Captain Tom Foundation has £700,000 unspent donations
The charity founded in memory of lockdown hero Sir Captain Tom Moore paid out more in admin costs than it did grants, its annual report reveals.
The Captain Tom Foundation, set up by the family of the war veteran in the wake of his record-breaking fundraising efforts, has only paid out more than £162,000 in management costs in its first year but has only given out four £40,000 grants.
Set up in May 2020 after Sir Tom's NHS fundraising drive, it has raised more than £1million in its first year.
Some £700,000 remains unspent.
Analysts say that while the spend on consultancy and management fees appears high, it could be put down to the initial expense of setting up the charity.
There is no suggestion of any financial impropriety.
Chosen by Sir Captain Tom and his family prior to his death last year, the charities receiving cash were The Royal British Legion, Mind, Helen & Douglas House, and Willen Hospice.
The report suggests management fees were paid to The Philanthropy Company - a London based fundraising consultancy firm.
The charity also spent £6,542 on office costs, £8,280 in IT expenditure and £32,275 in governance - most of which went on the report itself.
With reference to the costs, the report states: “As a newly established charity, expenditure has been incurred in building the team, which for some months worked on a voluntary basis until funds were forthcoming.
“During this period, we also incurred costs in appointing The Philanthropy Company who provided expert support on governance and fundraising initiatives as well as working with our charity partners to identify initiatives that the Foundation could support and which would drive value and public benefit
“During this period our discretionary grants amounted to £160,000 and there was an excess of income over expenditure hence the additional grants made post the balance sheet date.”
A spokesperson for The Captain Tom Foundation said: “The Captain Tom Foundation was set up in May 2020 and launched in September 2020 to continue Captain Sir Tom's legacy and to build on the beacon of hope that he had become.
“In the period 5 May 2020- 31 May 2021, The Foundation was dedicated to combating loneliness, championing education and equality and supporting those facing bereavement. During this time, we distributed donations to hospices and other charities close to Captain Tom's heart.
“We also raised awareness through events such as Walk with Tom (Dec 2020) and The Captain Tom 100 (April 2021) which received 12.8 billion impressions on social media worldwide, got many people active and helped fight loneliness. As a charity in our infancy, we focused on fundraising for other charities close to Captain Tom's heart and are very proud that through this campaign that we led, £1.4 million was raised in 3 days, this went directly to charities.
“In December 2021, we announced our new mission to connect the generations and celebrate our wonderful ageing population. None of this would have been possible without the hard work of our brilliant team, charity partners and supporters since we launched.”
What a great effort by Captain Tom but where there is money, SNOUTS will soon appear. Whilst we do not have all the facts yet and so far everyone is blameless, we can safely say that everyone wants this charity to be run in a way befitting of the effort Captain Tom put into "life".