Charity Commission report slams Captain Tom gin

The Charity Commission’s inquiry into The Captain Tom Foundation has found that sales of one of the gins named after the fundraiser were in breach of the Charities Act.

Since Captain Sir Tom Moore died in early 2021, just under a year after he walked 100 lengths of his garden to raise money for the NHS at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the charity set up in his name has been under intense scrutiny. Questions were raised about the role of Moore’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, and son-in-law, Colin Ingram, in The Captain Tom Foundation. Ingram-Moore resigned as a trustee of the charity in February 2021, while Ingram was disqualified from the position in June of this year.

One Captain Tom-themed product which had been launched was a gin brand, created in partnership with Otterbeck Distillery in Yorkshire. There was controversy surrounding whether or not “all profits” from sales of the spirits were actually going to charity, as was claimed. This prompted Otterbeck Distillery to stop selling the £100 bottle of gin back in 2022 (a £35.95 bottle was also available).

Now, in the report published today (21 November), the Charity Commission has revealed that there was “no written agreement” in place between the foundation and the distillery with regard to whether “all profits” of the £100 gin went to charity or not – instead, the agreement was handled by a consultant, who had “conversations with the distillery between February and April 2021 which resulted in the production of the gins”.

“However, the inquiry did find that a written agreement was in place for the regular gin and that as per the agreement, the charity received a £1 donation per bottle sold which raised £8,960 for the charity,” the report noted.

But, as for the limited edition £100 gin, of which 100 were produced, the report revealed that just 21 were sold, resulting in a £530 donation – equalling roughly £25.24 raised for each £100 bottle sold.

The lack of a written agreement “led to a breach of the Code and section 60 of the Charities Act 1992 which is mismanagement in the administration of the charity by the trustees at that time”.

Charity Commission CEO David Holdsworth commended how Moore had ” inspired a nation and reminded us what service to others can achieve even in the most challenging of times”, but added: “Sadly, however, the charity set up in his name has not lived up to that legacy of others before self, which is central to charity. Our inquiry report details repeated failures of governance and integrity.”

db has reached out to Otterbeck Distillery for comment on the matter.

In addition to the gins, the report also covered issues surrounding the publication of Captain Tom books.

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