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1 Meeting House Management Committee Notes 2025-08-21
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2 Thursday 21 August, 7:30 p.m., online via Zoom
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3
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4 * Attendance
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5
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6 Henry S Thompson (Convenor); JP Ascher, Rachel Fitzgerald, Katrina McCrea,
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7 Jacqueline Noltingk, Laragh Quinney; Sammi Searle and
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8 Andy Tucker (Meeting House Managers)
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9
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10 Prevented: Duncan Wallace
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11
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12 * Finance
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13
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14 JN presented the figures for 7VT. June and July numbers are
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15 encouraging, particularly the net surplus of I over E in July. £3000
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16 each month was from CVenues, but even w/o that we would still have
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17 shown a (smaller) surplus. £5200 from 3F2 4 Upper Bow for the first
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18 half of the year means the combined total will show us close to, if not
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19 actually better than, our budgetted deficit.
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20
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21 Staffing is still over budget, there's no obvious route to reducing
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22 this, so we need to look at how that budget line is calculated in the
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23 future.
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24
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25 * New budget approach
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26
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27 Trustees plan to propose a new approach to how and when AM budgets are
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28 set, switching to a 3-year rolling horizon, see attached email from
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29 the Clerk to Trustees.
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30
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31 The key bit for us is Purpose.2:
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32
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33 "to agree with Edinburgh MH Management Committee and managers a
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34 financial framework for investments to make the building
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35 environmentally and financially sustainable over time"
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36
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37 The Managers have been working with Jacqui Nolting, Majk Stokes and
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38 Ellie Giles to pull together a set of recommendations, bearing in mind
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39 input from the recent building walkthroughs, the Affordability Group
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40 report and the Quinquennial Review.
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41
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42 Bow Room [from JN notes] First in line, MS is chasing quotes
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43
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44 Library: Add it to the inventory for booking, with a two-hour midday
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45 gap so that kitchen access for lunches is available. Storage needs
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46 for times when kitchen is _not_ accessible.
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47
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48 Creche: Self-contained small let might be possible, with a modest need
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49 for investment. Internet access will require some careful planning.
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50 May need to restrict to 11-month contracts to allow for Fringe use.
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51
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52 Foyer: Quoting going ahead for insulation.
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53
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54 Wrt heat and ventilation, we agree with "fabric-first". Looking
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55 forward to the more ambitious possibilities, MHMC would obviously need
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56 to be involved as regards closures of (parts of) the Meeting House.
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57
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58 Cafe not at the front of our list at this time, but making the Foyer
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59 a more welcoming and restful space.
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60
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61 Cleaning contract is under review, with new quotes coming in, does
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62 require real living wage.
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63
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64 Third tier of pricing for long-term small local groups?
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65
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66 Prepare to think about Fringe 2026, AM on 10 September
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67
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68 Date of next meeting: 1 September at 1500, 7 VT
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69
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70 [Draft minute]
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71
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72 *New budget approach*
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73
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74 Trustees plan to propose a new approach to how and when AM budgets are
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75 set, switching to a 3-year rolling horizon, in which section Purpose.2
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76 reads:
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77
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78 "to agree with Edinburgh MH Management Committee and managers a
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79 financial framework for investments to make the building
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80 environmentally and financially sustainable over time"
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81
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82 We welcome the opportunity to participate in this process, with the
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83 specific goal quoted above.
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84
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85 In preparation for this, the Managers have been working with Jacqui
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86 Nolting, Majk Stokes and Ellie Giles to pull together a set of
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87 recommendations, bearing in mind input from the recent building
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88 walkthroughs, the Affordability Group report and the Quinquennial
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89 Review.
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90
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91 Some details of this have been shared already, and more will be
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92 forthcoming, but at this point we want to set out the following
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93 points:
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94
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95 * We endorse the "fabric-first" approach to insulation, heating
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96 and ventilation put forward by John Renshaw, it's entirely
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97 consistent with our own priorities;
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98
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99 * We are actively exploring improvements to the Bow Room to create a
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100 more attractive letting space;
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101
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102 * We expect to propose some small changes to space usage elsewhere
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103 to enable new letting possibilities for the Library;
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104
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105 * Subject to the outcome of John Renshaw's exploration of "...", we
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106 propose to make the Creche a self-contained long-term let.
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107
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108 In each of the latter three cases, starting from the material already
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109 shared with Martin Ward in an email on 19 August, we aim to provide
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110 specific plans and costings as they become available.
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