Why is there no decision on Captain Tom's charity?
Exactly two years since the launch of an inquiry into a charity set up by the family of Captain Sir Tom Moore, what is being investigated and why is it taking this long?
The Captain Tom Foundation was registered as a grant-making charity in 2020 to continue the late veteran’s fundraising legacy.
But in June 2022 the Charity Commission began a statutory inquiry, looking into potential conflicts of interest between the foundation and a private company owned by Capt Tom’s daughter and son-in-law, Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore.
In December a source at the commission said its findings were expected early in 2024. So what's going on?
Liz Brownsell, the head of charities at the law firm Birketts LLP, said it was “quite normal for complex or high-profile statutory inquiries to take longer than two years”.
“It would not surprise me if the report were not published for several more months” she said, “for instance, the investigation of Kids Company lasted seven-and-a-half years”.
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said the inquiry “remains ongoing and therefore we cannot comment or provide any update at this time”.
Capt Tom became world famous during the first national Covid lockdown in 2020, when he set out to walk 100 laps of his garden in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
He completed the challenge shortly before his 100th birthday and raised £38.9m for NHS Charities Together.
A string of accolades followed – he received a knighthood during a private ceremony with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle and released a chart-topping rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone with Michael Ball.
But since his death in February 2021, Capt Tom’s legacy has been overshadowed by damaging revelations about Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore's personal interests.
For instance, the couple were censured by the council for constructing an unauthorised "Captain Tom Foundation building" beside their home, containing a spa pool and a home cinema.
Ms Ingram-Moore claimed the reference to her father’s charity in the planning application had been a mistake - after a legal battle they were forced to tear the structure down in February.
Within weeks of the start of Capt Tom's walk, the Ingram-Moores set up both the Captain Tom Foundation to support causes for the elderly, and Club Nook, a private company that acquired ownership of the Captain Tom brand.
The Charity Commission said this ability to “generate significant profit for the company… without objection from the charity” was concerning.
It is looking into “whether the charity has suffered any financial losses through unauthorised private benefit to the current or previous trustees”.
One focus of the inquiry will be the family’s decision to keep the profits, worth around £800,000, of Capt Tom’s three books, despite publicised claims they would be used to support the foundation.
Notably, in the prologue to his autobiography, Tomorrow will be a Good Day, Capt Tom wrote that "with the offer to write this memoir I have also been given the chance to raise even more money" for the foundation.
Ms Ingram-Moore said her father had always intended that “the money (from his books) would to go to Club Nook”.
There is no suggestion that she acted illegally by keeping the money rather than donating it to her late father's charity.
Ms Ingram-Moore stepped down as a trustee of the charity in March 2021 to become its interim CEO on a salary of £85,000, but her husband, Colin continues in the role.
They have not responded to any of the BBC’s requests for comment.
'Unearthed more issues'
“The fact we have not heard anything yet from the Charity Commission does not necessarily mean it has unearthed more issues,” Ms Brownsell said.
“Charities are run by trustees who are volunteers and must be allowed time to respond to requests for information."
“Additionally, it takes time for the commission to consider the appropriate action after it has gathered all the relevant evidence,” she added.
Some of the regulator's powers, such as freezing bank accounts and removing trustees, would presumably have little bearing since the Ingram-Moores' legal team has already indicated that the Captain Tom Foundation will close after the inquiry has concluded.
It stopped taking donations in July last year.
In March, Ms Ingram-Moore posted a video to her Instagram account in which she expressed “sincere thanks” to everyone who had supported her family “during these incredibly tough times”.
A month later the family home was put on sale for £2.25m.
According to the listing, interested parties are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to viewing the “magnificent seven-bedroom property”.
Last week Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore were pictured attending a summer soiree in Effingham, Surrey, organised by the Toni and Guy Charitable Foundation.
