Captain Tom charity stops taking donations as daughter ordered to tear down home spa
The Captain Tom Foundation has stopped taking donations as the Charity Commission investigates its finances and news emerged that his daughter will have to tear down an unapproved home spa.
Captain Sir Tom Moore – you will no doubt remember – captured the heart of the nation during the Covid-19 pandemic after walking 100 laps of his nursing home garden to raise funds for NHS Charities Together before his 100th birthday.
In the end, he raised £38.9 million - this money raised for NHS Charities is not being investigated - leading to a knighthood from the late Queen Elizabeth II and worldwide fame and recognition. The Captain Tom Foundation was set up after his incredible charitable feat.
Capt Sir Tom died at the age of 100 back in February 2021 in Bedford.
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Now, planning bosses have ordered that a building on his daughter’s property be demolished because the plans for such a building with a spa pool were rejected.
Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin had initially applied for permission in 2021 to build a Captain Tom Building in the grounds of their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
They had said that the site would be used ‘in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives’.
Those initial plans were accepted by Central Bedfordshire council, before they later refused a retrospective application from 2022 for another bigger building which contained the spa pool.
The new building - referred to as the Captain Tom Building - was 'a new building for use by the occupiers' according to supporting documents.
A spokesperson for the council said: "An enforcement notice requiring the demolition of the now-unauthorised building was issued and this is now subject to an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate."
The charity is also currently being investigated by the Charity Commission due to concerns over the management of the organisation and independence from the late Army veteran’s family.
The Captain Tom Foundation released a statement that read: "At this moment in time, the sole focus of The Captain Tom Foundation is to ensure that it cooperates fully with the ongoing Statutory Inquiry by the Charity Commission.
"As a result, The Captain Tom Foundation is not presently actively seeking any funding from donors.
"Accordingly, we have also taken the decision to close all payment channels whilst the Statutory Inquiry remains open."
Once the findings are received, the charity said it will be in a ‘better position’ to ‘make a decision in relation to its future’.
"For now, our main priority is to assist the Charity Commission with its inquiry," the charity added.
The Charity Commission has refused to comment on the matter while the investigation is ongoing.
The investigation was first started in March 2021, just a month after Tom died, before being expanded into a statutory inquiry in June last year.
LADbible has contacted the Captain Tom Foundation for any further comment.
Tom Wood