Bronte Society struggles for survival after fiscal irregularities
In a true web of intrigue worthy of any Bronte novel, the beloved Bronte Society has been warned it may not survive for much longer in light of serious fiscal irregularities.
A Charity Commission investigation has uncovered severe financial anomalies which auditors described as ‘urgent and pressing’.
At the organisation’s annual meeting this week, many of the literary society’s 3,000 members are expected to contest the ruling council in its second internal face-off with a council in the last decade. The Bronte Society voted out the former council after a planned underground extension of the parsonage was axed.
Further intrigue centres on the surreptitious ousting of the society’s director Mike Hill who reputedly angered the society by partaking in a local newspaper’s April Fool joke last year.
Some 20 staff are owed wages and maintenance bills are mounting. The charity commission’s audit also warned that the 21-member council of trustees may be too large and unmanageable to make crucial decisions effectively.