‘We try not to be lost in grief – a lot of goodness has come out of it all’
On the first anniversary of the death of NHS fundraising hero Captain Sir Tom Moore, his daughter Hannah Ingram-moore reflects on his joy at meeting the Queen – and his lasting legacy
Awhole year has passed since we lost the inspirational Captain Sir Tom Moore. The 100-year-old became a beacon of hope during the darkest days of the pandemic, and the first anniversary of his death will be a day of mixed emotions for his family. “There will definitely be sorrow, but there is also joy,” says his daughter, Hannah Ingram-moore.
“We try not to allow ourselves to be lost in our grief because there’s so much goodness that has come out of it, too.”
Hannah, her husband Colin and their children Benjie, 18, and
Georgia, 13, were thrust into the spotlight when the army veteran raised almost £40 million for NHS charities by walking 100 laps of the garden at their Bedfordshire home.
Captain Tom’s fundraiser came about after his 100th birthday party was cancelled during lockdown. Colin challenged him to do the walk for £1 a lap. Benjie and Georgia created an imovie and Hannah set up a Justgiving page. But what it turned into was a story of hope and inspiration that captured hearts across the globe, with people from 163 countries making donations.
“Within a day we’d picked up some radio and TV interviews and we hit £2,000,” says Hannah. “We thought that was nice and maybe we could increase the target to £5,000 by the end of the month, but within
a week we were at £500,000 and by two weeks we were at
£20 million. By the end of the three and a half weeks the total was at £38.9 million. It was extraordinary.”
The family has carried on his legacy by setting up The Captain Tom Foundation, which aims to connect the generations and bring communities together.
There are also plans for an annual Captain Tom Day, which will celebrate his life while raising funds for the foundation.
Here, Hannah talks of the foundation’s objectives, how meeting the Queen was a dream come true for her father, and coping with his loss…
It’s the first anniversary of your father’s death, Hannah. Will it be a day of sadness or pride?
I have kept it blank in my diary. Lots of people have asked me to do things, but unless it’s something I really want to do, I’ll say no, because I think we need time as a family to reflect. Our first Christmas without him was difficult, but we knew we needed to be alone for it and we left a seat for him at the table. We still have his things in the cupboards.
Our grief won’t ever go away, you just learn to live with it, and we shared our grief with the world. There will definitely be sorrow, but there is also joy. We try not to allow ourselves to be lost in our grief because there’s so much goodness that has come out of it, too.
What has this time been like for your children?
They are so proud to be his grandchildren and were very protective of him. They only knew living with him, as he came to live with us when Benjie was four and Georgia had just been born, so he was central to their upbringing. Their loss is huge and unique, but they feel his legacy lives within them and they feel a responsibility to ensure that legacy is carried on. They are changed because of it. People stop Georgia and give her money and say, “Put this into your grandfather’s foundation,” and Benjie has been thrust into global business meetings with the foundation. He feels such pride and he loves it.
Tell us about The Captain Tom Foundation…
We officially launched in September 2020. My father became a beacon of hope around the world and created this massive global impact – we knew we had to save it for future generations, so we set up The Captain Tom Foundation. Our ambition is to celebrate and empower our ageing population and bring together the generations. This will lead to an annual Captain Tom Day every June.
What will Captain Tom Day involve?
It will celebrate everything my father stood for – connecting people and bringing together communities – all with a big celebration of our ageing population. It will show how much older people can positively impact our society if we choose to listen. We want to make it similar to Children In Need and Comic Relief, where we have a fundraising period which we hope will culminate in a telethon where we can reach out to people. He left such an incredible, indelible mark on our family, so every decision we think, “How would he have felt?” I know he would have loved this and felt it
was the right thing to do. We’ll also be announcing more about a feature film soon.
What can you tell us about the film?
It will start filming this year. We’ll be announcing actors soon. My father did say he wouldn’t mind Anthony Hopkins or Michael Caine playing him! It’s really exciting. My father was thrilled about it and involved in the script. When the world was in our back garden I decided we should film it for ourselves so we could capture what happened to us as a family, so there will be a documentary coming out.
Was meeting the Queen and being knighted a dream come true for him?
It was. Meeting the Queen was it for him. They were from the same generation and they were in the war together. He respected her like no other. He wasn’t nervous to meet her. In the car on the way there, he said, “I’m looking forward to talking to her.” At the time, I sort of thought if he died the next day it would be alright because it was the thing of things for him. It was the biggest honour that could have been bestowed on him. She asked the four of us to go along, too, and we all spoke to her, which was really unusual. It was amazing. I felt beyond proud.
What did the Queen say to you all?
My father said he’d never repeat what the Queen said to him, so I won’t say. But one thing he did say publicly was, “I hope she’s not too heavy handed with the sword as I might not get back up!” When he was being knighted, she leant in quietly and said, “I’ve done it quite a few times before and I’m quite gentle.” It was just fabulous and so funny. She said to me, “I want to thank you on behalf of the nation for everything you’ve done,” and then she asked Georgia if things had been difficult with school during lockdown. I don’t think Georgia got the memo that you only reply and you don’t instigate conversation with the Queen!
What did Georgia say?
Georgia said, “It has,” and then she went on to say, “It’s been really difficult because I haven’t seen any of my friends and it’s been quite lonely. We’ve been doing lots of interviews and talking to the world, but I haven’t been able to see any of my friends.” The
Queen smiled and said, “Yes, it must have been difficult,” and then asked, “How old are you? What year are you in?” She was just being a grandmother and being interested and she knew what to ask. I remember thinking, “What a woman!”
Did the royal family get in touch after his death?
Yes. The Queen sent a message and we had letters from members of the royal family and from almost every MP pledging support and sending their best wishes. We got cards from the whole world. We still get cards now. We feel we’re the guardians of this incredible legacy and we want to do our best by it.
Of all the famous faces your father met, who was he most starstruck by?
‘He wouldn’t mind Anthony Hopkins or Michael Caine playing him in a film’
I don’t know if he did get starstruck. But he did love when we hid Michael Ball in the garden! He also loved David Beckham and really enjoyed the company of Piers Morgan. On Piers Morgan’s Life Stories he said, “The best thing I ever did was move in with them”, and it made us all cry. He moved in with us in 2007 after my mother passed away. He said a few weeks later, “I’d become invisible to the world but you’ve given me my visibility back.”
Are the celebrities who supported him still in touch?
I talk to them all. There isn’t one of them who hasn’t stayed in touch and we’re in discussions about how they could get involved with Captain Tom Day. They’ve become part of our lives. Dame Judi Dench is a hero of mine and she ate 100 Maltesers for the Captain Tom 100 challenge after he passed.
Did your father realise the weight of his mission and the positivity he brought to the nation?
At first, every time we were with the producer of whatever TV show we were going on, they would cry and my father would ask me, “Why are they crying?” I’d say it was because they’re scared, but they see you and you give them hope and inspire them. We were talking to people around the world and they were so scared of how they were going to cope with the pandemic. So after a while he knew and he said to me, “If just a couple of words from me can give someone hope then I will keep talking.”
THE CAPTAIN TOM FOUNDATION AIMS TO CELEBRATE AND EMPOWER OUR AGEING POPULATION. THIS SUMMER, THE FOUNDATION WILL LAUNCH ITS INAUGURAL CAPTAIN TOM DAY, SHOWCASING THE POWER AND SOCIAL BENEFITS OF CONNECTING THE GENERATIONS. IT IS RAISING FUNDS FOR CAPTAIN TOM DAY. SEE CAPTAINTOM.ORG TO BECOME INVOLVED OR FOLLOW ON TWITTER @CAPTAINTOMMOORE