Spiritualist Association of Great Britain
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The Spiritualist Association of Great Britain (the SAGB) is a British spiritualist organisation. It was established on 10 July 1872.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
The SAGB grew out of the Marylebone Spiritualist Association (founded 1872). The story of the association's early struggles "to propagate spiritual truths in the Marylebone area of London" is told in an SAGB publication, "One Hundred Years of Spiritualism", which also states that Queen Victoria allegedly held several séances after the death of the Prince Consort.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
A famous and outspoken supporter of the SAGB was Arthur Conan Doyle, who (according to his obituary in the New York Times) in later years "often expressed a wish that he should be remembered for his psychic work rather than for his novels".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Serving the principles of the Spiritualist movement, and open to members and non-members alike, the SAGB offers rooms where the public, whether Spiritualist or not, may sit for readings with spirit mediums. Sunday services are free and include a public Demonstration of mediumship. Private 30-minute sittings are available daily during opening hours for a fee. They may be recorded if the client wishes. The nature of the sittings is strictly limited by a policy which states that the mediums are "to try to provide evidence of survival [of the spirit after death] and not to predict the future."<ref>"Private Sittings". Spiritualist Association of Great Britain.</ref>
The library of the SAGB was named after the spiritualist William Crookes.<ref>Oppenheim, Janet. (1988). The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850-1914. Cambridge University Press. p. 343. Template:ISBN "A plaque on the wall in the library of the Belgrave Square headquarters of the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain bears the inscription: 'This Library is named after Sir William Crookes, FRS, Eminent Scientist and Spiritualist.'"</ref>
The SAGB's current headquarters is at the Victoria Charity Centre at 11 Belgrave Road, London.<ref name="Guardian 2013"/><ref name="History">"History of the SAGB (1872-2015)". Spiritualist Association of Great Britain.</ref><ref name="Charity Choice">Template:Cite web</ref>
Beliefs
As an organization, the SAGB describes their goals as:
The SAGB and its mediums abide by the following seven principles of belief:
- That there is an Infinite Intelligence, Who governs all
- That personal identity and all sentient forms of life survive physical death
- That continuous existence and eternal progress occur for all in the Hereafter
- That there is communion with the spiritual realms
- That all of humanity is spiritually linked
- That in the Hereafter, all must account for their actions on earth and will judge themselves accordingly
- That all are responsible for the way they conduct their earthly lives.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>"Principles of SAGB". Spiritualist Association of Great Britain.</ref>
Notable members and supporters
- Emma Hardinge Britten<ref name="History"/>
- Doris Collins<ref name="History"/>
- Lord Dowding<ref name="History"/>
- Arthur Conan Doyle<ref name="History"/>
- Thomas Everitt<ref>Stemman, Roy. (1972). One Hundred Years of Spiritualism: The Story of the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain, 1872-1972. Spiritualist Association of Great Britain. p. 66. Template:ISBN</ref>
- James Manby Gully
- G. Wilson Knight<ref>Borklund, Elmer. (1977). Contemporary Literary Critics. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 307. Template:ISBN</ref>
- Florence Marryat<ref name="History"/>
- Estelle Roberts<ref name="History"/>
- W. T. Stead<ref name="History"/>
- Ena Twigg<ref name="History"/>
Controversy surrounding Headquarter relocation
The SAGB historic headquarters at 33 Belgrave Square was sold in 2010 for 6 million pounds. It relocated to a new home in the Victoria Charity Centre at 11 Belgrave Road, London, near Victoria Station.<ref name="Guardian 2013"/><ref name="History"/><ref name="Charity Choice"/> In 2013, the Charity Commission for England and Wales launched an investigation in to the sale of the property, after discovering that the subsequent owners sold the property for 21 million pounds shortly after purchasing it from the SAGB. The Committee published a report of its findings on 30 March 2017. The Commission's report concluded SAGB's trustees had failed to fulfil their legal duties and responsibilities towards the charity, and that ‘the failures and breaches were not minor or technical in nature’ but ‘amount to basic and serious mismanagement’.<ref>"Charity Commission finds basic and serious mismanagement in selling land at charity", Charity Commission, GOV.UK, accessed 30 March 2017</ref> The charity responded to the Commission's report claiming that they "could not have foreseen what would happen in future" regarding property prices.<ref>"Regulator finds serious mismanagement at the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain", ThirdSector.co.uk, Accessed 30 March 2017</ref> S.A.G.B headquarters are now at 341,Queens town Road, Battersea, London SW8 4LH