Captain Tom Moore’s daughter received a salary of more than £63,000 while acting as the CEO of a charity established in her father’s name, all while donations slumped after a watchdog launched an inquiry into the foundation.
Accounts show that Hannah Ingram-Moore also received travel and administration expenses of £7,602 between June 2021 and November 2022, despite the statutory inquiry having a “massive adverse impact” on the charity.
The foundation was set up after the World War Two veteran raised £38m for the NHS during the height of the pandemic by walking 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden.
Captain Sir Tom Moore raised £38million for the NHS during the pandemic (Joe Giddens/PA)— (PA Archive)
Captain Tom, who was knighted for his efforts by the Queen, died the following year at the age of 100 after contracting the virus.
Since then, his daughter and her husband Colin Ingram-Moore have come under scrutiny after the Charity Commission launched an inquiry into the foundation, as it identified concerns about the charity's management and independence from Sir Tom's family.
The watchdog launched the statutory inquiry last year over decisions that may have “generated a significant profit” for a different company that is owned by the couple.
Accounts published on Tuesday show that the charity’s income over a recent 18-month period was significantly less than the previous 12 months.
The foundation registered an income of £402,854 from June 2021 to November 2022, down from £1,096,526 in the year leading up to May 2021.
In their report, the charity said: “The Charity Commission’s intervention in March 2022, and the subsequent statutory inquiry has had a massive adverse impact on the charity, our ability to raise new funds and to deliver operational activities.
Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband allegedly built a spa complex at their home under the charity’s name (Joe Giddens/PA)— (PA Wire)
“Potential new trustees all withdrew their applications and we have been unable to progress matters on this front.
“We did take the decision to appoint a new CEO in the hope that regulatory matters could be progressed more quickly and that we could re-group and re-build.
“We gave our CEO additional time to deliver his strategic plan. Unfortunately regulatory matters could not be progressed as quickly as we all hoped and the trustees took the difficult decision to end the CEO’s contact and close all payment channels whilst the statutory inquiry remains open.”
They added that the inquiry had led to the cancellation of the planned Captain Tom Day, an event which aimed to celebrate the older generation.
Hannah Ingram-Moore received over £63k as the interim CEO of the charity— (PA)
The latest accounts show a financial relationship remains between the charity and Maytrix Group Limited, which is jointly owned by the couple, in respect of office rental and telephone costs.
Maytrix Group Ltd had been charging the charity £1,500 a month in rental costs, but this has been reduced to £750 per month due to less space being required.
Over an 18-month period, this totalled £2,456 while Ms Ingram-Moore received a salary of £63,750 in her role as interim CEO between August 2021 and April 2022. The report states that the Charity Commission had sanctioned a salary of up to £85,000 a year pro rata for nine months.
It comes after reports Ms Ingram-Moore was paid thousands of pounds through Maytrix Group for appearances linked to the charity.
According to BBC Newsnight, the payments were made in relation to an appearance by Ms Ingram-Moore at an awards ceremony in 2021 and 2022, which are said to have heavily featured the Captain Tom Foundation charity.
Meanwhile, the accounts show the foundation spent nearly £180,000 on staffing costs during the period, including wages, social security costs and pensions. It employed on average two people through the period.
The report states that the charity had given £210,00 in grants to various charities in that period, which include The Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity, Youth Network and MINDS Trust.
However, the foundation stopped taking money from donors this summer after planning chiefs at Central Bedfordshire Council ordered that an unauthorised spa pool block at Ms Ingram-Moore’s home should be demolished.
The family have objected to the enforcement notice and an appeal against the order is set for a hearing next month.