Mercurial > hg > rsof
annotate MHMC/2025-11-17/notes.txt @ 673:d3dd2dcdf2fe
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| author | Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk> |
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| date | Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:22:29 +0000 |
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| rev | line source |
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| 655 | 1 Meeting House Management Committee Agenda 2025-11-17 |
| 2 Monday 27 November, 5.15 p.m., in 7 Victoria Terrace | |
| 654 | 3 |
| 4 * Attendance: JP Ascher, Rachael Fitzgerald, Chris Jardine, Katrina | |
| 657 | 5 McCrea (via Zoom), Laragh Quinney (via Zoom), Sammi Searle, Henry |
| 6 S. Thompson, Andy Tucker, Duncan Wallace | |
| 654 | 7 |
| 8 * Matters Arising | |
| 9 * Suggestions from Local Meeting (LM) | |
| 10 * Blankets | |
| 11 *Action HST* to inform LM: Done, and acknowledged by Juliet | |
| 12 Henderson (JH, co-Clerk to LM) | |
| 13 | |
| 14 * Unpaid leave for Eliza Giles 3 months in August-November 2026: EAPPI | |
| 15 We now have firm dates: 12th August to 9th November 2026. | |
| 16 | |
| 17 * 2026 Room Hire pricing | |
| 18 | |
| 19 *Action* HST and Managers to share a proposal wrt rates from | |
| 20 January 2026 with RF and DW by 10 November for review: Done, but | |
| 21 not until 12 November, delay was HST's fault. | |
| 22 | |
| 23 *Action* RF to share the local comparators info: Done | |
| 24 | |
| 25 * Convenor's report | |
| 26 * Suggestions from LM: Bow Room | |
| 27 The original minute from LM read in part: | |
| 28 | |
| 29 "We ask the Meeting House Management Committee to consider the | |
| 30 following recommendations [wrt a contribution of £3700 from | |
| 31 LM]: | |
| 32 ... | |
| 33 • money to be spent improving accessibility and ambience of | |
| 34 foyer and Bow room. A ramp is needed for the Bow Room; | |
| 35 | |
| 658 | 36 We've learned that Richard Williams (RW, long-time member of LM, |
| 37 was Assistant Treasurer way back, most recently member of | |
| 38 Clerking Team), has visited the Meeting House and informally | |
| 39 discussed possible improvements to the Bow Room with staff a | |
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40 couple of times recently, and mentioned that he himself might |
| 658 | 41 also want to contribute. |
| 654 | 42 |
| 658 | 43 I wrote to JH to say that I'd asked Majk Stokes (MS, Assistant |
| 654 | 44 Manager for Projects) to arrange a meeting with him and |
| 45 suggesting that he could act as an informal liaison between | |
| 46 staff/MHMC and LM as we work to put a plan together for upgrading | |
| 658 | 47 the Bow Room. This would not mean RW would be making decisions, |
| 48 rather being someone responsible for keeping LM up-to-date on | |
| 49 planning and, eventually, works. (see also item below). | |
| 654 | 50 |
| 51 * Defend our Juries | |
| 52 | |
| 53 SS and HST offered to staff the Meeting House if in the event it was | |
| 54 needed as a fallback recovery venue for the planned actions in | |
| 658 | 55 support of Palestine Action on 18 and 29 Edinburgh. Update |
| 56 post-meeting: no arrests on the day, so not needed. | |
| 654 | 57 |
| 58 * Managers' report | |
| 59 | |
| 657 | 60 * Fringe |
| 61 | |
| 62 Email to Hartley saying he's got a place for three years, he's | |
| 658 | 63 acknowledged, no new document yet. He would like so discussion |
| 64 about possible joint-funded building improvements. | |
| 657 | 65 |
| 658 | 66 HK asked if we would ask Trustees about alcohol. This would not |
| 67 only improve the financial picture for CVenues, it would also make | |
| 68 the venue more attractive for (some) groups. | |
| 657 | 69 |
| 70 SS suggests a week before the hire and and after the get-out with no | |
| 71 bookings and no annual leave. We *Agreed*. | |
| 72 | |
| 73 * YFGM | |
| 74 | |
| 75 We still don't know if YFGM made a contribution for their weekend | |
| 76 here in spring 2025. We *Agree* to support them for this event and | |
| 77 in the future, on the same basis as in the past (reference email). | |
| 78 | |
| 79 *Action* HST to look at the emails from last time to find out what | |
| 658 | 80 the expected donation was. Update post-meeting: Our minute *Any |
| 81 other business* from 2024-12-09 reads in part: | |
| 657 | 82 |
| 658 | 83 "Young Friends General Meeting will be using the meeting house for a |
| 84 weekend in 2025 and they have asked for a steer on what level their | |
| 85 donation should be at. The market rent for the space they’re using | |
| 86 would be in the region of £400. We agreed to ask them for a | |
| 87 donation of £250, if they can afford it. | |
| 88 | |
| 89 "ACTION: Sammi and Andy to relay this information." | |
| 90 | |
| 91 Unfortunately that message never got to YFGM. | |
| 92 | |
| 93 *Action* on HST: Ask YFGM for feedback about other venues after the | |
| 94 upcoming visit. | |
| 657 | 95 |
| 96 * Staffing | |
| 97 | |
| 98 James Kemp is away for the first few months of 2026 | |
| 99 | |
| 100 EG will also have two weeks of EAPPI training in June 2026 | |
| 101 | |
| 658 | 102 Further to a request from MS when he started his new position as |
| 103 Assistant Manager Projects: We *Agree* to approve one month of | |
| 104 unpaid leave in 23 March-19 April and one at either end of EG's, so | |
| 105 that we have one 4-month gap to fill with a temporary hire. | |
| 657 | 106 |
| 107 * Meeting House closure | |
| 108 | |
| 109 Closed 22/12--3/1 | |
| 110 | |
| 658 | 111 21 Dec Festive Lunch |
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112 24 Dec No Midweek Meeting |
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113 25 Dec MfW 1100--1130 (John Phillips to be key-holder for the day) |
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114 28 Dec MfW, no lunch |
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115 31 Dec No Midweek Meeting |
| 658 | 116 4 Jan Normal service is resumed: MfW and Lunch |
| 657 | 117 |
| 658 | 118 HST to be on 'phone cover during Managers' absence, dates TBD |
| 657 | 119 |
| 120 * 2026 Prices | |
| 121 | |
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122 The Managers gave us a very good presentation on this, attached. We |
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123 *Agree* the details as given, resulting in an estimated 7.76% |
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124 increase in income from the proposed changes, which are all in the |
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125 range 7--9%, near the RLW increase of 6.7%. |
| 658 | 126 |
| 127 We noted the need to prepare the ground for this next year in more | |
| 128 detail, further in advance, with a strategy discussion aimed at | |
| 129 building a model for the decision, including considerations such as: | |
