Another time, as so often, very interesting news reached us via Theosophy Theos-Talk
First appearance of the incident that TS England is presumably in financial problems and therefore sells its headquarters in London here.
A little background on the story, the speculation about Tim Wyatt and his TS England unsuccessful presidential bid and how he was disqualified on a technicality here. Story about how the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain (TS England) 2010 "lost" £19 million by sold its Belgravia headquarters and how the Charity Commission investigated the case and issued a highly critical report in 2017 here.
Rumors about the dissolution of the (TS England) library, which could be one of the more serious consequences of the impending loss of 50 Gloucester Place, London, by the Trustees of the Theosophical Society in England, besides the fact, that it is a well-frequented theosophical center in London or this TS and soon it will no longer be here.
The official wording of a notification to the members of TS England (Adyar) regarding the sale (source).
"The Board of Trustees wishes to inform you that after protracted and serious consideration as to the future security of the TSEW it has been decided to relocate its Headquarters to a more modern building that is better suited to today’s needs. Until such a property has been found we will possibly be using Nottingham Lodge as temporary base. We appreciate that this will come as shock to some members, but society has changed since the Covid Pandemic and with fewer physical meetings and much more online, the current Headquarters is sadly not what the Society needs today....."
We also recall the incident last April in the TS Adyar England case when the National Secretary and Board Member (Director) of TS Adyar (Foundation) resigned and a whistleblower says, she was forced to do so for alleged misappropriation of funds (we reported here).
Now, one year later, the "crown jewels" of TS are being turned into cash. Something that can probably be seen as a last resort. That the increased number of digital events is the reason for this, does not seem very convincing to me.
But it may also be a "normal" consequence of a shrinking TS on the one hand, and ever-increasing costs on the other, to close the presumed gap between spending and revenues. But if you think about it, could you also rent out this property and thus generate permanent income?
If future -- expected -- economic dislocations are going to hit the West in particular, it is probably something we will have to get used to. Remember the dreams of Lomaland built on debt that were abruptly ended by the economic downfalls of that time.
In Chennai, the big lease deal has given them financial breathing room for the next few years or maybe decades. It will be interesting to see what happens next. Maybe someone has inside information and will share it with us?
What do you think?