Difference between revisions of "Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism"

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The '''Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism''' (RISCT) was founded on 12 December 1989 by [[William Gutteridge]] as a successor organisation to the [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]].  Gutteridge had written books for the ISC.<ref>For example Contemporary Terrorism. Edited by William Gutteridge (for the Institute for the Study of Conflict). New York: Facts on File, 1986, 225 pp. $16.95, reviewed in [http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19860901fabook11010/william-gutteridge-for-the-institute-for-the-study-of-conflict/contemporary-terrorism.html Foreign Affairs], Fall 1986.</ref>  The RISCT was less overtly political than the ISC, it mostly put out papers on middle-eastern terrorism.  It now appears to be defunct.
+
The '''Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism''' (RISCT) was a think-tank set up in 1989 which operated for ten years before folding in 1999 due to lack of funds. It was the successor to the MI5 and CIA affiliated [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]], which was re-launched as the Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism after incorporating [[Paul Wilkinson|Paul Wilkinson’s]] [[Research Foundation for the Study of Terrorism]].
  
The Times reported its creation in 1989:
+
==Origins==
 +
RISCT was the result of an amalgamation of [[Paul Wilkinson|Paul Wilkinson’s]] [[Research Foundation for the Study of Terrorism]] and the [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]], a right-wing propaganda outfit with connections to [[MI5]] and the [[CIA]]. Legally speaking RISCT was in fact the same entity as the [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]]. The registered company of that name became the Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism on 12 December 1989, and on the same day the charity of the same name amended its articles of association.<ref>Extract from the Central Register of Charities maintained by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, [http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/showcharity.asp?chyno=261152 Removed Main Charity 261152]</ref>
  
:The head thinker the infant institute's first director is Professor [[Paul Wilkinson]], head of the department of politics and international relations at Aberdeen University and an authority on terrorism.
+
Although officially RISCT was established in December 1989, it dates back to at least the early months of that year. The first mention of the RISCT in the printed press was in an article published on 9 May 1989. Interestingly when ''The Times'' interviewed [[Paul Wilkinson]] for that article, Wilkinson already had an office at [[Institute for the Study of Conflict|Institute for the Study of Conflict’s]] HQ,<ref>The article (William Greaves, ‘A thinking man's war’, ''The Times'', 9 May 1989) does not refer specifically to the address of what it calls Wilkinson’s ‘London office’ but says it is based ‘within a few yards…of Carnaby Street’. Carnaby Street is adjacent to Golden Square where the Institute for the Study of Conflict was based at no. 12-12A.</ref> suggesting that the association between the [[Research Foundation for the Study of Terrorism]] and the [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]] dates back further than the officially founding of RISCT.
  
:'We don't propose to compete with public security agencies or intelligence networks, ' Wilkinson says. 'What we hope is that, in the long run, our research will have a leavening influence on official policy-makers by giving them a deeper understanding of the subject.'
+
RISCT was initially based at 12-12A Golden Square, the old home of the [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]], but in May moved to 136 Baker Street.
  
:Nor does he intend the institute's cerebral resources to be restricted to the common room. 'We are not exclusively academic. We want to call upon people in such fields as journalism, diplomacy and the law anyone whose expertise can contribute to an up-to-date analysis of conflict and instability. It will be a broad church, bringing High Court judges into discussion with the newest young students.
+
==Personnel==
 +
[[Paul Wilkinson]] became the director of RISCT and [[William Gutteridge]] its director of publications.  Several of the Council Members from the [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]] resigned on March 1990. Nevertheless RISCT was still left with a array of powerful establishment figures on its Council which comprised of its Director [[Paul Wilkinson]]; the Chairman [[Frank Brenchley]]; [[Lord Denman]]; [[Dominic Lieven]]; [[Woodward Martin]], a Professor at Newcastle University; [[Malcolm MacKintosh]]; Major-General [[Fergus Alan Humphrey Ling]]; Sir [[Robert Graingres]] and [[Lord Beloff]]. In March 1992 Professor John Edward Spence and General Ken Perkins also joined the Council.
  
