Hannah Ingram-Moore has issued an apology in her first live television appearance since being found guilty of mismanaging her father’s charity, the Captain Tom Foundation, on Good Morning Britain with hosts Rob Rinder and Kate Garraway.
Captain Sir Tom Moore gained widespread attention for raising nearly £40 million for the NHS by walking laps in his garden and was later knighted for his remarkable fundraising achievements.
However, Hannah, as director of the foundation, alongside her husband Colin Ingram-Moore, a former trustee, were discovered to have profited personally from their positions within the charity.
According to the Charity Commission’s findings, there existed a “pattern of behaviour” where both repeatedly profited personally.
When questioned on the show, she explained: “Of course, my mother died a long slow death of dementia and that’s why my father came to live with us … He died in a very public way.
“As I walk around, there are many people that talk about my father and the loss in my life. People weren’t able to discuss loss. The headlines were very negative, and we lost control of any sense of the truth. I had to bury my own grief.”
Host Rob probed her on the topic of Captain Tom’s trio of books, questioning whether she had inked the contract for him. She clarified the situation, stating: “He signed the book deal, he had an agent who negotiated the book deal. There was never a contract with the charity,” and added, “He lived with us. We didn’t think of him diminished man. He was paid that money, he decided where it went. Not a penny was received by him and us when those books went on sale. Charity money didn’t pay for the building or the hot tub.”, reports the Mirror.
In another conversation, Hannah expressed remorse over establishing the charity in her father’s name, calling it her “deepest regret”. She reflected: “It didn’t need to be set up as a charity, we could have continued that legacy without it, because what it’s done is all but completely derailed our lives. It was set up with my father’s name and that is our deepest regret.”
She also addressed concerns about honesty, saying, “There is nothing dishonest about what happened. The book said it would support the launch [of the foundation] and it did. There was never a specific amount of money required. I’m sorry [the public] feel misled, I genuinely am, but there was never any intent to mislead. If there was any misleading it wasn’t our doing.”
The Mirror has unveiled that Hannah’s residence, the Grade II-listed Old Rectory with a price tag of £2 million, is back on the market as a “magnificent seven-bedroom property”. Noteworthily, inside the main hallway remains a bust commemorating Captain Moore’s completion of his multimillion-pound fundraising venture.
However, following a failed appeal, Hannah and her spouse Colin incurred a significant loss when ordered to dismantle a £200,000 spa complex. Central Bedfordshire Council prompted the takedown after the planning inspector deemed it inconsistent with their home.
In 2023, Hannah disclosed that Club Nook, her business, had received profits of approximately £800,000 from Captain Tom’s literary engagements, including three books. Previously, she affirmed to an interview that her father desired his kin to retain the earnings from his publications – Captain Tom’s Life Lessons, One Hundred Steps, and Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day.
Consistently, she clarified that buyers were never led to believe proceeds would be donated to charitable causes; however, the preface of Captain Moore’s autobiography seemingly implied he viewed his book deal as an opportunity for furthering philanthropic contributions. The excerpt stated: “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.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am