money went to NHS Charities Together, which was responsible for distributing it.”
Burma campaign hero Capt Sir Tom raised the colossal sum by walking 100 laps of his garden to mark his 100th birthday during the pandemic.
The foundation set up later only received £100,000 in its first year and faced colossal administrative outlays.
Hannah, of Marston Moretaine, Beds, said she did not want to burden the charity with costs so lent cash from her business. It was later reimbursed which, she said, led people to wrongly assume she was siphoning off money.
Hannah said: “To read things like ‘Capt Sir Tom’s daughter pumps tens of thousands of pounds into her own companies’ has been heartbreaking because it simply isn’t true.”
The foundation raises cash for charities focusing on helping the elderly, as was her father’s wish. At the end of its first year it had £710,000 in the bank.
When Capt Sir Tom died in February last year after contracting Covid, plans had been made to ensure his legacy lived on through the foundation.
Hannah said: “In the first year, Colin and I were not paid a penny. I did step into a paid role in year two. But to suggest I used this for financial gain is utterly ludicrous.
“All the trustees did was go to agencies and ask what the benchmark salary for the role was. The upper salary was £150,000 and the lower end was £65,000. They never offered me £150,000. In fact, it’s much nearer the lower end.”
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