Captain Tom 'wanted me to keep profits' says daughter after pocketing book cash
The daughter of Captain Sir Tom Moore has insisted that he wanted her to keep the profits from the three books he wrote.
Sir Tom became a well-known figure when he raised £38million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday at the height of the first national Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020. He died in February 2021.
In an interview being broadcast this evening, Hannah Ingram-Moore told TalkTV's Piers Morgan that her campaigner father wanted his family to keep the money from the three books in Club Nook Ltd - a firm separate to the Captain Tom Foundation charity,
She tearfully said: "These were my father's books, and it was honestly such a joy for him to write them, but they were his books. He had an agent and they worked on that deal, and his wishes were that that money would sit in Club Nook, and in the end..."
Captain Sir Tom Moore, with grandson Benji, daughter Hannah and granddaughter Georgi (PA)Piers asked "For you to keep?" and she replied "Yes". The family said there was no suggestion that anyone buying the books - for which the profits amounted to around £800,000 - thought they were donating to charity, according to The Sun.
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But the prologue to Sir Tom's autobiography, Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day, appears to suggest it was raising money for the Captain Tom Foundation. Published in September 2020, it read: "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."
In a clip released ahead of the interview, Hannah told how her family had even received death threats. She said: "There is a forum... they were all discussing how they were going to come and kill us all." Sir Tom had his knighthood conferred on him by the late Queen in July 2020 in recognition of his fundraising achievements.
The interview is being broadcast this evening (@piersmorgan / Twitter)Hannah also reportedly told TalkTV 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 £2,000 to the Captain Tom Foundation, it was reported.
The Charity Commission launched an inquiry into the foundation in June last year, after identifying concerns about the charity's management and independence from Sir Tom's family. It had already opened a case into the charity shortly after the 100-year-old died in 2021, and began reviewing the set-up of the organisation.
Sir Tom's autobiography, Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day
Captain Tom's Life Lessons, in which he gives advice for a happy and contented lifeThe watchdog's intervention into the foundation had a "massive adverse impact" on fundraising, the charity's accounts published last month stated. The foundation's accounts show that for the nine months from August 2021 to April 2022, Hannah received a gross salary of £63,750 in her role as interim chief executive officer.
The Charity Commission had consented to an annual salary of £85,000. She also received £7,602 in expense payments for travel and administration between June 2021 and November 2022. This summer, the foundation stopped taking money from donors after planning chiefs at Central Bedfordshire Council ordered that an unauthorised spa pool block at Ms Ingram-Moore's home should be demolished.
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: "Our inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation remains ongoing. Its scope includes examining mismanagement or misconduct which may have led to any financial losses to the charity and whether the trustees have adequately managed conflicts of interest, including with private companies connected to the Ingram-Moore family."
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