:'Our funds will be limited so there can be no question of a finely furnished international headquarters. Our basis will be the campus, through which we can reach a network of, say, a criminologist in Melbourne, a London expert in the law of policing, a psychiatrist in Los Angeles. The kind of violence we are experiencing all over the world deserves a degree of research which is at least comparable.'
+
On 5 April 1994 [[Paul Wilkinson]] left RISCT to focus on the [[Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence]]. His role as director and the Foundation’s foremost media representative was taken over by [[William Gutteridge]].  Later in November that year RISCT’s Chairman [[Frank Brenchley]] was replaced by [[Duncan Slater]].
  
:In terms of academic and practical expertise, the think-tank's groundbase is impressive. In charge of its publications programme is [[William Gutteridge]], professor emeritus of international studies at Aston University and a Southern Africa specialist. Council members of the [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]] which now amalgamates with the [[Research Foundation for the Study of Terrorism]] to form the new research institute include [[Lord Denman]], of the London School of Economics, Vice-Admiral Sir [[Louis Le Bailly]], former director-general of intelligence at the Ministry of Defence, and [[Lord Beloff]], principal of University College, Buckingham.<ref>WILLIAM GREAVES A thinking man's war; Terrorism; Spectrum The Times (London), May 9 1989, Tuesday, Issue 63389.</ref>
+
===Table of Council Members===
 +
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1" align="center" width="50%">
 +
<tr>
 +
<th bgcolor="goldenrod">Name</th>
 +
<th bgcolor="goldenrod">Appointed</th>
 +
<th bgcolor="goldenrod">Resigned</th>
 +
<th bgcolor="goldenrod">Notes</th>
 +
</tr>
  
:The RISCT's council is composed entirely of figures from academia, politics and the military, including former Defence Intelligence chief Sir [[Louis Le Bailly]]; counter-insurgency expert Sir [[Robert Thompson]]; former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Sir [[Harry Tuzo]]; Thatcher speech-writer [[Robert Moss]]; and ex-diplomat Sir [[Edward Peck]]. The calibre of its personnel, with their intimate knowledge of the workings of the state, makes the institute an influential part of the right-wing lobby in Britain.<ref>[http://www.dedefensa.org/article.php?art_id=950 PSYOPS War, British Intelligence and the Covert Propaganda Front, — and the CIA's Interference in British Politics] PsyOps War, "Au coeur de la penetration US des elites dirigeantes britanniques, ''De Defensa'' Date de publication : 15/12/2003 - Rubrique : Notre bibliothque.</ref>
+
<tr>
 +
<td>[[Lord Beloff]]</td>
 +
<td  align="center">pre-1989</td>
 +
<td  align="left">23/03/99</td>
 +
<td  align="left">Historian</td>
 +
</tr>
  
According to Gutteridge the Institute closed in 1999:
+
<tr>
 +
<td>[[Frank Brenchley]]</td>
 +
<td  align="center">pre-1989</td>
 +
<td  align="left">11/12/00</td>
 +
<td  align="left">Historian</td>
 +
</tr>
  
:In the 1980s, William Gutteridge, former professor of international studies at [[Aston University]], raised the possibility of armed guards on planes and of screening overseas students studying aviation.
+
<tr>
 +
<td>[[Lord Denman]]</td>
 +
<td  align="center">pre-1989</td>
 +
<td  align="left">11/12/00</td>
 +
<td  align="left">Businessman</td>
 +
</tr>
  
