Wed, 10 Mar 2010

Emerson College rescue bid amid controversy over earlier funding plan

By Christian von Arnim

FOREST ROW (NNA) – Emerson College, the international centre for adult education based on the work of Rudolf Steiner, is set to close in the summer unless a bid to turn the campus into an “Emerson Village” playing host to a broad range of anthroposophical activities is successful.

The future of the adult education college, founded by Francis Edmunds, has been in the balance for some time, with Emerson unable to attract the number of students it needs to run profitably. Declining revenues and a large mortgage have plunged the college into financial crisis.

“We are encouraged to put forward a vision for the future of the campus as a result of the avalanche of supportive emails, meetings and telephone conversations which we have had with many people,” the initiators of the plan to transform the college, Fumiko Chikami, Dr.  John Lees and Robert Lord, say in their proposal.

“There is no doubt that many people all over the world are prepared to give free time, money, love and prayers in an attempt to save this site for the future,” they add.

Stressing that “this is not a rescue plan for Emerson College in its existing form,” the plan proposes a “vision of the future based on a concept which represents a metamorphosis of Francis Edmunds’ idea of an Emerson community of works.”

As well as continuing some of the existing activities as an international adult education centre and developing new areas of study, the project proposes an eco housing community with office rental and room hire, as well as the possible development of a curative education centre, health centre, kindergarten, café, shops and a bookshop.

The initiators of the plan have already raised £1 million and one option put forward proposes a total purchase price of £3.5 million. “We are confident that the money could be available in a matter of days,” the proposal says.

As a first step they hope to replace the current bank loan of about £1 million with friendly funds in order thus to take the pressure off Emerson.

With the college projecting a deficit of £300,000 at the end of the year, the group are also hoping to raise £500,000 as a springboard for the development of the Emerson college project.

While planning permission first needs to be sought to start developing the eco housing community, Fumiko Chikami, Dr.  John Lees and Robert Lord would like to start as soon as possible with refurbishing the college property and putting money into buildings to increase the ecological aspects.

“We are seeking half a million pounds in gift money to invest in the fabric of the buildings and as working capital,” Robert Lord told NNA.

A previous plan to save the college, in which the council of the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain (ASGB) proposed to use £1.5m from a legacy to buy the Emerson property, turn it into a land trust and resolve the debt, ran into trouble when serious concerns were raised by ASGB members over the proposed deal.

Questions were raised as to the purpose of such a move if nothing was done to resolve the underlying problem that the college was no longer financially viable. Then there was also the issue that the ASGB was proposing to buy the Emerson property for only half its estimated value of £3 million.

“I am not clear on what legal, financial and strategic grounds the Society is proposing to use its recent substantial legacy to acquire the assets of organizations whose problems are deep-seated, chronic and quite possibly terminal,” banking and financial expert Christopher Houghton Budd wrote in a letter to the council of the ASGB.

Given the size of the proposed sum to be invested in Emerson, he also raised the question by what criteria or policies individuals or organisations were grant-funded by the Society, particularly when other initiatives were just as much in need, “including notably the movement’s ‘own’ journal, New View.” And, indeed, by what criteria or policies were substantial loans or investments made by the Society, Houghton Budd asked.

Partly as a consequence of the issues raised by Houghton Budd, Marc ter Kuile, chairman of the Emerson trustees, reconsidered the position of the college and on taking advice the decision was taken to close the college: “The Trustees of Emerson College Trust Limited have decided in their meeting on 12 February 2010 to close Emerson College in as orderly a manner as possible, to sell the assets of the college and repay the creditors. We have taken this decision to protect the creditors of the college which include staff and pensioners,” a statement said.

“We have also decided that it would not be correct to ask the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain (ASGB) for financial support as (1) the original plan of ASGB buying the campus is not possible because it would result in negative own funds immediately and (2) we cannot with enough confidence say that with ASGB’s money we will succeed to turn the college to profit,” the statement added.

Another unresolved issue which came to prominence through the whole affair is the position of the Mercury Provident Pension Fund which looks after the pensions of Emerson employees. It currently has a deficit of £4.7 million. According to a representative of the fund this will double to £9 million by the next valuation at the end of this month.

Both Emerson and the Anthroposophical Society in the form of the Anthroposophical Association face potentially large liabilities in relation to the fund.

END/nna/cva

Item: 100310-01EN Date: 10 March 2010

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