Captain Sir Tom Moore’s name has been removed from the charity set up in his honour just months after his family was found to have “repeatedly benefited” financially from the foundation.
Captain Tom became famous during the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020 by walking 100 laps around his garden ahead of his 100th birthday to raise money for the NHS.
His efforts raised £38.9m and catapulted him into fame, which saw him knighted by the late Queen at Windsor Castle before his death in January 2021.
Initially established in June 2020, the Captain Tom Foundation was set up to recognise and raise money for organisations supporting the elderly in the UK. It first came under investigation in March 2021 over its accounts, which showed that during its first year of operation, just £160,000 was given away in charitable grants while £240,000 was spent on management.
Captain Tom’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore, 53, and her husband Colin Ingram-Moore, 66, drew an angry backlash when they were accused of repeated misconduct in a report by the Charity Commission about the running of the Captain Tom Foundation.
New documents filed to Companies House show the charity has been renamed from the Captain Tom Foundation to “The 1189808 Foundation”. The foundation has been renamed to its charity number assigned by the Charity Commission.
The charity’s most recent account filings in July 2023 showed the foundation had £262,283 in net assets.
Last week it was revealed the foundation's website had been taken down, resulting in users encountering an error message stating that the domain was "not claimed."
The Charity Commission’s highly critical November report found Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore “repeatedly benefited” financially from a charity created in his name in 2020, engaging in a “pattern of behaviour” that saw them personally earn more than £1million from their involvement.
The report also found the couple, who now disqualified from serving as charity trustees, had allowed the public to “understandably feel misled” after sales from the Second World War veteran’s autobiography were not donated to the charity.
David Holdsworth, commission chief executive, said the foundation set up in Sir Tom’s name “has not lived up to that legacy of others before self, which is central to charity”.
In a statement issued at the time, Captain Tom’s family said they were treated “unfairly and unjustly” in the report, adding the Charity Commission’s two-year inquiry has taken a “serious toll” on the family’s health, “unfairly tarnishing” their name.
They described the process as “unjust and excessive”, adding that the charities watchdog had a “predetermined agenda”.
