Who is Captain Tom's daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore?

The daughter of Captain Sir Tom Moore has lost her appeal against an order to demolish an unauthorised spa pool block at her home.

Hannah Ingram-Moore, along with her husband Colin, applied in 2021 for permission to build a Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of the property in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

The L-shaped building was given the green light, but the planning authority refused a subsequent retrospective application in 2022 for a larger C-shaped building containing a spa pool.

Central Bedfordshire Council issued an enforcement notice in July requiring the demolition of the “unauthorised building”.

On Tuesday, the Planning Inspectorate dismissed the family’s appeal and ordered them to demolish the spa pool block within three months.

The inspector’s decision said: “I accept that the appellant’s intentions are laudable; however, it has not been demonstrated in any detail how all of this would work in practice.

“In the absence of any substantiated information, I find the suggested public benefit would therefore not outweigh the great weight to be given to the harm to the heritage asset.”

The decision follows several controversies involving the daughter of COVID pandemic hero Sir Tom.

Who is Hannah Ingram-Moore?

Ingram-Moore became a public figure after her late father became a national hero during the COVID pandemic for raising millions for the NHS by walking laps of his garden during lockdown.

By the time of his 100th birthday, he had walked 200 laps of his garden and made £32,796,436 in donations – the most ever raised by a single person.

A total of £38.9m for NHS charities was raised once gift aid had been added on to the tally.

Following Sir Tom’s achievement, business owner Ingram-Moore helped set up the charity in her her father’s name.

She is married to Colin Ingram and the couple have two children, Benji and Georgia.

• Read more: Captain Tom Moore's knighthood is 'icing on the cake', says daughter (Yahoo News, 3 min)

What is the Captain Tom Moore Foundation?

The charity set up in Sir Tom’s name was established in May 2020 and is funded entirely by donations from private individuals and businesses.

It was set up to provide grants and support for those who apply and work closely with NHS charities.

Figures from the Charity Commission show that the foundation earned over £1m in 2021, with nearly half (£400,000) spend on expenditures.

• Read more: Sir Tom charity accounts under scrutiny as thousands paid to daughter's firm (Swindon Advertiser, 2 min)

What is the planning row over a spa about?

In 2021 Ingram-Moore and her husband applied for permission to build a Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

The L-shaped building was given the green light, and in a design and access and heritage statement it was described as to be used partly “in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives”.

A subsequent retrospective application in 2022, for a larger C-shaped building containing a spa pool, was refused by the planning authority.

Central Bedfordshire Council said in July that an enforcement notice requiring the demolition of the “now-unauthorised building” was issued and was subject to an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

The family lost their appeal against the demolition on Tuesday.

• Read more: Date set for hearing over demolition of spa at home of Sir Tom’s daughter (PA, 2 min)

Why is there an inquiry into the Captain Tom Moore Foundation?

Ingram-Moore was forced to deny allegations that she had taken money from the charity that was intended to be donated.

Accounts showed the charity incurred £240,000 in costs and gave £160,000 to good causes in its first year.

Around £240,000 of £400,000 in outgoings were spent on fundraising and administration, while it was claimed that Ingram-Moore tried to become CEO of the charity on a salary of £150,000 a year – something she denies.

However, in June 2022 the Charity Commission announced it was investigating the Foundation after it reimbursed more than £54,000 to companies run by Ingram-Moore and her husband, including their consultancy firm Maytrix.

• Read more: NHS Charities Together distances itself from The Captain Tom Foundation (Sky News, 2 min)

Emotional TV interview

Ingram-Moore appeared on This Morning last year and fought back tears as she defended herself against a raft of allegations.

She insisted she and her husband were only reimbursed after they had loaned the charity money and said the £150,000 salary claims were “absolutely not true”.

Ingram-Moore said: “I think we’ve been incredibly naive but I don’t think that that means we’re bad.

“I think that we’re wholesome, good people and we run businesses we understand.

“But I think we stepped into this for love, for humanity, for allowing as many as people as possible access to his legacy.

“We never thought of the darkness – it never, never crossed our minds.”

She described accusations that she was “milking her father’s legacy” as “devastating”.

“My whole life I’ve wanted to be held accountable, that’s what my father taught me – stand up, be counted and be accountable,” she said, adding: “I am guarding my father’s legacy, we would never hurt it.

“But I would never be able to sit on here and tell you something that’s not true.”

• Read more: Captain Tom’s daughter hits back over foundation claims: ‘we’re not hiding anything’ (The Independent, 3 min)

Is the Captain Tom Moore Foundation still taking donations?

Last month, the charity announced it had stopped taking money from donors while the Charity Commission carried out an inquiry.

The foundation said: “At this moment in time, the sole focus of the Captain Tom Foundation is to ensure that it co-operates 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 while the statutory inquiry remains open.”

The charity said it would “be in a better position to make a decision in relation to its future” once the findings of the inquiry were set out.

• Read more: Captain Tom Foundation halts donations and payments amid charity watchdog probe (PA, 3 min)