| 657 | 130 |
| 658 | 131 - Who are the core customers/other parts of the customer base? |
| 132 - What are the priorities/what's our mission? | |
| 133 - Where are the opportunities: | |
| 134 Library; Bow Room; Creche? | |
| 135 - A distinction between Products/Services vs Packaging | |
| 136 - Do we need to vary pricing by time-of-year? | |
| 657 | 137 |
| 658 | 138 We will consider whether to vary the focus in our meetings between |
| 139 strategy and operations | |
| 657 | 140 |
| 658 | 141 Managers also proposed an increase for our Catering charge for |
| 142 Tea/Coffee and Biscuits from 1.20 to 1.50 (== 25%). | |
| 143 | |
| 144 We *Agree* to increase the charge | |
| 145 - to 1.50 for Concession-rate bookings | |
| 146 - to 2.00 for Standard-rate bookings | |
| 657 | 147 |
| 148 * Monday bookings / Protecting Community Groups | |
| 149 | |
| 658 | 150 The Managers presented a proposal prepared jointly with EG for a |
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151 weekly "Community Evening", attached. |
| 657 | 152 |
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153 Briefly, the proposal is for a two hour slot at half-price for |
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154 Community Evening on Mondays: by application, citing the |
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155 organisation's purpose and activities and how the requested access |
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156 would make a difference for their operations. 'Award' is for a |
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157 semester (3 per year). Some regular bookings from groups not |
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158 qualifying would be protected. Some priority for new applicants |
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159 might be needed. A few already-booked SESAM meetings are in the way |
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160 of a consistent offer to a larger group needing a large room. |
| 657 | 161 |
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162 Net-net: generate extra income, help the community, low risk. |
| 657 | 163 |
| 164 Six months in, please report back. | |
| 165 | |
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166 We are minded to approve this. In the absence of any input to the |
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167 contrary by 28 November, I will give the go-ahead as a |
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168 between-meetings decision. |
| 657 | 169 |
| 170 * Financial Report | |
| 171 | |
| 172 [slides attached] | |
| 173 | |
| 174 High points: good expenditure control, highs and low of income | |
| 175 balancing so in total we're nearly at a zero deficit. | |
| 176 | |
| 177 We thanked Chris for another very useful report, agreed that the | |
| 178 Managers and Chris would start regular meetings | |
| 179 | |
| 654 | 180 * Quinquennial review/News from Trustees |
| 181 | |
| 182 Martin Ward (MW) has proposed a meeting with HST to discuss | |
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183 coordination. We *Agree* that HST should propose to MW: |
| 654 | 184 |
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185 A meeting with MW and any other Trustees who can make it with any |
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186 of us who can make it at 1815 on (Tuesday) 13 January, just before |
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187 Trustees' next meeting at 1845. Done, and MW has agreed. |
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188 |
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189 There might be time to at least open discussion on general |
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190 coordination, budgeting and maybe QiS prospect. |
| 657 | 191 |
| 654 | 192 * Works to be undertaken Bow Room |
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193 [note error in heading of this item in the Minutes from 2025-10-20], |
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194 |
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195 - We *Agree* that a meeting with |
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196 Majk Stokes (MS), RW, someone from Trustees, AT, someone from MHMC |
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197 is a good next step. |
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198 |
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199 See attached summary from MS wrt the state of play. |
| 657 | 200 |
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201 We liked the idea that we should be prepared to divide the project |
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202 in two, postponing (internal) accessibility if no good internal |
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203 solution emerges but a clear set of other works is agreed. |
| 654 | 204 |
| 205 * Staff escalation route if they need backup | |
| 206 | |
| 207 [see Minutes on this item from 2025-10-20] | |
| 208 | |
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209 Postponed to next meeting. |
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210 |
| 654 | 211 * Date of next meeting |
| 212 | |
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213 Tuesday 13 January, 1715, at 7 Victoria Terrace. LQ is prevented |
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214 (it's her birthday). |
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215 |
| 654 | 216 * AOB |
| 217 | |
| 657 | 218 * Access to the building for early arrivers |
| 219 | |
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220 What is the policy wrt Friends opening the front door when they are |
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221 in the Foyer, there are no staff present and someone knocks or |
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222 rings? |
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223 |
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224 This may arise if for example someone with a booking arrives more |
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225 than 15 minutes early, a tourist wants to ask questions or look for |
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226 Major Weir... |
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228 This is clearly complicated, and begs the question of how a Friend |
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229 came to be in the Foyer alone. |
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231 Which interacts with the "be a welcoming place for SESAM" goal. |
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233 *Action* to HST to put this on the agenda for a future meeting. |
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234 |