A Highland branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society is at the forefront of a campaign to cut ties with the national charity and form a breakaway organisation.
The Caithness group has written to all the other branches of the charity in Scotland requesting an extraordinary general meeting, where it would be proposed “that the society in Scotland breaks away from the UK-wide organisation”.
The request comes a week after J.K. Rowling quit her role as patron of the society over an “internal row”.
The Harry Potter author said she could no longer be “the public face of a charity that is changing beyond recognition from the one with which I have been so proud to be associated”.
Patricia Stanley, the chairwoman of the Caithness group, said two Scottish branches had already agreed to a meeting, while other branches were due to get their letters yesterday.
Mrs Stanley said issues should not be allowed to overshadow its work.
She said: “London is 650 miles from Wick and there are different structures in England that can’t be used as a model for Scotland.”
In a statement, Mrs Stanley said: “For a number of months our committee has received correspond- ence regarding problems between the Scottish council, who are elected by Scottish members of the society, and the UK society based in London.
“No explanation was given for the suspension of Scottish council last autumn. They were reinstated earlier this year and then suspended again last week.
“It seems that this further suspension precipitated JK Rowling’s decision. As a branch of the MS Society we have tried our hardest to find out what has been going on at the senior level of our organisation, but again no explanation has been forthcoming.
“We are as much in the dark as the public as to what exactly has been going on, but note that Ms Rowling has said that she has resigned because of the imposition of decisions upon Scotland by London.”
Mrs Stanley, who has suffered from MS for 40 years, said: “We believe that the society in Scotland needs autonomy to ensure that it can best serve the inter- ests of people with MS living in Scotland, particularly since we have a separate government to which matters relating to health, the care system, the availability of drugs are all devolved, and also since Scotland has the highest rate of MS in the world.”