A year after Captain Sir Tom Moore died a nationally beloved and celebrated figure, his family became embroiled in a scandal that has since only deepened and forever tarnished the late army veteran’s legacy.
Sir Tom, who served in the Second World War, passed away in February 2021, having raised £38.9m for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday during the height of the Covid-19 national lockdown.
In the same month of the following year, The Independent exclusively revealed the Captain Tom Foundation, which was established in the wake of his pandemic fundraising efforts, had paid tens of thousands of pounds to companies run by his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, and her husband, and that the Charity Commission had launched an investigation.
Captain Sir Tom Moore died a nationally beloved and celebrated figure in February 2021— (PA Archive)
In a recent dramatic twist, Ingram-Moore admitted keeping £800,000 from three books the former army officer had written, despite the prologue of one of them suggesting the money would go to charity.
Ms Ingram-Moore was also accused of using her late father’s name as an excuse to build a spa and swimming pool complex at her home - which she was ordered to demolish this week after losing a planning appeal.
As the scandal continues to unfold, we take a look at who exactly Sir Tom’s daughter is, and what her family charity is being investigated for.
Who was Sir Tom?
A decorated veteran of the Second World War, Sir Tom served in the India and Burma campaigns, before becoming an armoured vehicle instructor and, later, the managing director of a concrete manufacturer.
Sir Tom was born in Keighley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1920— (PA Archive)
The nonagenarian resolved to walk 100 lengths of his Bedfordshire garden during the coronavirus pandemic, before he reached his century 24 days later on 30 April, with the hopes of raising money for the beleaguered NHS.
“Tom’s 100th Birthday Walk for the NHS” quickly became a sensation, raising an astonishing £32.8m (or £39.3m, including Gift Aid) for NHS Charities Together.
Captain Sir Thomas Moore receiving his knighthood from the Queen during a ceremony at Windsor Castle— (PA Archive)
Captain Tom was knighted in a ceremony at Windsor Castle on 17 July presided over by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
He died on 2 February 2021 shortly after having been hospitalised with pneumonia and Covid-19.
Who is Captain Tom’s daughter?
Hannah Ingram-Moore is the daughter of the late Captain Tom and his second wife Pamela. She has a sister called Lucy, who works in homeopathy and has two children.
Ms Ingram-Moore also has two children, Benji and Georgia, with her husband Colin Ingram. The family lives in a £1.2 million Grade II listed home in Bedfordshire, according to The Sun. Sir Tom lived there with them for the 13 years prior to his death.
Hannah Ingram-Moore is the daughter of the late Captain Tom and his second wife Pamela— (PA Wire)
Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband are co-founders of the company Maytrix, which is a recruitment agency.
She describes herself on her website as “one of Britain’s leading businesswomen, an accredited life coach, decorated motivational speaker and a proud supporter of female entrepreneurs nationwide”.
It was Ms Ingram-Moore who originally suggested the idea of Sir Tom doing his fundraising walk over the pandemic.
What is the controversy that has mired the family?
The first suggestion that the legacy of Sir Tom’s fundraising achievements might be rather more complicated emerged a year later when it was reported on 8 February 2022 that The Captain Tom Foundation, incorporated on 5 May 2020 to administer the donations collected from his inspirational walks, had spent more on management fees than it had released in grants.
Three days later, The Independent reported in the first of a series of exclusives that the foundation had paid £54,039 to two companies owned by Captain Tom’s daughter and her husband, one of which was registered only days before the charity was incorporated, and that the foundation had been made the subject of a live regulatory compliance case by the watchdog.
Aerial pictures show the C-shaped building housing a spa pool built by Captain Tom’s daughter— (Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Responding to the growing controversy, Ms Ingram-Moore appeared on ITV’s This Morning that March to insist she was devoted to safeguarding her father’s memory, saying: “It’s clear our accounts are there to be seen but we’re not hiding anything, there’s nothing wrong, we haven’t made any false action and I genuinely think the vast majority of people know that.”
She added: “I think we have been incredibly naive, but I don’t think that means we’re bad. I think we’re wholesome good people and we run businesses, we understand. I think we stepped into this for love, for humanity, for allowing as many people as possible access to his legacy.”
On 30 June, the Charity Commission announced it would formally investigate the foundation over allegations that the family had personally profited from it following the emergence of evidence of potentially serious misconduct.
The saga resumed in July 2023 when Ms Ingram-Moore was accused of using her late father’s name as an excuse to build a spa and swimming pool complex at her home. The spa was also built without planning consent as part of a foundation building on disused tennis courts.
In November 2023, the Planning Inspectorate ordered the complex be demolished within three months after dismissing the family’s appeal to an enforcement notice issued by Central Bedfordshire Council.
Ms Ingram-Moore has admitted keeping £800,000 from three books the late army veteran had written, despite the prologue of one of them suggesting the money would go to charity— (ITV/This Morning)
The BBC’s Newsnight reported in August that Ms Ingram-Moore had been paid thousands of pounds for serving as a judge at the 2021 and 2022 Virgin Media O2 Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards, with the money paid to another of her companies, Maytrix Group, rather than the foundation she was seemingly representing.
Most recently, Ms Ingram-Moore has admitted keeping £800,000 from three books the late army veteran had written, despite the prologue of one of them suggesting the money would go to charity.
In a clip released ahead of the interview, which will be aired on Thursday evening, she told Piers Morgan that her late father had wanted his family to keep the profits in Club Nook Ltd, a firm that is separate from the Captain Tom Foundation, and that he “specifically” wanted her to keep the book profits.
She insisted there was no suggestion anyone who purchased the books thought the money was going to charity.
