Century-Old Charity in Meltdown: LACS Cancels Crucial AGM

In a move that can only be described as both cowardly and disrespectful to its membership, the League Against Cruel Sports has abruptly cancelled their much-anticipated Annual General Meeting (AGM) and centenary celebration, originally scheduled for 14th September 2024 in London. This decision, communicated via a terse email mere days before the event, raises serious questions about the current management’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and the very mission that has sustained the League for a century.

The League’s email was as vague as it was concerning:

“We regret to inform you that unfortunately, due to unavoidable circumstances, we have had to postpone our Annual General Meeting on 14 September and cancel our centenary celebration.”

This sudden retreat, ostensibly due to “unavoidable circumstances,” feels less like an unfortunate necessity and more like a calculated attempt to avoid scrutiny.

This year, in particular, there are burning questions that League members deserve answered, and they merit those answers in person, not through the sanitised lens of a Zoom meeting. Why has the League failed to appoint a new CEO, or even explain the abrupt departure of the previous one? What of Dan Norris, the Chair who resigned only to be quietly co-opted back, despite glaring questions about his conflict of interest with the Labour Party?

These are not trivial matters. The League, always principled in its activism, now finds itself adrift with a precarious leadership structure: an Acting CEO, Chris Luffingham, an Acting Deputy CEO, Emma Smith, and an Acting Chair of Trustees, alongside only three other trustees. This is not just a sign of dysfunction; it is a betrayal of the trust placed in the League by its members and supporters.

The switch to an online AGM, while convenient for management, is a poor substitute for the face-to-face engagement that members deserve, especially when the very future of the League is at stake. Holding the AGM on Zoom allows the Senior Management Team to control the narrative, potentially muting dissent and limiting the kind of rigorous questioning that should be at the heart of any healthy organisation.

Moreover, this decision comes at a significant cost. The cancellations will drain the League’s coffers of over £30,000—a staggering sum that could have been put to far better use advancing the League’s mission. That the current management could be so cavalier with donor funds only underscores how far they have strayed from the principles of stewardship and fiscal responsibility that should guide any charitable organisation.

This year has seen the League celebrating its 100th year—a remarkable milestone—but the AGM was a critical opportunity to mark this achievement with the members who have supported the organisation throughout its history. That this opportunity has been so casually discarded is a reflection of the current management’s priorities, and it should not be allowed to pass without challenge. The members of the League must not allow this moment to pass without demanding the accountability and transparency that is their right. For if they do, the League Against Cruel Sports may well find that it has not only lost its way but its very reason for being.