THE darkness of Covid truly shone a light on the best and worst in this country.
The evil ones were undoubtedly those who used the devastating panic to take advantage.
There were £15billion worth of contracts given out by the Government, which are now believed to have been corrupt.
And there were millions who abused the furlough system designed to help the most needy.
Some even gleefully put others in danger while cashing in.
I will never forget the father and son who sold fake hand sanitiser, risking the lives of all our loved ones.
There were so many disgusting acts of selfishness.
But thankfully there was the good, too.
And the one person who truly epitomised that was the amazing World War Two veteran Captain Sir Tom Moore.
He captured a moment in time and was an inspiration as we all tried to follow his example.
Here was a determined old man — with his medals proudly on show — trying to walk 100 laps of his garden, day after day, with his Zimmer frame to raise money for NHS Charities Together before his 100th birthday.
We all dug deep and he raised nearly £40million, benefiting almost one million NHS workers, thousands of patients and community projects.
He gave everyone hope and reason to believe in pure goodness when the rest of the world was in crisis.
But now his shameless daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore has not only trashed his legacy but managed to potentially cost other charities around this country a fortune in lost donations, too.
Hannah and her husband Colin have pocketed more than £1million from the charity set up in the war hero’s name.
Last summer, the couple were disqualified as charity trustees by the Charity Commission but this week a report showed that they hoodwinked the public time and time again.
They claimed merchandise sold on their website would benefit the charity but links redirected customers to external sites so they could collect the cash themselves.
Publishers Penguin paid a £1.4million advance for Captain Tom’s memoir, based on the understanding that a contribution would be made to the charity. But that never happened.
The report concluded: “The public would understandably feel misled, given that no donation has been made to the charity.”
What a despicable pair. The public are outraged. Hannah’s wonderful father would be too.
The couple have had plenty of time to do the decent thing and hand some cash over to the foundation — but haven’t.
There hasn’t even been an apology.
Instead, Hannah has whined about being accused of wrongdoing while building a luxury £200,000 spa at her home — which was ripped down because it broke planning rules.
We all know very well where she got the cash from.
Her greed is shocking but it is the fallout from what she has done that is perhaps even more tragic.
It may be the season for giving right now, but how many will be put off giving at Christmas and beyond thanks to this shoddy affair.
Too many.
There are nearly 170,000 registered charities in this country and most of them, we really know, are good.
But people like Captain Tom’s daughter are leaving us all wondering how much of our hard-earned contributions end up where they should.
It is shocking that she can’t be prosecuted for her actions.
But in the complicated world of charities that isn’t how it works.
Which sadly gives a green light to those who want to cash in.
And that means thousands — if not millions — who desperately need our help will no longer get it.
SHAUN RYDER has revealed he once saw so many UFOs that he went to a specialist to check he wasn’t hallucinating.
The Happy Mondays singer said he saw something going “Zooooom, zooooom, flash, flash, flash, zoom” and then a spaceship that looked like a “Scalextric craft” in his garden.
Nothing to do with the ecstasy, heroin, crack, meth, alcohol, weed and LSD, then?
COLEEN ROONEY has a lot more balls than me – and many women.
Not for going in the jungle but for fighting through the mayhem within a marriage that has seen husband Wayne cheat on her and act like a prize idiot on more than one occasion.
Coleen told her I’m A Celebrity campmates the public wanted her and Wayne to split but she stuck by him.
Now, I’m not condoning cheating partners but Coleen’s strength and maturity has shown how you can, despite your devastation, muster determination to get through it.
I know I could never do it – in fact, I got divorced for very similar actions.
Many people wrongly stick together for the sake of the kids, but Coleen says she did it for love.
She’s a role model to her kids and to young couples watching I’m A Celeb, who may be trying to work out problems in their own relationship.
She has proved if you have true love you can overcome some hideous nightmares.
Coleen told her campmates she and Wayne are “happy now after all these years . . . we’re a team”.
You can’t ask for much more.
Although I would like to ask that we vote her into some jungle challenges – it would be brilliant viewing.
GORDON BROWN once said he struggled to show emotion.
But that was not the case when the ex-PM spoke about the death of his and wife Sarah’s baby Jennifer, at just 11 days old, saying that it convinced him of the value of good end-of-life care as opposed to assisted dying.
He said: “We could only sit with her, hold her tiny hand and be there for her as life ebbed away.
“She died in our arms. But those days we spent with her remain among the most precious days of my and Sarah’s lives.”
How heartbreaking.
How heartbreaking. I hope that when MPs vote on the assisted dying bill, they listen to this loving dad and take notice.
GEORDIE Gaz Davies is trying to sell his house for £200,000 – with a downstairs loo covered in leopard-print wallpaper and with a framed photo of EastEnders’ Pat Butcher.
Gaz, who works in TV filming, has had no offers despite several views.
But he wants to move to Oz with wife Natasha.
Gaz says of his wild decorating: “My missus said I needed to rein it in.”
Ever heard the phrase “women are always right”, Gaz?
CHER has such bad dyslexia that she doesn’t even know her own address or phone number.
But she says: “If people want to find me they will. I say it is the house with all the palm trees”.
Imagine that for the rest of us.
You know, it’s the red brick one with the black door, the Ford Puma outside and the blinds at the window.
Good luck.
NONE of us wants to say goodbye to cinemas but my local Cineworld won’t be getting my cash any time soon – because I can’t afford it.
The minute the new Paddington film tickets went on sale, I bought four for the family and we checked in for a matinee performance.
A bag of sweets, some popcorn and drinks – plus a hot dog for me (yes, the large one) – and I was £85 down within two hours.
It’s not surprising that we were one of about five families in there.
I would have liked to take my son to see the new Wizard Of Oz spin-off as the original was my favourite growing up.
But with the wicked prices matching the title of the film, I won’t be bothering and will wait to watch it at home.
