Daughter of Captain Tom 'admits keeping money from books'
Hannah Ingram-Moore claims her father wanted them to get book profits despite the prologue of one of them saying the money would go to charity
Last updated 12th Oct 2023
In an interview being broadcast on Thursday evening, Hannah Ingram-Moore told TalkTV’s Piers Morgan that Sir Tom wanted them to get the book profits, despite a prologue in one of them saying the money would go to charity.
The Sun reported the profits were £800,000.
Sir Tom became a well-known figure when he raised £38 million 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.
Ms Ingram-Moore, from Bedfordshire, told Mr 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, The Sun reported.
The newspaper states that she 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…”
Mr Morgan asked “for you to keep?” and she replied “yes”, the paper states.
The family reportedly told TalkTV there was no suggestion that anyone buying the books thought they were donating to charity.
In a clip released ahead of the interview, Ms Ingram-Moore said the 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.
Ms Ingram-Moore 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, The Sun 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.
The 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, Ms Ingram-Moore, 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.