Those involved in the release of Captain Sir Tom Moore’s books believed that a “significant donation” from the profits would be made to his foundation.
Hannah Ingram-Moore, the fundraising hero’s daughter, revealed last year that the family had kept around £800,000 from books her late father had written, including his bestselling memoir.
She said that Captain Tom’s wish had been for his family to keep the money, despite the veteran implying in his autobiography that the book gave him the chance to fundraise for his foundation.
Last week it emerged that Ingram-Moore, 53, and her husband Colin, 67, had been disqualified from being charity trustees for ten and eight years respectively by the Charity Commission.
The watchdog, which is investigating the Captain Tom Foundation, said that there had been “misconduct and/or mismanagement”, but would not be drawn on what it specifically involved.
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A source, who was involved in discussions around the publication and release of Captain Tom’s books, told The Times that they believed some of the profits were going to go to the foundation.
“Everyone that worked on the books … was very much told that a significant donation would be made by the family into the foundation,” they said.
“I don’t know if I thought it would be all, or a lot, but I thought there would be a significant donation.”
The source clarified, however, that the aim of the books was not specifically to raise money for charity and that they had no knowledge of Captain Tom’s personal wishes.
They added: “The publishers were very clear that it wasn’t a charity book. But there was that clear indication there would be a significant donation [going to the foundation].”
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Captain Tom signed a deal with Penguin Random House in 2020, one month after his fundraising walk during the Covid lockdown which raised almost £39 million for the NHS.
He wrote three books, including his autobiography Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day, which went on to become a Sunday Times number one bestseller.
Captain Tom also wrote a children’s picture book titled One Hundred Steps: The Story of Captain Sir Tom Moore.
A press release on the Captain Tom Foundation website, from May 2020, now deleted, said that the two books would “support his newly formed charity”.
A third book Captain Tom’s Life Lessons was published in 2021 shortly after his death.
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The Ingram-Moores told TalkTV last year that the “vast majority” of the £809,000 in Club Nook Limited, where the couple are directors, came from the publication of his three books.
Hannah Ingram-Moore, speaking to Piers Morgan, 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. ”
Morgan asked: “For you to keep? He said that specifically to you?”, and she replied: “Specifically.”
Hannah Ingram-Moore assured the interviewer that there was nothing in the books which referred to the Captain Tom Foundation.
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However, in the prologue to Captain Tom’s memoir, he indicated that at least some of the book money would be going to his charity.
He wrote: “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.”
There is no suggestion that the Ingram-Moore family acted illegally by keeping the money from the book sales. Mrs Ingram-Moore was contacted for comment.
It is not clear whether the book money paid to Club Nook falls within the scope of the commission’s investigation.
Penguin Random House said that it was unable to provide any comment while the Charity Commission continued its statutory inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation.
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The regulator’s inquiry began in 2022, investigating serious concerns about the charity’s governance and financial controls. The investigation is ongoing.
The money raised as part of Captain Tom’s NHS walk is not part of the Charity Commission’s probe. He died in 2021 after contracting Covid while in hospital being treated for pneumonia.
A lawyer for the Ingram-Moores had stated that the foundation could shut down.
A message on the foundation’s website says that it is “not presently actively seeking any funding from donors” due to the Charity Commission inquiry.
