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4 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta name="copyright" content="Copyright (C) 2007 Henry S. Thompson"/><meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/><style type="text/css">
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18 .byline {font-size: 120%}
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21 </style><title>Future of 7 VT working group: First meeting</title></head><body style="font-family: DejaVu Sans, Arial; background: rgb(254,250,246); font-size: 12pt; width: 20cm; align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto">
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22 <div style="text-align: center">
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23 <h1>Future of 7 VT working group: First meeting</h1>
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24 <div class="byline">This informal summary by Henry S. Thompson, Convenor</div>
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25 <div class="byline">Held at 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh on 5 January 2009, 7:30 p.m.</div>
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26 </div>
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27
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28 <div>
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29 <h2>1. Attendance</h2>
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30 <p>Present: Alison Burnley, Alastair Cameron, Madeleine Harding, Phil Lucas, Brian Mayes, Laurie Naumann, Rufus Reade,
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31 Eileen Schott, Don Stubbings, Henry Thompson (in the clerk's chair)</p>
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32 </div>
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33 <div>
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34 <h2>2. Introductions</h2>
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35 <p>The members of the working group gave brief self-introductions</p>
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36 </div>
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37 <div>
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38 <h2>3. Background</h2>
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39 <p>Alastair Cameron, on behalf of Area Meeting gave us
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40 some background:</p>
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41 <ul>
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42 <li>What is our vision for what Quakers need as a physical presence in Edinburgh?</li>
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43 <li>This includes the possibility of not having a large central building
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44 of any kind. It's assumed that this would lead to a reduction in expenditure
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45 and effort.</li>
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46 <li>AM looking for renewal of its sense of what its presence in Edinburgh
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47 should be</li>
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48 <li>We are on the cusp of a number of substantial items of expenditure,
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49 which are perhaps a bit difficult to motivate without a clear underlying vision.</li>
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50 </ul>
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51 <p>Don Stubbings, who was
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52 instrumental in raising some of the questions we will be considering:</p>
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53 <ul>
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54 <li>Don has served for many years on Fabric and Maintenance</li>
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55 <li>Costs coming:
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56 <ul>
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57 <li>Toilets need renewed</li>
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58 <li>Heating is a problem</li>
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59 <li>The flats are an ongoing financial drain</li>
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60 <li>The kitchen is scheduled for a refit</li>
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61 <li>The roof is being refurbished, and is involving more and costing
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62 more than expected, taking up most of our cash reserves</li>
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63 <li>Children's space restructuring? Interacts with the kitchen refit.</li>
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64 </ul>
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65 </li>
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66 </ul>
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67 <p>The above might add up to 200K GBP over the next few years. The expense
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68 of the roof repairs stimulated a consideration of whether we should be
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69 more-or-less uncritically committing to maintaining an old building which will
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70 likely continue to require substantial investment. This eventually led to a
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71 presentation to AM in August. In the twenty years since we purchased 7VT, no
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72 overall review of our use of the premises has been undertaken.</p>
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73 <p>Our circumstances have changed in many ways over that time, including
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74 changes in external regulation: Child Protection, Health and Safety, Food
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75 Sanitation. The rental of our premises has also evolved, alongside an increase
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76 in the number of other churches etc. who make premises available. The issue of
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77 balance between income generated and operating costs, given our commitment to
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78 charging very low rents for Quaker groups/other groups with certain specified qualities.</p>
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79 <p>At the same time, the awareness of many Quaker users of the premises does
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80 not extend beyond Meeting for Worship on a Sunday.</p>
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81 <p>One view of the balance sheet is that we are running at a 20K/annum
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82 deficit. Some members clearly see this as an acceptable cost, others think at
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83 the very least the AM needs to explicitly acknowledge this.</p>
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84 <p>The possibility of moving towards 7VT as the Scottish equivalent of
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85 Friends House has been raised, and deserves to be re-considered, without losing
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86 sight of the history of our previous, failed, attempt to do so.</p>
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87 <p>Trustees have initiated their own review, and put a hold on all capital
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88 expenditure until this group has reported.</p>
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89 <p>Some of these issues interact with aspects of the role of the paid
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90 meetinghouse staff.</p>
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91 <p>One way of looking at the financial side is to see the deficit as the
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92 rent that AM pays for the use we get from the building.</p>
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93 <p>Phil Lucas recalled that on his and Pat's arrival as Wardens in 1994, the
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94 building was running at a loss, but they were given the explicit goal of making
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95 the building pay for itself. He believes that the revenue account balanced
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96 from around 1997. It's the capital expenditures which provoke the deficit</p>
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97 <p>Henry Thompson summarised that we have to both get clear what the actual
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98 numbers are, and then decide how we are going to <i>treat</i> those
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99 numbers, and that we have a lot of choices in how we arrive at a summary to
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100 underpin our search for a vision. Rufus Read suggested that a cash flow
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101 forecast would be a tool to help in this regard.</p>
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102 <p>Henry Thompson and others attempted to recall the reasons we sold Stafford
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103 Street and bought 7 Victoria Terrace:</p>
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104 <ul>
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105 <li>Meeting room itself was an awkward L-shaped space, on first floor,
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106 up a narrow staircase—some elderly/infirm friends had stopped attending;</li>
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107 <li>Need for larger/better children and teenagers space;</li>
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108 <li>Desire
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109 to share facilities with other groups</li>
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110 <li>We explored non-central locations, came
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111 to view a central location as not only an equal tax on everyone in terms of
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112 transport, but also a value in itself as an opportunity for witness.</li>
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113 </ul>
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114 </div>
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115 <div>
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116 <h2>4. Topics for next meeting</h2>
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117 <ul>
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118 <li>Questions we might ask;</li>
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119 <li>Whom we might ask, and who will take responsibility for getting
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120 answers from them;</li>
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121 <li>What examples might we look at;</li>
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122 <li>Getting a cashflow forecast and a cashflow history</li>
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123 </ul>
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124 </div>
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125 <div>
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126 <h2>5. Next Meeting</h2>
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127 <p>Our next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 13th January at 7
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128 Victoria Terrace.</p>
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129 </div>
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130
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131 </body></html> |
