The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into The Captain Tom Foundation, after identifying concerns about the charity’s management, including about the charity’s independence from the family of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore and businesses connected to them
The Captain Tom Foundation was registered on 5 June 2020, following the fundraising efforts of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore at the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. It is registered as a grant-making charity, for the advancement of public health and wellbeing.
The Commission opened a case into the charity in March 2021. It has now escalated its engagement due to newly identified concerns about arrangements between the charity and a company linked to the Ingram-Moore family, as well as ongoing concerns about the trustees’ decision making and the charity’s governance.
The Commission is concerned that a failure to consider intellectual property and trade mark issues when the charity was established provided Club Nook Limited, a private company controlled by Hannah Ingram-Moore and Colin Ingram-Moore, the opportunity to trade mark variations of the name ‘Captain Tom’ without objection from the charity. This may have generated significant profit for the company.
The inquiry, which opened on 16 June, will examine whether the trustees have:
The Commission may extend the scope of the inquiry if additional issues emerge.
Helen Stephenson, CEO of the Charity Commission, said:
Previous Engagement
Prior to the inquiry opening, the Commission engaged with the charity on the following issues:
The Commission’s case had identified potential concerns about payments of consultancy fees and payments to related third parties revealed in the charity’s accounts, published in February 2022. However, based on the information and evidence provided by the trustees, the Commission was satisfied that these specific payments are reasonable reimbursement for expenses incurred by the companies in the formation of the charity. It is also satisfied that any conflicts of interest in relation to these third-party payments were adequately identified and managed.
The £38million raised by the late Captain Sir Tom Moore, and donated to a separate charity, NHS Charities Together, prior to the formation of The Captain Tom Foundation is not part of the scope of this inquiry.
It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were.
ENDS
Notes to Editors