:"There's no lack of publications. Some of us feel fairly frustrated. We've been concerned by how little the lessons of Lockerbie have been applied, except perhaps in Britain and Germany," says Gutteridge, a former director of the Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, an educational charity that folded two years ago for lack of subscriptions.<ref>Olga Wojtas, 'I Have Sat In Rooms Talking To People I Knew The Ira Would Love To Kill. The doorbell Rings' The Times Higher Education Supplement September 28, 2001 No.1506; Pg.20</ref>
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<tr>
 +
<td>[[Dominic Lieven]]</td>
 +
<td  align="center">pre-1989</td>
 +
<td  align="left">11/12/00</td>
 +
<td  align="left">Lecturer in Russian Government</td>
 +
</tr>
  
==Funding==
+
<tr>
In November 1990 the Institute received $25,000 from the The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc. which has a record of funding conservative causes including the [[Heritage Foundation]].<ref>FUNDER PROFILE [http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=1 The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc.]</refThe money was ' To support the publication of Conflict Studies and the institute's annual conference.'<ref>RECIPIENT GRANTS [http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientgrants.php?recipientID=867 Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, London], Media Transparency Profile
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<td>[[Fergus Ling]]</td>
</ref>  
+
<td  align="center">pre-1989</td>
 +
<td align="left">deceased 07/05/95</td>
 +
<td  align="left">Retired General</td>
 +
</tr>
  
==People==
+
<tr>
===Alumni / contributors===
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<td>[[Malcolm MacKintosh]]</td>
*[[William Gutteridge]], past director
+
<td  align="center">pre-1989</td>
*[[Paul Wilkinson]], past director (now at [[Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence]] at the University of St Andrews)
+
<td  align="left">11/12/00</td>
*[[Peter Janke]]
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<td  align="left">Cold War military expert</td>
*[[Max Beloff]]
+
</tr>
*[[Stephen R. Bowers]]
 
  
===Council===
+
<tr>
*Sir [[Louis Le Bailly]]
+
<td>[[Woodward Martin]]</td>
*Sir [[Robert Thompson]]
+
<td  align="center">pre-1989</td>
*General Sir [[Harry Tuzo]], the General Officer commanding the British Army in Northern Ireland at the time of the 'Bloody Sunday' killings by the British in 1972.
+
<td  align="left">18/11/93</td>
*[[Robert Moss]]
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<td  align="left">Professor at Newcastle University</td>
*[[Edward Peck]]
+
</tr>
*[[Duncan Slater]] CMG: Chairman of the RISCT
 
  
==Publications, References==
+
<tr>
===Publications===
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<td>[[Kenneth Perkins]]</td>
 +
<td  align="center">pre-1989</td>
 +
<td  align="left">11/12/00</td>
 +
<td  align="left">Retired General and military advisor to [[British Aerospace]] and ''[[The Sun]]''</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
 
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>[[Duncan Slater]]</td>
 +
<td  align="center">24/11/94</td>
 +
<td  align="left">11/12/00</td>
 +
<td  align="left">Former diplomat</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
 
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>[[John Spence]]</td>
 +
<td  align="center">17/03/92</td>
 +
<td  align="left">11/12/00</td>
 +
<td  align="left">University Professor </td>
 +
</tr>
 +
 
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>[[Paul Wilkinson]]</td>
 +
<td  align="center">7/03/90</td>
 +
<td  align="left">5/04/94</td>
 +
<td  align="left">Terrorologist</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
 
 +
</table>
 +
 
 +
==Activities==
 +
RISCT’s first act seems to have been the publishing of [[Paul Wilkinson|Paul Wilkinson’s]] report on the Lockerbie bombing on 6 December 1989. Wilkinson’s report recommended increased state spending on security technology and also suggested that the SAS should be used to train special forces in developing countries in ‘counter-terrorism’.<ref>Paul Archer, ‘New Lockerbie can happen tomorrow, warns expert’, Press Association, 6 December 1989</ref>
 +
 
