Captain Sir Tom Moore, widely known as Captain Tom, was a British Army veteran who became a global symbol of hope during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, shortly before his 100th birthday, he decided to walk 100 laps of his garden to raise funds for NHS Charities Together, capturing hearts around the world.
His original goal was just £1,000, but donations surged as his story went viral, eventually reaching tens of millions of pounds for health-related causes. By the time the fundraising campaign ended, he had helped to raise over £30 million directly for NHS Charities Together, with the total including Gift Aid reported at close to £39 million.
How the Captain Tom Foundation was created
On the wave of this enormous public admiration, the Captain Tom Foundation was set up in his name in 2020 to support charities focused on causes close to him. Its stated aims included supporting organisations working on loneliness, education, mental health, and support for those facing bereavement, building on the goodwill generated during his fundraising walk.
While the money raised directly for NHS Charities Together was ring-fenced and distributed via that umbrella body, the Captain Tom Foundation operated as a separate registered charity with its own trustees and governance. During its early years, it ran awareness and fundraising campaigns, including events such as the “Captain Tom 100”, which encouraged people worldwide to complete challenges themed around the number 100.
Why the Captain Tom Foundation was investigated
As the foundation grew, questions emerged around how it was run and whether those close to Captain Tom personally benefited from the charity’s activities. In response to media coverage and concerns about governance, the Charity Commission, the regulator for charities in England and Wales, opened a statutory inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation.
The inquiry examined administration, governance, and management, focusing in particular on conflicts of interest and whether trustees or connected companies received unauthorised private benefits. It looked at commercial arrangements involving companies linked to Captain Tom’s family, including the use of his name and image on products and in promotional activity tied to the foundation.
Key findings of the Captain Tom inquiry
The Charity Commission’s report concluded that there had been serious misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the Captain Tom Foundation. It found that members of Captain Tom’s family, particularly his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband, repeatedly received direct and indirect financial benefits from arrangements connected with the charity that were not properly authorised.
Examples included payments related to events, use of family-linked companies in commercial deals, and an online store where the distinction between charitable income and private profit was not made sufficiently clear to the public. The commission criticised the failure to manage conflicts of interest, the lack of full transparency to unconflicted trustees, and the pattern of behaviour that prioritised private benefit over the charity’s best interests.
Regulatory consequences for the foundation and family
As a result of the findings, the Charity Commission imposed regulatory actions aimed at protecting charitable funds and tightening governance. These included measures around the use of Captain Tom’s name, restrictions on decision-making by conflicted trustees, and requirements to ensure that any future activities properly protected the charity’s assets and reputation.
Beyond the charity itself, Captain Tom’s daughter, who had played a central role in the foundation, faced personal regulatory consequences, including being banned from acting as a trustee for charities for a period. The foundation has also ceased using Captain Tom’s name in ongoing charitable operations, reflecting the seriousness of the regulatory findings and the need to distance public fundraising from the controversies.
Did the Captain Tom scandal damage trust in charities?
Despite the intense media focus on the scandal, new research from the Charity Commission shows that public trust in charities overall has remained stable at a relatively high level. Surveys conducted after widespread coverage of the inquiry reported that average trust in charities was unchanged from the previous year and close to its highest level in more than a decade.
According to the commission’s research, almost two-thirds of respondents believed that most of the money donated to charities reaches the intended causes, a figure that has actually risen compared with the prior year. Charities continue to rank above many other institutions, including banks and some public authorities, when people are asked which organisations they trust.
Why the Captain Tom probe did not dent trust
One of the most striking findings from the regulator’s research is that widespread awareness of the Captain Tom Foundation inquiry did not translate into a collapse of trust in the sector as a whole. Many people recognised that the issues involved a specific charity and its governance, rather than being typical of all charities, and saw the case as an exception rather than the rule.
The Charity Commission suggests that its visible, firm response may actually have reassured the public, demonstrating that problems are investigated and tackled rather than ignored. The high profile of the Captain Tom case increased awareness of the regulator itself, and the strong action taken appears to have improved perceptions that charities are properly overseen.
Lessons for charities and donors
The Captain Tom Foundation episode highlights several lessons for charities about governance, transparency, and conflicts of interest. Charity trustees must always act in the best interests of the organisation, not their own, and they must clearly manage and declare any personal or financial conflicts, especially when family-run companies are involved.
For donors, the case underlines the importance of checking that a charity is properly registered and that its accounts and governance information are available and up to date. At the same time, the stable trust figures show that the public can distinguish between isolated misconduct and the broader sector, continuing to support thousands of compliant charities doing legitimate work.
Captain Tom’s legacy amid controversy
Although the actions of the foundation and his family have tarnished the charity created in his name, Captain Tom’s original fundraising during the pandemic remains widely respected. His garden walks raised unprecedented sums for NHS causes at a time of national crisis, and that achievement stands separate from later governance failures by others.
The story now operates on two levels: a powerful example of individual generosity and public solidarity, and a cautionary tale about how quickly public trust can be put at risk if a charity’s governance falls short. The fact that overall trust in charities has not been dented by this high-profile scandal suggests that, when regulators act visibly, and donors stay informed, the sector’s reputation can remain resilient even when a celebrated name is involved.
