Captain Tom's daughter

[Sneezeless]

Who would have thought it?

I just can't believe how extremely greedy they appear to have been. The thing is, they could have easily got away with dipping handsomely into the charity money, if they'd really wanted to (obviously, I'm in no way endorsing this), but they put their hands in way too deep.

Take the reported £1.4m for the autobiography - which people clearly only bought because they thought it was for charity and/or on the back of the charity fundraising - from which they allegedly refused to hand over a penny to charity, when they were being urged to make 'a substantial donation'.

If they'd given, say £1.2m for charity and pocketed the rest - maybe mumbling something about 'associated expenses', folk probably wouldn't even have noticed that they'd still personally benefited to the tune of enough money to buy a house outright in some areas of the country (granted not theirs, with its huge garden and room for a pony spar centre).

I never donated because it felt like a scam, just like Ladbaby wth the Christmas singles. Not so much Tom but the granny way his family had him on TV, and didn't he release a single wich Michael Ball even though he couldn't hold a tune?

It felt like those parents who use their cute kid to pay for their lifestyle.

Also the fact they were very clearly very well off in the first place, I didn't see why he needed to walk round his garden at the age where he should've been relaxing.

Then the holiday when he died shortly after, who in their right mind would take a 100 year old on a long haul flight abroad when Covid was still rife and aeroplanes were seen as a huge risk?

There were many every day people doing wonderful things lockdown and I used to turn GMB off when this came on. I wonder if Piers Morgan will comment since he was very much behind the family being on TV constantly in the morning?

It makes you realise doesn't it what a very weird time lockdown was. In normal times, an old chap walking his vast grounds would've been relegated to a one off "weird news" slot on his local news program. I doubt it would've ended with books and singles and the Queen being demanded to give someone a knighthood.

Hoax??! I think it was real enough!

I never feel comfortable with putting anyone on a pedestal, no one is perfect, for every one person doing something great in the paper there’s loads more quietly getting on with it.
I hated the amount of idolisation coverage he got when so many other people were doing great stuff too. It made me very uncomfortable at the time.

not saying I recognised it as a scam, I just felt very very uncomfortable with it all.

Totally agree with your first statement. Clearly, it’s a well understood concept.

Not surprised, I didn’t trust the family at all.

I can’t explain why, they just came across as trying too hard to look perfect standing at the gates of their mansion. Seemed all too rehearsed for me and grabby.

Can someone explain what the spa was for please? Looked quite big for personal use.

It was clear from the start that she saw him as a cash cow and exploited his sweet gesture during a difficult time to get herself a plum job as CEO of his foundation and the freebies that were given to him. Who can forget before we went into another lockdown his family taking him on a free “trip of a lifetime” with BA to Barbados, where he caught the Covid that he eventually died from. She and her husband are a disgrace and make it harder for legitimate charities to operate.

didn't he release a single with Michael Ball even though he couldn't hold a tune?

Yes, I think it's fair to say that Michael did most of the heavy lifting there! I don't know why they couldn't have just had him speaking, recounting his memories, with possibly a quiet instrumental backdrop - rather than making him out to be a pop singer.

Didn't he get the record for the oldest person to have a number one single - even though he just turned up and mumbled through it?

It was for unspecified 'charitable purposes' - presumably to rent out privately, at a premium price because of the association with the charity, but with the earnings not necessarily making their way to the charity?!

I've just realised that I spelled it Spar - like your local shop where you pop in to get bread and milk - rather than a fancy luxury pampering/wellness retreat centre

The holiday was the moment I went “ohh fuck off” rather than just roll my eyes at “another captain tom appearance”

It feels like this is a greedy family who have had a comfortable life with little exposure to real need. Their actions and sense of entitlement have single-handedly tarnished the charity sector and trust in charities, which are mostly underfunded, under resourced, reliant on volunteers and doing amazing work that wouldn’t happen otherwise and that most people don’t see.

How many people who feel taken in have been put off supporting charities again?

It's venal.

It did indeed seem like a very ill-judged decision to take him abroad... but I don't know if it's particularly justified to say that he died FROM covid, with the implication that he would have lived for many more happy years had he not caught it - the man was 100.

My DGM died during covid and various people seemed to have a special hushed reverence for it, asking if that's what she'd died from. As it happened, she was never diagnosed with covid at all; but I rather think that her being 98 might have been a small contributory factor in her leaving us at that time.

Yup- same here. I remember people being flamed for expressing doubts

I don't think they've single handedly tarnished the charity sector, very highly paid CEOs, misuse of funds & women/child exploitation by aid workers (Oxfam in Haiti comes to mind) helped.

Hoax??! I think it was real enough!

I'm not so sure, it felt very orchestrated at the time and obviously now we know that Hannah Ingram is a charlatan it seems increasingly unlikely that this 'walking round the garden for the nurses' was the delightfully innocent idea of a hundred year old man.

To be honest, I often feel the same about immensely rich celebrities on gameshows or telethons/other fundraisers for charity.

So much energy (and good PR) put into urging Joe and Joanna public to give or to urge them on, when they could just quietly write a cheque for ten times the amount or more as 'back of the sofa' money to them.

George Michael, Ricky Tomlinson and probably countless others have managed to give discreetly from their personal good fortunes in support of causes that touch(ed) their hearts, without the need for a massive 'hey, folks, look at how great I am!' song and dance.

@TheHangingGardensOfBasildon

Yup- same here. I remember people being flamed for expressing doubts

Me too. I refused to do an assembly on him in lockdown using the handy Twinkl PowerPoint in the entire section on Twinkl for Captain Tom and I was the talk of the wash house at school.

I knew she was a wrong un at the tine, but you couldn’t say it. She was always there, front and centre lapping up the attention that she’d actively gone out to get for her father. They’d sit there saying her grabby DH had suggested that Capt Tom walked round the garden but it had spiralled. Absolute rot. It was all part of their plan. They’re absolutely disgusting people, and I hope people like Piers Morgan who defended them to the hilt are felling like utter prats now.

On the money vs reputation thing, right now they still seem to be trying to have their cake and eat it!

"In a statement, the Ingram-Moores said they were treated "unfairly and unjustly" in the report.
They said the two-year inquiry has taken a "serious toll" on the family's health, "unfairly tarnishing" their name.
They described the process as "unjust and excessive" and that the charities watchdog had a "predetermined agenda"."

Some of the celebrities on the charity shows were also very well paid to be there. Not interested in charity at all.

I am fine with charity leaders being paid decent salaries. Being a CEO of a large charity is a tough job and needs to attract and retain people who have the right experience and can do it well.

I meant to say. I didn't notice the spelling mistake but I'm dyslexic 😂😂

Indeed.

This thread does remind me of Mrs Bennet....."I always knew Mr wickham was a bad egg and nobody would listen.."

@DoublePasta

I thought the poster meant Covid wasn't a hoax?