Charles Coulston, aged 70 years, had been in the same post for about forty years. Now that is dedication but the indefatigable Charles has retired! Oh no, he is now a consultant – see below. Mind you, with a former salary of nearly £60,000 plus expenses he must have a huge pension. Charles knows where all the skeletons are so I expect he will have been contractually silenced with a hefty handshake to make sure those skeletons remain buried.
In those 40 years he must have been involved in some of the good and not so good decisions the SNU made. Share those experiences here please.
Update August 2014
Good to hear Charles Coulston will be handing over from April 2015. The President, David Bruton says, ‘Charles Coulston has informed the NEC of his intention to retire as General Secretary in April 2015. He will continue working for the Union as a consultant to support Shirley McGee, the Chief Administrative Officer, who will take on the General Secretary’s role. Charles has given the Union unstinting service and loyalty to the Union for over thirty years and he is held in the very highest esteem by both members of the NEC and by members in general. ‘
Update 26th March 2015 – General Secretary’s Retirement
Mr Charles Coulston retires from the position he has held for 35 years as General Secretary on 31st March 2015. A dinner was held in honour of Charles during the NEC weekend and special guests Minister Eric Hatton, Graham Hewitt, Jane Heatley, her partner Michael and Sue Farrow were in attendance. This was a historic moment with Charles and three of the five SNU Presidents he has served with all being together. Minister David Bruton presented Charles with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of the Union and a rose-gold Rotary watch was presented on behalf of the NEC members and others. Tributes were paid to Charles in addition to the articles featured in the latest edition of SNU Today. On behalf of the NEC and the Union as a whole I wish Charles a long and happy retirement; he has without doubt earned it.
Our view
Unfortunately, many would disagree with David Bruton and think that this pedantic man is partially responsible for the numerical decline of spiritualism and say a cheery goodbye. Let’s hope the SNU religion abandons the hierarchical nonsense we see currently before Spirit abandons the SNU.
Fair play for SNU churches 
Following the recent resignation of Shirley McGee, not surprising as half her staff walked out earlier in the year, Mr Coulston has been sending out letters stating that David Bruton has appointed him to shore up the breach. Contact me if you require any further information.
Oh dear, disquiet at the ‘top’. Do you sense that David Bruton’s tenure is copming to a close?
David Bruton trundles on in Bruton’s Blog.
Charles Coulston has handed over to another Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) as was reported in The real reason for the previous CAO resignation has yet to be revealed. We doubt whether his cost of stepping back in will be rported though.
‘Jane Barton joined the Union in her new capacity on 2nd October; she is based at Head Office and this was her first NEC meeting in her new role. On behalf of the NEC we wish Jane every good wish in her new job and look forward to continuing to work closely with her in the future.
The NEC would also like to acknowledge the considerable support provided by Charles Coulston in the interim following the resignation of Shirley McGee; Charles has applied his considerable experience to keep the Union moving forward administratively and we thank him sincerely for his continued support.’