 +
On 26 September 1990 RISCT hosted a conference billed ‘Terrorism and Democracy’ at the Royal Overseas League building on Park Place in Central London. Scheduled speakers at the conference included Foreign Office Minister [[William Waldegrave]] and Metropolitan Police Commissioner [[Peter Imbert]], as well as Professor [[Richard Shultz]], of Tufts University in Boston, [[Alison Jamieson]], a Scottish born expert on the Red Brigades, and [[Juliet Lodge]] a political scientist at Hull University.<ref>David Mason, Michael Chilvers and Heather Tyrrell, ‘IRA Tries to Bomb Terror Talks’, Press Association 27 September 1990; Alexandra King, ‘Grim game in red and black’, ''The Times'', 26 September 1990</ref>
 +
 
 +
The conference was disrupted when a bomb was discovered under the speaker's lectern. It was probably planted by the IRA in an attempt to assassinate [[William Waldegrave]], who was billed as the first speaker at the conference, although in fact it was [[Paul Wilkinson]] who had that honour.<ref>David Mason, Michael Chilvers and Heather Tyrrell, ‘IRA Tries to Bomb Terror Talks’, Press Association, 27 September 1990</ref> RISCT believed that they themselves were the targets. [[Paul Wilkinson]] later commented that: “The incident rather underlined our relevance”.<ref>Barnaby Jameson, ‘Terror goes on the agenda’, ''The Times'', 3 June 1991</ref> The event was policed by the security firm [[Group 4]] leading to a dispute between the company and Scotland Yard over who was responsible for the security lapse
 +
 
 +
Wilkinson and [[Frank Barnaby]] later presented their studies instead at the Savile Club in west London on 11 December 1990. Wilkinson called his study ‘Terrorist Targets and Tactics: New Risk to World Order’, and Barnaby called his ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Growing Threat in the 1990s’.<ref>Grania Langdon-Down, ‘Expert warns of terror weapons ‘produced with childish ease’’, Press Association, 11 December 1990</ref>
 +
 
 +
In 1994 [[Paul Wilkinson]], who had been the key figure in RISCT, resigned from the board. His role as director and the Foundation’s foremost media representative was taken over by [[William Gutteridge]].
 +
 
 +
==Publications==
 
*Harbottle, Michael. New Roles of the Military: Humanitarian and Environmental Security. Conflict Studies 285. London: Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, November 1995.
 
*Harbottle, Michael. New Roles of the Military: Humanitarian and Environmental Security. Conflict Studies 285. London: Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, November 1995.
===Notes===
+
 
 +
==Funding and finances==
 +
In November 1990 the Institute received $25,000 from the The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc. which has a record of funding conservative causes including the [[Heritage Foundation]].<ref>FUNDER PROFILE [http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=1 The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc.]</ref>  The money was ' To support the publication of Conflict Studies and the institute's annual conference.'<ref>RECIPIENT GRANTS [http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientgrants.php?recipientID=867 Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, London], Media Transparency Profile</ref> RISCT’s income from subscriptions and donations were not enough to meet its costs and it ran at a loss throughout the 1990s.  In late 1997 or early 1998 RISCT moved to Lemington Spar to save on costs.<ref>RISCT Accounts made up to 30 June 1998</ref> According to ''The Times'', the RISCT “folded [in 1999] for lack of subscriptions.”<ref>Olga Wojtas, The Times Higher Education Supplement, 28 September 2001</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Dissolved==
 +
An application for striking-off was filed in late 2000 signed by [[Duncan Slater]], [[Malcolm MacKintosh]] and [[Kenneth Perkins]]. RISCT Ltd was official dissolved 11 December 2001 and the charity of the same name was ceased to exist shortly afterwards on 19 December 2001.<ref>Charities Commisson, [http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/showcharity.asp?regno=261152&submit=Run+Search|Extract from the Central Register of Charities: Removed Main Charity 261152]</ref>
 +
 
