In March 2015 I outlined the reasons why I did not feel it sensible to leave money to the
Society for Psychical Research in my will.
The Society had been the beneficiary of a significant bequest from late
Nigel Buckmaster but was not in my opinion using it wisely. Since writing that, my attitude towards
leaving money to the SPR has not changed.
What has changed is that in
mid-2015 the organisation moved from its rented premises in Marloes Road,
having purchased a three-story building in Vernon Mews, West Kensington. The move was forced on the Society by the
landlord at Marloes Road ending the tenancy, and it made sense to buy rather
than carry on renting. The choice of suitable
property was limited but, while far from perfect, the new premises are
definitely better than the old cramped office and library.
The latest issue of the SPR’s magazine Paranormal Review has an interesting
article by the Hon. Treasurer Dr Richard Broughton on the formidable logistics
of the move, which had to be done in a very short period to meet the date the
landlord had set. It was a stressful
operation, and fitting out the building to suit the Society’s needs was lengthy
and expensive. Broughton’s article
states the cost of the move, which is fairly eye-watering: the purchase price
was £1.2m, with another £100,000 for fees and the necessary refurbishment.
The Hon. Treasurer concludes by launching an appeal
for funds, noting: ‘Our first donor was Mr Nigel Buckmaster who, you might say,
foresaw our needs and allocated a portion of his generous bequest to the
Society that amounted to £263,000. That
leaves a little over a million pounds to raise and we need your help.’ To facilitate the appeal a ‘Building Fund
Committee’ has been established, and a couple of days ago a ‘New Home Campaign’
donate button appeared in a prominent position on the website, though a new
home campaign sounds more like something you do to get a new home than start
after you have obtained it (and paid for it).
There are enticements to donors in Broughton’s pitch: opportunities to
name the library and lecture hall, though no figures are mentioned.
Mr Buckmaster certainly referred to the purchase of
a building in his will, but did not specify any particular amount; he could
hardly have known precisely how much his estate would be worth after his
death. That £263,000 was what was left
after other Buckmaster projects had been allocated from the bequest which, with
growth, amounted to some £750,000. To
put it in perspective, from the Buckmaster funds the SPR will have spent more
on the new website and online encyclopaedia – a budget of £350,000 – than was
allocated to new premises.
The back page of the magazine is devoted to the
appeal under the call ‘Help Build Your Society’, noting the symmetry between
the £1.3m spent and 1.3 centuries of the SPR’s existence (134 years). ‘To be able to realise this dream [i.e. a new
home] in London’s heated property market we had to dig deep into our financial
reserves. Now we need your help to
recoup this ‘advance’ and help us pay for our new home.’
I’m all for the SPR having a healthy financial
position of course, but less sanguine about how it spends its money (including
how little it spends on supporting research).
It’s good news it has its own spacious property, both a valuable asset
and a base to provide a better service than was the case at Marloes Road. But the appeal subtly suggests that having
spent this large sum on the Vernon Mews property, the Society is now a bit
strapped for cash. It doesn’t mention
that the last building the SPR owned and rented out for many years, 1 Adam
& Eve Mews, just off Kensington High Street, was sold for £800,000. Nor does it refer to the difference between
the proportion from the Bucknmaster bequest allocated to the new home and the
amount the bequest was worth in toto,
which comes to nearly half a million pounds.
My attitude is still that it would have been better
to have used the money the Society already had more wisely than squander it and
have to replenish it. For example, to
simply replace the Buckmaster money given to Council member Dr David Rousseau
for personal projects yet to show their worth will necessitate raising
£78,000. Perhaps the appeal will bring
in the required million, but I am doubtful in the present financial climate, not
to mention the fact the Society actually already had the £1.3m necessary
without having to ask. On the other hand
someone may fancy having the rather elegant library named after them.
References
Broughton, Richard S., ‘The Society for Psychical
Research’s New Home’, Paranormal Review,
Issue 80, Autumn 2016, pp. 8-10.
‘Help Build Your Society: 1.3 Centuries of History …
£1.3 Million’, Paranormal Review,
Issue 80, Autumn 2016, p. 36.
