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6 <meta name="copyright"
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7 content="Copyright (C) 2007 Henry S. Thompson" />
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15 .termref {text-decoration: none; color: #606000} div.toc h2
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20 {margin-left: 2em} div.caption {font-style: italic; font-weight:
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21 bold}</style>
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22 <title>Future of 7 VT working group: First meeting</title>
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23 </head>
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24 <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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25
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26 <div style="text-align: center">
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27 <h1>Future of 7 VT working group: First meeting</h1>
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28 <div class="byline">This informal summary by Henry S. Thompson,
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29 Convenor</div>
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30 <div class="byline">Held at 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh on 5
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31 January 2009, 7:30 p.m.</div>
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32 </div>
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33 <div>
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34 <h2>1. Attendance</h2>
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35 <p>Present: Alison Burnley, Alastair Cameron, Madeleine Harding,
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36 Phil Lucas, Brian Mayes, Laurie Naumann, Rufus Reade, Eileen
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37 Schott, Don Stubbings, Henry Thompson (in the clerk's chair)</p>
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38 </div>
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39 <div>
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40 <h2>2. Introductions</h2>
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41 <p>The members of the working group gave brief
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42 self-introductions</p>
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43 </div>
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44 <div>
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45 <h2>3. Background</h2>
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46 <p>Alastair Cameron, on behalf of Area Meeting gave us some
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47 background:</p>
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48 <ul>
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49 <li>What is our vision for what Quakers need as a physical presence
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50 in Edinburgh?</li>
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51 <li>This includes the possibility of not having a large central
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52 building of any kind. It's assumed that this would lead to a
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53 reduction in expenditure and effort.</li>
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54 <li>AM looking for renewal of its sense of what its presence in
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55 Edinburgh should be</li>
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56 <li>We are on the cusp of a number of substantial items of
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57 expenditure, which are perhaps a bit difficult to motivate without
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58 a clear underlying vision.</li>
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59 </ul>
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60 <p>Don Stubbings, who was instrumental in raising some of the
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61 questions we will be considering:</p>
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62 <ul>
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63 <li>Don has served for many years on Fabric and Maintenance</li>
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64 <li>Costs coming:
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65 <ul>
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66 <li>Toilets need renewed</li>
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67 <li>Heating is a problem</li>
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68 <li>The flats are an ongoing financial drain</li>
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69 <li>The kitchen is scheduled for a refit</li>
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70 <li>The roof is being refurbished, and is involving more and
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71 costing more than expected, taking up most of our cash
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72 reserves</li>
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73 <li>Children's space restructuring? Interacts with the kitchen
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74 refit.</li>
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75 </ul></li>
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76 </ul>
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77 <p>The above might add up to 200K GBP over the next few years. The
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78 expense of the roof repairs stimulated a consideration of whether
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79 we should be more-or-less uncritically committing to maintaining an
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80 old building which will likely continue to require substantial
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81 investment. This eventually led to a presentation to AM in August.
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82 In the twenty years since we purchased 7VT, no overall review of
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83 our use of the premises has been undertaken.</p>
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84 <p>Our circumstances have changed in many ways over that time,
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85 including changes in external regulation: Child Protection, Health
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86 and Safety, Food Sanitation. The rental of our premises has also
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87 evolved, alongside an increase in the number of other churches etc.
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88 who make premises available. The issue of balance between income
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89 generated and operating costs, given our commitment to charging
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90 very low rents for Quaker groups/other groups with certain
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91 specified qualities.</p>
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92 <p>At the same time, the awareness of many Quaker users of the
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93 premises does not extend beyond Meeting for Worship on a
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94 Sunday.</p>
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95 <p>One view of the balance sheet is that we are running at a
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96 20K/annum deficit. Some members clearly see this as an acceptable
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97 cost, others think at the very least the AM needs to explicitly
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98 acknowledge this.</p>
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99 <p>The possibility of moving towards 7VT as the Scottish equivalent
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100 of Friends House has been raised, and deserves to be re-considered,
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101 without losing sight of the history of our previous, failed,
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102 attempt to do so.</p>
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103 <p>Trustees have initiated their own review, and put a hold on all
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104 capital expenditure until this group has reported.</p>
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105 <p>Some of these issues interact with aspects of the role of the
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106 paid meetinghouse staff.</p>
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107 <p>One way of looking at the financial side is to see the deficit
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108 as the rent that AM pays for the use we get from the building.</p>
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109 <p>Phil Lucas recalled that on his and Pat's arrival as Wardens in
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110 1994, the building was running at a loss, but they were given the
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111 explicit goal of making the building pay for itself. He believes
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112 that the revenue account balanced from around 1997. It's the
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113 capital expenditures which provoke the deficit</p>
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114 <p>Henry Thompson summarised that we have to both get clear what
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115 the actual numbers are, and then decide how we are going to
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116 <i>treat</i>those numbers, and that we have a lot of choices in how
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117 we arrive at a summary to underpin our search for a vision. Rufus
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118 Reade suggested that a cash flow forecast would be a tool to help
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119 in this regard.</p>
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120 <p>Henry Thompson and others attempted to recall the reasons we
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121 sold Stafford Street and bought 7 Victoria Terrace:</p>
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122 <ul>
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123 <li>Meeting room itself was an awkward L-shaped space, on first
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124 floor, up a narrow staircase—some elderly/infirm friends had
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125 stopped attending;</li>
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126 <li>Need for larger/better children and teenagers space;</li>
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127 <li>Desire to share facilities with other groups</li>
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128 <li>We explored non-central locations, came to view a central
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129 location as not only an equal tax on everyone in terms of
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130 transport, but also a value in itself as an opportunity for
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131 witness.</li>
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132 </ul>
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133 </div>
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134 <div>
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135 <h2>4. Topics for next meeting</h2>
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136 <ul>
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137 <li>Questions we might ask;</li>
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138 <li>Whom we might ask, and who will take responsibility for getting
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139 answers from them;</li>
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140 <li>What examples might we look at;</li>
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141 <li>Getting a cashflow forecast and a cashflow history</li>
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142 </ul>
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143 </div>
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144 <div>
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145 <h2>5. Next Meeting</h2>
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146 <p>Our next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 13th January at
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147 7 Victoria Terrace.</p>
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148 </div>
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149 </body>
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