 +
The charity’s last known correspondence address was:
 +
:Prof W F Gutteridge
 +
:26 St. Marks Road
 +
:Leamington Spa
 +
:Warwickshire
 +
:CV32 6DL<ref>Charities Commisson, [http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/showcharity.asp?regno=261152&submit=Run+Search|Extract from the Central Register of Charities: Removed Main Charity 261152]</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Notes==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 
[[Category:Terrorism Industry]]
 
[[Category:Terrorism Industry]]

Revision as of 11:40, 14 August 2008

The Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism (RISCT) was a think-tank set up in 1989 which operated for ten years before folding in 1999 due to lack of funds. It was the successor to the MI5 and CIA affiliated Institute for the Study of Conflict, which was re-launched as the Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism after incorporating Paul Wilkinson’s Research Foundation for the Study of Terrorism.

Origins

RISCT was the result of an amalgamation of Paul Wilkinson’s Research Foundation for the Study of Terrorism and the Institute for the Study of Conflict, a right-wing propaganda outfit with connections to MI5 and the CIA. Legally speaking RISCT was in fact the same entity as the Institute for the Study of Conflict. The registered company of that name became the Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism on 12 December 1989, and on the same day the charity of the same name amended its articles of association.[1]

Although officially RISCT was established in December 1989, it dates back to at least the early months of that year. The first mention of the RISCT in the printed press was in an article published on 9 May 1989. Interestingly when The Times interviewed Paul Wilkinson for that article, Wilkinson already had an office at Institute for the Study of Conflict’s HQ,[2] suggesting that the association between the Research Foundation for the Study of Terrorism and the Institute for the Study of Conflict dates back further than the officially founding of RISCT.

RISCT was initially based at 12-12A Golden Square, the old home of the Institute for the Study of Conflict, but in May moved to 136 Baker Street.

Personnel

Paul Wilkinson became the director of RISCT and William Gutteridge its director of publications. Several of the Council Members from the Institute for the Study of Conflict resigned on March 1990. Nevertheless RISCT was still left with a array of powerful establishment figures on its Council which comprised of its Director Paul Wilkinson; the Chairman Frank Brenchley; Lord Denman; Dominic Lieven; Woodward Martin, a Professor at Newcastle University; Malcolm MacKintosh; Major-General Fergus Alan Humphrey Ling; Sir Robert Graingres and Lord Beloff. In March 1992 Professor John Edward Spence and General Ken Perkins also joined the Council.

On 5 April 1994 Paul Wilkinson left RISCT to focus on the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence. His role as director and the Foundation’s foremost media representative was taken over by William Gutteridge. Later in November that year RISCT’s Chairman Frank Brenchley was replaced by Duncan Slater.

Table of Council Members

Name Appointed Resigned Notes
Lord Beloff pre-1989 23/03/99 Historian
Frank Brenchley pre-1989 11/12/00 Historian
Lord Denman pre-1989 11/12/00 Businessman
Dominic Lieven pre-1989 11/12/00 Lecturer in Russian Government
Fergus Ling pre-1989 deceased 07/05/95 Retired General
Malcolm MacKintosh pre-1989 11/12/00 Cold War military expert
Woodward Martin pre-1989 18/11/93 Professor at Newcastle University
Kenneth Perkins pre-1989 11/12/00 Retired General and military advisor to British Aerospace and The Sun
Duncan Slater 24/11/94 11/12/00 Former diplomat
John Spence 17/03/92 11/12/00 University Professor
Paul Wilkinson 7/03/90 5/04/94 Terrorologist

Activities

RISCT’s first act seems to have been the publishing of Paul Wilkinson’s report on the Lockerbie bombing on 6 December 1989. Wilkinson’s report recommended increased state spending on security technology and also suggested that the SAS should be used to train special forces in developing countries in ‘counter-terrorism’.[3]

