Captain Tom villagers ‘embarrassed’ over tarnished legacy of national hero

After the charity watchdog found the family of Captain Tom repeatedly benefited from a foundation set up in his name, neighbours tell Alex Ross it’s time for his home village to move on

It’s now just over four-and-a-half years since Captain Sir Tom Moore completed one of the greatest fundraising feats the world has ever seen.

The war veteran’s grit and determination to walk 100 laps of his back garden during the depths of lockdown touched the nation’s hearts, and pockets, raising £39m for NHS charities.

A year later, on his death, with the country gripped by mourning, former health secretary Matt Hancock called on the UK to “mark the memory” of Britain’s Covid hero as calls grew for a statue.

But a visit to the now-famed location of the incredible fundraiser – Captain Tom’s Old Rectory home in the Bedfordshire village of Marston Moretaine – gives little clue his incredible achievement ever took place.

It’s a sorrowful sign of the tarnished legacy of the man, say villagers, with a long-awaited report, published on Thursday, finding his family had personally benefited from a charity set up in his name.

Captain Sir Tom Moore pictured with his walking frame doing a lap of his garden as he went on to raise almost £40m for NHS charities (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

A firm run by his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and son-in-law Colin Ingram-Moore was paid almost £1.5m for three of his books, including his bestselling autobiography, the Charity Commission found.

The couple also “inappropriately for private benefit” used the charity name to apply for planning permission for a foundation building in the back garden of the gated home, which was subsequently built and included a spa pool and home cinema.

The Ingram-Moores, who have now placed the family home up for sale, were ordered to demolish the building this year amid anger in the village.

Hannah Ingram-Moore with Captain Tom (Getty)

“We were quite proud of what Captain Tom did; it put us on the map,” said Ian Knight, a 51-year-old labourer who has lived in Marston Moretaine for 45 years.

“But now we are quite embarrassed with what’s happened since, and will be glad when they are gone. Out of mind and out of sight.”

Mr Knight had hoped for a plaque commemorating Captain Tom to be erected in the village, which has a population of just over 6,000.

Villager Ian Knight, pictured in front of the Captain Tom Foundation building before it was knocked down (The Independent)

But the only signs within sight of the boundary walls and fences of the family home are a care-home advertisement banner and a large warning poster deterring people from using drones over the property.

At Millbrook railway station, a mile away, there is a commemorative bench dedicated to Captain Tom. Over 150 miles further away, a statue of him stands outside Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds, West Yorkshire, the county of his birth.

The Captain Tom Foundation building being demolished (PA Archive)

“It’s sad really. What he did was brilliant, helping so many people get through the Covid lockdown. He’s had nothing to do with what’s happened since, but we’ve had two to three years of it. People round here really want to move on and forget about it,” said Mr Knight.

Although the unauthorised building no longer stands in the family home’s back garden – it was pulled down in February – nothing much appears to have changed in the village from nine months ago.

On the afternoon before the Charity Commission report is published, parents sit in their cars, out of the cold, as they wait for their children to come out of the local primary school, while a few early drinkers can be seen inside The Bell pub.

The site where the Captain Tom Foundation building existed has now gone back to grassland (Getty Images)

Christmas fairy lights are already up in some of the windows.

Michael Fisher, 50, lives in a terraced home backing onto Captain Tom’s back garden. He remembers the fundraiser completing the laps, and then watching it on television in his home.

“They [the family] keep themselves to themselves – I’ve only seen them a couple of times, and that might have actually been on the news,” he said.

“I think they will want to move on now with all the backlash they have had. They’re not shown in the same light as before, when Captain Tom raised all that money from his garden.

There is no obvious sign Captain Tom ever lived at the Old Rectory (entrance pictured) in Marston Moretaine (Independent)

“It’s a shame really because this is all nothing to do with him… it’s his legacy damaged.”

A couple living close by, who asked not to be named, said the family suffered “Lord of the Manor syndrome”.

The man I spoke to said the bringing down of the foundation building brought some relief, but had this to say about the Ingram-Moores: “I don’t think they give two hoots about the village quite honestly. Doesn’t matter if they are popular or unpopular, does it? But it’s now water under the bridge.”

A sign on a fence at the boundary to the back garden of Captain Tom’s home warns people from using drones over the property (Independent)

The family does have sympathy in some quarters.

Neighbour Mark Brighton, 60, said: “They did what they did and paid the price – people are now going a bit over the top on it now.

“The lessons have been learned. People thought they believed they could get away with it [planning for the Captain Tom Foundation building] because they were wealthy.

“I’m not surprised they are wanting to move on and away.”

The Independent approached Hannah Ingram-Moore and her partner for comment.

Responding to the Charity Commission report, they said the probe had been “unjust and excessive”.

They said: “We remain dedicated to upholding Captain Sir Tom’s legacy and want the public to know that there has never been any misappropriation of funds or unauthorised payments from the charity’s bank account, by any member of our family.”