Singer Michael Ball who launched charity single with Captain Tom Moore says he is ‘profoundly disillusioned’ after lockdown hero’s daughter pocketed £1.5m from basis

Singer Michael Ball has said revelations about the mismanagement of the charity set up to honour Captain Sir Tom Moore have left him feeling like their work together had been ‘twisted’.  

Ball said he was ‘profoundly disappointed’ by the Charity Commission’s findings. The 62-year-old sang with the veteran on his charity single You’ll Never Walk Alone, which raised funds for NHS Charities Together. 

The entertainer said that both his and Captain Tom‘s motivations for working together were ‘entirely altruistic’ – in sharp contrast to this week’s findings that Moore’s daughter and her husband had ‘repeatedly benefitted’ from the Captain Tom Foundation. 

Ball spoke of his pride at working with Captain Tom, but said the Charity Commission’s report made him feel reluctant to talk about his links with the organization.

Speaking on ITV‘s Good Morning Britain, Ball said it was ‘almost like I don’t want to talk about my association.’ 

An investigation by the Charity Commission, published on Thursday, found there had been ‘repeated instances of misconduct and/or mismanagement’ of the foundation by Sir Tom’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, and her husband Colin.

The family have said they dispute the report’s findings, saying the report has taken a ‘serious toll’ on their health, ‘unfairly tarnishing’ their name.

When asked about his reaction to the report, Ball said : ‘Profoundly disappointed, and if you take yourself back to what was happening during that time, I’m doing my radio show on Radio 2, just come back with Covid, we don’t know what’s going to occur.

Singer Michael Ball has said revelations about the mismanagement of the charity set up to honour Captain Sir Tom Moore have left him feeling ‘disappointed’

The pair’s singer hit number 1 on the pop charts, with all profits going to NHS Charities Together

Captain Sir Tom Moore and singer Michael Ball poses with the commemorative awards celebrating their joint number 1 single

 ‘I hear about this story of him, get him on the radio, we’ve got a bond, the money starts coming in, and it grew, and then I had this idea of this record.

‘It’s entirely, including from Tom, entirely altruistic, entirely just wanting a focus, something for people to bond with, to show the good, and now it’s almost like I don’t want to talk about my association.

‘It was something I was so incredibly proud of for all the right motives, to see it twisted, really it’s a real shame.’

Findings of the report included a misleading implication that donations from book sales would go to the foundation, when proceeds of a £1.4 million book deal were instead paid to the family company Club Nook.

The Ingram-Moores’ biggest payday came from the ‘misleading’ suggestion that the proceeds from a £1.4 million book deal would go to the organisation.

The commission revealed they had been asked to ‘rectify matters by making a donation to the charity in line with their original intentions as understood by those involved’ but they had ‘declined to do so’.

Capt Moore, who died aged 100 in February 2021, became an international figure after he began walking around the yard of the family mansion in Marston Moretaine raising money during the Covid crisis.

There were no findings relating to the charity single.

Captain Tom, who came to fame during lockdown due to his legendary fundraising exploits

Captain Tom’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore who the Charity Commission found had ‘mismanaged’ the foundation

Ball told the hosts that although his work with Captain Tom was ‘entirely atruistic,’ the devastating Charity Commissions findings make it feel like their work has been ‘twisted’

The entertainer appeared alongside fellow performer Alfie Boe on ITV’s Good Morning Britain

Ball said after the Charity Commissions revelations of mismanagement, ‘it’s almost like I don’t want to talk about my association’ with Captain Tom’s foundation

Sir Tom entered the public eye at the age of 99 during the Covid pandemic, walking 100 lengths of his garden to raise money for the NHS charity with the goal of raising £1,000 by his 100th birthday. 

By the milestone his fundraising had exceeded £30 million.

The former British Army officer’s single with Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir sold almost 36,000 copies in its first 48 hours and reached number one in the UK singles chart in April 2020.

After he died in February 2021 at the age of 100, the track was used at his funeral service.