Charity leader and former trustees receive threatening letters

Former trustees and the current chief executive of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund (ABF) have been threatened by poison pen letters.

The letters were sent ahead of the ABF’s annual meeting, taking place today (November 19).

“You think police make me afraid. I’m not afraid. It’s you who should be afraid,” the letter to former trustees read. “If you go to the AGM you’re done.”

A report from the Guardian says ABF chief executive Alison Wyman also received a threatening letter and added all poison pen letters have been passed onto the police.

ABF, which has around £40m in assets and operates hardship funds to support actors and stage managers in England and Wales, has been embroiled in a leadership row since 2022.

The fallout concerns how trustees have been appointed, removed or retired, which resulted in a group of ten, including former president Dame Penelope Keith, being ousted from the board in the same year.

In February this year, a score of new trustees were appointed, the same month alleged electoral fraud at the charity during its board elections led to the launch of a police investigation.

In June, the Charity Commission concluded a two-year probe. The regulator criticised the “difficult, damaging dispute” but said ABF had “evidenced significant commitment” to improve its governance.

“The charity is now in a positive place, focused on its beneficiaries, and by the end of 2024 we project we will have directly helped over 40% more people than in 2023,” a statement from the ABF said.