'I don't regret marathon for Captain Tom charity'

A man who ran the London Marathon in aid of the Captain Tom Foundation said he did not regret it despite questions about the way the charity’s money was spent.

Liam Mannion, 66, lives in the same Bedfordshire village as Capt Sir Tom Moore, who died shortly after raising millions for the NHS during the pandemic.

While that money is not in question, the Charity Commission found Captain Tom’s daughter and son-in-law had "misled" the public and benefitted personally from the charity set up in his name.

Capt Sir Tom's family said they had been treated "unfairly and unjustly" and Mr Mannion said he felt "very sorry for the family".

"It does feel to me that they've been hounded," he said.

"It looks like they've spent two years with the Charity Commission only to be bashed over the head again, and we haven't heard anything from Hannah or the family. It would be nice to know exactly what their thoughts were."

However, he admitted that he would not do another fundraising marathon for the foundation "under current circumstances, because it's been tarnished".

After his death in 2021, the Captain Tom Foundation was set up by his family to support "causes close to Captain Sir Tom's heart", including two local hospices and mental health charity Mind.

Mr Mannion was asked to run the London marathon in 2021 with two others from Marston Moretaine, the village where Capt Sir Tom had steadfastly walked laps of his garden.

"When we were running around London, everyone could see our T-shirts and were cheering us on."

He raised about £1,000 for the Captain Tom Foundation, which "sounded like a great cause".

"I agreed this looked like a great idea for vulnerable people, for lonely people, and all of the reasons why the foundation had been set up."

In February 2022, the Charity Commission announced a review of the foundation's accounts after more than £162,000 was paid in management costs – roughly the same amount granted to four charities.

And this week, the commission published a report detailing a "blurring of boundaries between private and charitable interests" and claimed Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore benefited significantly.

It concluded no criminal behaviour had taken place but found "repeated failures of governance and integrity" at the charity.

Mr Mannion said: "I don't regret doing the marathon. I don’t begrudge giving whatever I collected for them.

"But it would be nice to know where this discrepancy is, where the money went, so I can stand in front of people who gave me the money and explain where it went.

"Captain Tom was an exceptional time. It was the glory days in the village, we all bathed in it.

"It's such a shame it started on such a high and ended on the note where we are now."

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.