Did the captain Tom foundation charity really use the money to build their own spa pool??

[Terryer]

Just reading the paper this morning and see the family of Captain Tom have been ordered to pull down a building in their garden with a spa pool. I think it's a planning issue but the inference is that they used the money raised to build it. Did they really?

Sat right at the front of the Royal Box as well! Bizarre to think anyone signed that off as a good idea at the time, but they did lol

TV screens for the audience, 2 metre social distancing, grifters galore and partying at No10. The pandemic seems like another reality looking back.

Jason Manford Is nauseating I mean honestly I'll say it again old fella went for a walk!

It was a walk a round his extremely large garden 😂

I never bought it even back during covid. They all looked smug. So what? An old guy doing a few laps in his garden. It never warmed my heart.

And down his drive .😃

Are you Phoebe from Friends?

They are shameless. It's awful but I guess it does at least show that the Council and the Charities Commission provide some protection against these horrible people.

It makes me look at his death in a whole new light. 😳 He contracted COVID while on a free long haul family holiday awarded by British Airways in recognition of his efforts.

I wonder who made that decision. 🥺

The whole thing was hysteria fuelled by nationalism and obsession with the military. We shouldn’t have to rely on charity, we have taxes for a reason! Stop it going into private pockets instead of public services.

That's when I stopped admiring the whole thing and started thinking wtf. Weren't there still travel restrictions at that time?

Also, it was a distraction when there wasn't much else to do except worry.

The initial fundraising was for an established NHS charity - really no different from when anyone does a sponsored activity for charity. And let’s face it, most people who, for example, run the London marathon for charity are cashing in by getting a free guaranteed marathon place in exchange for their fundraising.

What happened here was that this got seized upon as a feel-good story at a time when everyone was desperate to unite around something positive. Maybe some canny PR gave it a kick start but I don’t think anyone can have anticipated it becoming a huge as it did.

What is much more shady is what has happened since - with them setting up a charitable foundation themselves with suggestion that it they are benefiting directly or indirectly from that charity. They have certainly capitalised on that initial fundraising effort - the extent to which it’s for legitimate charitable causes vs their own gain remains to be seen.

There's absolutely no chance I will give money to another 'charity' again. It's not just the fraud that is awful - but the exploitation of feelings of a nation. She should be in jail. But as Mome is still using this earth as her playgrund, I don't hold out much hope. What an absolute bitch.

Whatever it was, it killed him. He was out doing interviews when he should have shielding. But I think he died happy.

The whole thing was absolute cringe

Sadly yes it seems some charities are more of an exercise in profit making for the founder's benefit. Another one was that woman (real name Marlene something?) in the Buckingham Palace row, where she was wearing African dress with a made up African name etc... Her complaint drew attention to her charity which also appeared dodgy and was investigated.

Nitvsure about the recruitment company but she either ran or was director of the NHS charity the money went to supposedly to be distributed to support NHS workers

Strange comment. No one gives a shit about our soldiers. It's a crap life for the families and we are left to get on with it.

It was not raised to fund the NHS it was raised to provide extras to make life a bit more pleasant for the staff.

Perhaps everyone should read this

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12271907/38M-Captain-Tom-Moore-raised-Covid-not-investigation-NHS-charity-insists.html#newcomment

Don't diss it. My goody bag with a pair of weird fish socks, 2 teabags and a can of Adidas sport antiperspirant was a godsend on one of the nights I got stuck in covering for covid sickness...

That’s not the case at all.

The original fundraiser was for a pre-existing NHS charity. The same as if you or I did a sponsored walk for Cancer Research or something. All the money went to that charity. To be fair I can imagine suddenly receiving £38m they weren’t expecting created some headaches for the charity so it doesn’t surprise me if it ended up in weird goody bags. That’s a bit by-the-by.

AFTER that original fundraising they set up a charitable foundation in his name with the purpose of raising funds themselves and distributing them via grants to other existing good causes. This not a particularly unusual thing - it’s not uncommon for example for bereaved parents to set up a charitable trust in their child’s name to raise money for causes close to their heart.

What IS unusual is the apparent grifting, financial irregularities at the foundation and capitalising on the name of the charity for personal gain.

Me too.

J'accuzzi.