Captain Tom ‘charity’ autobiography publisher refuses to say if funds paid to his foundation from sales

A major publisher behind Captain Sir Tom Moore’s autobiography, said to have been in “support” of a foundation set up in his name, has refused to disclose whether it has paid any money to the charity from sales of the book.

Only the month after the late veteran’s multi-million pound fundraising effort during the first Covid lockdown, the Captain Tom Foundation announced the publication of his £20 autobiography and a £12.99 children’s picture book to “support his newly formed charity”.

The autobiography of the veteran – who raised nearly £39m for NHS Charities Together walking laps of his garden – became a Sunday Times No.1 bestseller.

But, more than two years later, Penguin Random House (PRH) – one of the world’s largest book publishers – would not reveal whether it had paid any funds to the charity from the sale of the publications when asked by The Independent. Instead, it cited “confidential details pertaining to contracts which of course legally we are not at liberty to disclose”. The publisher said it had “not acted in any way that is in breach of charity legislation”.

It comes after The Charity Commission last month launched a statutory inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation, warning that Club Nook Ltd – a company run by the veteran’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin – “may have generated significant profit” from trademarking the veteran’s name.

The watchdog opened a regulatory compliance case into the charity in March 2021 but said it had “escalated its engagement due to newly identified concerns about arrangements between the charity and a company linked to the Ingram-Moore family, as well as ongoing concerns about the trustees’ decision making and the charity’s governance”. Club Nook Ltd’s accounts, covering its first year from 24 April 2020 to 30 April 2021, detail its profit and loss reserves stood at £484,894.

In recent months, the Captain Tom Foundation has been beset by controversy. In February, The Independent reported how it had been told part of the Charity Commission’s compliance case related to a request from the foundation to appoint Hannah Ingram-Moore as CEO on a six-figure salary – with the watchdog blocking the appointment last summer.

In another development, The Independent revealed in May that gin sold to raise money for the foundation was pulled from sale after an apparent charity law breach.

In May 2020, The Sun reported that Captain Tom Moore had struck a book deal worth up to £1.5million, writing: “His PR agents are understood to have agreed a deal with publisher Michael Joseph, part of the Penguin Random House group.”

In the same month, the Bookseller reported: “Captain Tom Moore… is publishing his memoirs with Michael Joseph and a children’s book with Puffin, having struck a deal with Penguin Random House”. The piece quoted Francesca Dow, managing director, Penguin Random House Children’s, saying: “We’ve leveraged each other’s strengths to bring the legacy of the Captain Tom Foundation – to help people to help others, across generations – to readers of all ages.”

A tweet on May 14 2020 from the Captain Tom Moore account, sharing a video of the veteran, said: “‘I am so looking forward to sharing my autobiography with you …I’d better get writing!’  The book will support the launch of the Captain Tom Foundation…more news on that to come!  Thanks @PenguinUKBooks for the film”. The Captain Tom Foundation website features a news item, published in the same month, about how two books in his name, an autobiography and a children’s picture book, “will support his newly formed charity – The Captain Tom Foundation”.

The prologue of the fundraiser’s autobiography, Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day, which was published in hardback in September 2020, suggests the book is raising funds for the Captain Tom Foundation. It states: “Astonishingly at my age, 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.”

PRH has published four Captain Tom books. His autobiography and the picture book, One Hundred Steps: The Story of Captain Sir Tom Moore, were first published in 2020. Captain Tom’s Life Lessons and One Hundred Reasons to Hope: True stories of everyday heroes were both released last year.

Copies in both hardback and paperback of One Hundred Reasons to Hope – the introduction of which is written by Hannah Ingram-Moore – detail that the text copyright is held by “Club Nook Limited, 2021”.

A paperback version of One Hundred Steps lists the text copyright as “Tom Moore, 2020” and a paperback copy of Tomorrow Will be a Good Day lists the copyright as “Captain Sir Tom Moore, 2020”. The kindle version of Captain Tom’s Life Lessons lists the copyright as “Captain Sir Tom Moore, 2021”.

Legislation details that the actual amount going to charity from a commercial partnership must be specified. In the case of the £14.99 One Hundred Reasons to Hope book, a declaration is made on Penguin’s website specifying how much money is going to the Captain Tom Foundation from the sale of the books. Penguin’s website states: “Inspired by, and with the blessing of, one man and his walking frame, a £1 donation will be made to The Captain Tom Foundation for all hardback print sales in the UK and Ireland.”

However, there is no such declaration on Penguin’s website on the web pages featuring each of the other three Captain Sir Tom Moore books. For One Hundred Steps, the publisher’s website states the book has been “published in support of the creation of the Captain Tom Foundation” but no further information is provided about whether a specific donation is being provided to the charity and, if so, how much it is.

Shivaji Shiva, a charities partner at law firm VWV, said: “The fact that one of the books is sold on the basis that ‘a £1 donation will be made to The Captain Tom Foundation for all hardback print sales in the UK and Ireland’, prompts questions including: why was there not a similar statement in relation to the other three Captain Tom books?

“In relation to the other three books, was a donation made to the Foundation from the proceeds of sale? If so, what was the ‘notifiable amount’ and how was it made known to potential purchasers?”

Xural.com