Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter and her husband have been disqualified from being charity trustees amid an ongoing inquiry into the foundation set up in the war veteran’s name.
Hannah Ingram-Moore is disqualified for 10 years and Colin for eight years – meaning neither can be a trustee or hold a senior management role in any charity in England and Wales in that time period.
Despite the option to appeal, the family said they have made the “extremely difficult decision” not to do so, as the “profound emotional upheaval and financial burden make such a course of action untenable”.
The Captain Tom Foundation was set up in May 2020 after Sir Tom’s fundraising efforts in the first Covid-19 lockdown.
The foundation has been the subject of an investigation by the charity watchdog, amid concerns about its management and independence from Sir Tom’s family.
The Charity Commission opened a case into the foundation shortly after the 100-year-old died in 2021, and launched its inquiry in June 2022.
While the findings of that investigation have not yet been published, the Ingram-Moore family made public the news of their disqualification orders on Wednesday.
The family said they “fundamentally disagree” with the watchdog’s decision, and described the ongoing inquiry as having been a “harrowing and debilitating ordeal”, as well as voicing concerns that the commission’s investigations had become a “relentless pursuit”.
While the family complained that the disqualification “has been imposed without the conclusion of the statutory inquiry”, the commission said this is its general approach and is “good practice as it ensures that any representations made can be factored into the overall findings of the inquiry”.
The commission said the legal test for disqualification had been met because there was “misconduct and/or mismanagement, the individuals are not fit to be a trustee or hold senior management functions and disqualification is in the public interest”.
No timeline has been given for when the inquiry might conclude or when the findings might be published.
In their statement, the family said the “failure to conclude the inquiry prolongs our deep distress and hinders our ability to move on with our lives, extending the pain and impact on our family and our father/grandfather’s legacy”.
They added: “It has been a harrowing and debilitating ordeal that has gone on for over two years.
“We are increasingly concerned that the Charity Commission’s process may have evolved into a relentless pursuit, and question whether it is a tactic by the Commission to make our lives more difficult, by suspending us in constant fear and mental anguish.”
They added that they had “fully co-operated with the commission at all times” and said both Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore had “never accessed or made any payments from the charity’s bank account” while independent trustees had “maintained full control over the charity’s finances since inception”.
Mrs Ingram-Moore was appointed interim chief executive officer of the foundation from August 2021 until April 2022 – with accounts published last year stating that she received a gross salary of £63,750 in her role and £7,602 in expense payments for travel and administration between June 2021 and November 2022.
She had been a trustee for a short period between February and March 15 2021.
The orders against both were issued in May and came into effect on June 25, although Mr Ingram-Moore was still listed as being one of two trustees for the foundation on the commission’s register of charities on Wednesday.
Charity Commission chief executive David Holdsworth said disqualification orders are only issued “when the evidence gathered means it is proportionate and lawful to do so”.
He added: “The evidence in this investigation meant that the level of misconduct and/or mismanagement was serious enough to warrant this action.
“People generously support good causes with the clear expectation that trustees will act in the best interests of their charities.
“As an independent regulator, it is vital that we uphold and protect this trust, including by taking robust regulatory action where appropriate, based on firm evidence.”
A lawyer for the family has previously stated that the foundation could shut down.
Speaking in October last year during an appeal hearing against the demolition of a spa pool block at the home of the Ingram-Moores, barrister Scott Stemp said the charity is “unlikely to exist” in future.
The family lost that appeal and a digger was seen tearing down parts of the unauthorised building earlier this year.
The foundation had stopped taking money from donors in summer 2023 after council chiefs ordered the demolition, ahead of the appeal.
Sir Tom raised £38.9 million for the NHS, including Gift Aid, by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday at the height of the first national Covid-19 lockdown.
He was knighted by the late Queen during a unique open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle in summer 2020.