On 26 September 1990 RISCT hosted a conference billed ‘Terrorism and Democracy’ at the Royal Overseas League building on Park Place in Central London. Scheduled speakers at the conference included Foreign Office Minister William Waldegrave and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Peter Imbert, as well as Professor Richard Shultz, of Tufts University in Boston, Alison Jamieson, a Scottish born expert on the Red Brigades, and Juliet Lodge a political scientist at Hull University.[4]

The conference was disrupted when a bomb was discovered under the speaker's lectern. It was probably planted by the IRA in an attempt to assassinate William Waldegrave, who was billed as the first speaker at the conference, although in fact it was Paul Wilkinson who had that honour.[5] RISCT believed that they themselves were the targets. Paul Wilkinson later commented that: “The incident rather underlined our relevance”.[6] The event was policed by the security firm Group 4 leading to a dispute between the company and Scotland Yard over who was responsible for the security lapse

Wilkinson and Frank Barnaby later presented their studies instead at the Savile Club in west London on 11 December 1990. Wilkinson called his study ‘Terrorist Targets and Tactics: New Risk to World Order’, and Barnaby called his ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Growing Threat in the 1990s’.[7]

In 1994 Paul Wilkinson, who had been the key figure in RISCT, resigned from the board. His role as director and the Foundation’s foremost media representative was taken over by William Gutteridge.

Publications

  • Harbottle, Michael. New Roles of the Military: Humanitarian and Environmental Security. Conflict Studies 285. London: Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, November 1995.

Funding and finances

In November 1990 the Institute received $25,000 from the The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc. which has a record of funding conservative causes including the Heritage Foundation.[8] The money was ' To support the publication of Conflict Studies and the institute's annual conference.'[9] RISCT’s income from subscriptions and donations were not enough to meet its costs and it ran at a loss throughout the 1990s. In late 1997 or early 1998 RISCT moved to Lemington Spar to save on costs.[10] According to The Times, the RISCT “folded [in 1999] for lack of subscriptions.”[11]

Dissolved

An application for striking-off was filed in late 2000 signed by Duncan Slater, Malcolm MacKintosh and Kenneth Perkins. RISCT Ltd was official dissolved 11 December 2001 and the charity of the same name was ceased to exist shortly afterwards on 19 December 2001.[12]

The charity’s last known correspondence address was:

Prof W F Gutteridge
26 St. Marks Road
Leamington Spa
Warwickshire
CV32 6DL[13]

Notes

  1. Extract from the Central Register of Charities maintained by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Removed Main Charity 261152
  2. The article (William Greaves, ‘A thinking man's war’, The Times, 9 May 1989) does not refer specifically to the address of what it calls Wilkinson’s ‘London office’ but says it is based ‘within a few yards…of Carnaby Street’. Carnaby Street is adjacent to Golden Square where the Institute for the Study of Conflict was based at no. 12-12A.
  3. Paul Archer, ‘New Lockerbie can happen tomorrow, warns expert’, Press Association, 6 December 1989
  4. David Mason, Michael Chilvers and Heather Tyrrell, ‘IRA Tries to Bomb Terror Talks’, Press Association 27 September 1990; Alexandra King, ‘Grim game in red and black’, The Times, 26 September 1990
  5. David Mason, Michael Chilvers and Heather Tyrrell, ‘IRA Tries to Bomb Terror Talks’, Press Association, 27 September 1990
  6. Barnaby Jameson, ‘Terror goes on the agenda’, The Times, 3 June 1991
  7. Grania Langdon-Down, ‘Expert warns of terror weapons ‘produced with childish ease’’, Press Association, 11 December 1990
  8. FUNDER PROFILE The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc.
  9. RECIPIENT GRANTS Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, London, Media Transparency Profile
  10. RISCT Accounts made up to 30 June 1998
  11. Olga Wojtas, The Times Higher Education Supplement, 28 September 2001
  12. Charities Commisson, from the Central Register of Charities: Removed Main Charity 261152
  13. Charities Commisson, from the Central Register of Charities: Removed Main Charity 261152