Mercurial > hg > rsof
diff 7vt/fmh_2009-01-05.xml @ 6:fb79d1c9aad3
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| author | ht |
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| date | Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:18:11 -0500 |
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--- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/7vt/fmh_2009-01-05.xml Tue Jan 27 17:18:11 2009 -0500 @@ -0,0 +1,116 @@ +<?xml version='1.0'?> +<?xml-stylesheet type='text/xsl' href='../../lib/xml/doc.xsl'?> +<!DOCTYPE doc SYSTEM "../../lib/xml/doc.dtd" [ +<!ENTITY pound '£'> +]> +<doc> + <head> + <title>Future of 7 VT working group: First meeting</title> + <author>This informal summary by Henry S. Thompson, Convenor</author> + <date>Held at 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh on 5 January 2009, 7:30 p.m.</date> + </head> + <body> + <div> + <title>Attendance</title> + <p>Present: Alison Burnley, Alastair Cameron, Madeleine Harding, Phil Lucas, Brian Mayes, Laurie Naumann, Rufus Reade, +Eileen Schott, Don Stubbings, Henry Thompson (in the clerk's chair)</p> + </div> + <div> + <title>Introductions</title> + <p>The members of the working group gave brief self-introductions</p> + </div> + <div> + <title>Background</title> + <p>Alastair Cameron, on behalf of Area Meeting gave us +some background:</p> + <list> + <item>What is our vision for what Quakers need as a physical presence in Edinburgh?</item> + <item>This includes the possibility of not having a large central building +of any kind. It's assumed that this would lead to a reduction in expenditure +and effort.</item> + <item>AM looking for renewal of its sense of what its presence in Edinburgh +should be</item> + <item>We are on the cusp of a number of substantial items of expenditure, +which are perhaps a bit difficult to motivate without a clear underlying vision.</item> + </list> + <p>Don Stubbings, who was +instrumental in raising some of the questions we will be considering:</p> + <list> + <item>Don has served for many years on Fabric and Maintenance</item> + <item>Costs coming: + <list> + <item>Toilets need renewed</item> + <item>Heating is a problem</item> + <item>The flats are an ongoing financial drain</item> + <item>The kitchen is scheduled for a refit</item> + <item>The roof is being refurbished, and is involving more and costing +more than expected, taking up most of our cash reserves</item> + <item>Children's space restructuring? Interacts with the kitchen refit.</item> + </list> + </item> + </list> + <p>The above might add up to 200K GBP over the next few years. The expense +of the roof repairs stimulated a consideration of whether we should be +more-or-less uncritically committing to maintaining an old building which will +likely continue to require substantial investment. This eventually led to a +presentation to AM in August. In the twenty years since we purchased 7VT, no +overall review of our use of the premises has been undertaken.</p> + <p>Our circumstances have changed in many ways over that time, including +changes in external regulation: Child Protection, Health and Safety, Food +Sanitation. The rental of our premises has also evolved, alongside an increase +in the number of other churches etc. who make premises available. The issue of +balance between income generated and operating costs, given our commitment to +charging very low rents for Quaker groups/other groups with certain specified qualities.</p> + <p>At the same time, the awareness of many Quaker users of the premises does +not extend beyond Meeting for Worship on a Sunday.</p> + <p>One view of the balance sheet is that we are running at a 20K/annum +deficit. Some members clearly see this as an acceptable cost, others think at +the very least the AM needs to explicitly acknowledge this.</p> + <p>The possibility of moving towards 7VT as the Scottish equivalent of +Friends House has been raised, and deserves to be re-considered, without losing +sight of the history of our previous, failed, attempt to do so.</p> + <p>Trustees have initiated their own review, and put a hold on all capital +expenditure until this group has reported.</p> + <p>Some of these issues interact with aspects of the role of the paid +meetinghouse staff.</p> + <p>One way of looking at the financial side is to see the deficit as the +rent that AM pays for the use we get from the building.</p> + <p>Phil Lucas recalled that on his and Pat's arrival as Wardens in 1994, the +building was running at a loss, but they were given the explicit goal of making +the building pay for itself. He believes that the revenue account balanced +from around 1997. It's the capital expenditures which provoke the deficit</p> + <p>Henry Thompson summarised that we have to both get clear what the actual +numbers are, and then decide how we are going to <emph>treat</emph> those +numbers, and that we have a lot of choices in how we arrive at a summary to +underpin our search for a vision. Rufus Reade suggested that a cash flow +forecast would be a tool to help in this regard.</p> + <p>Henry Thompson and others attempted to recall the reasons we sold Stafford +Street and bought 7 Victoria Terrace:</p> + <list> + <item>Meeting room itself was an awkward L-shaped space, on first floor, +up a narrow staircase—some elderly/infirm friends had stopped attending;</item> + <item>Need for larger/better children and teenagers space;</item> + <item>Desire +to share facilities with other groups</item> + <item>We explored non-central locations, came +to view a central location as not only an equal tax on everyone in terms of +transport, but also a value in itself as an opportunity for witness.</item> + </list> + </div> + <div> + <title>Topics for next meeting</title> + <list> + <item>Questions we might ask;</item> + <item>Whom we might ask, and who will take responsibility for getting +answers from them;</item> + <item>What examples might we look at;</item> + <item>Getting a cashflow forecast and a cashflow history</item> + </list> + </div> + <div> + <title>Next Meeting</title> + <p>Our next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 13th January at 7 +Victoria Terrace.</p> + </div> + </body> +</doc>