Meeting House Management Committee Agenda 2026-03-02
Monday 2 March, 5.15 p.m., in 7 Victoria Terrace

* Attendance: JP Ascher, Rachael Fitzgerald, Emma Lawrence, Katrina
  McCrea (via Zoom), Laragh Quinney, Henry S. Thompson (HST),
  Andy Tucker

  Prevented: Chris Jardine, Duncan Wallace, Sammi Searle

* Matters Arising

  * YFGM

    *Action* on HST: Ask YFGM for feedback about other venues
    *Done*, no reply as yet.

* Managers' report

  * Fringe Update 

  Still working on getting the multi-year contract finalised. Hartley
  is very busy at the moment but we had a quick meeting on Thursday to
  go over it.  He sent us a multi-year contract template that they’ve
  used with the Freemasons, but it contains some clauses we’re not
  happy with. We’ve talked about it though and I understand where he’s
  coming from so I think we can figure something out.
  
  He asked if there can be any more flexibility with the Midweek Meeting
  slot. Apparently 75 minutes is a tricky amount of time to program around -
  could it be an hour?

  Also, he asked if it could be any earlier or later. The current
  contract says between 11:30 and 14:00. He said 11:00 or even 11:15
  would make it easier for him as well.

  We *agreed* *Action* on MH Managers: discuss this with Midweek
  Meeting attendees with an eye to agreeing with some version of
  Hartley's request

  * Heating Survey

    Following a visit from from Luths we're still waiting for a promised report 

    A new possibility is what's know as a "mini-heat pump" which can
    be sited inside to provide warm or cool air.

    St. Augustines are looking at something like this

  * Charity Rate Monday

  Progress is happening - posters have been put out to advertise it,
  and Ellie has spoken to some groups directly.  We haven’t had much
  interest yet from the groups we’ve contacted so far.
  
  Part of the feedback has been that even at half-price our rooms
  still aren’t much cheaper than the cheapest venues - which makes it
  not worth the hassle of moving day/venue.

  * Website update

  Moving slowly due to circumstances outside of our control, but
  progress is happening.

  * Full Building Electrical Survey

  John Renshaw said this is a thing that should be done every 5 years
  Majk did some research and said he saw somewhere that this was a
  recommendation rather than a requirement, I have asked him to go
  back and find a source on that.

  We’ve got a few quotes - two for about £3.1k and one for about £
  1.6k! I haven’t had time to go through and see why the cheaper one
  is so much cheaper!

  * Lift Condition Report

  It was recommended - we’d like to get it  - £327 - is that ok?

  We *agreed* that this should go ahead.

  * Training Updates

  We have organised a first aid training at the MH, opening it to
  other organisations like Augustine in order to keep cost to a
  minimum.

  We will be doing the same with other essential training in time, and
  we’re exploring options to bring the most opportunities for staff
  learning/training that we will update the MHMC when we have
  finalised our thoughts

  *Inclusive Toilet mention on website:*

  Ellie has written some text for the website about our toilets - are
  the committee ok with this?

  * Short Version

  Yes, our toilets are trans-inclusive meaning that toilets labelled
  ‘female’ or ‘male’ are intended for any person for whom these
  facilities are best aligned with their lived experience. There are
  also two un-gendered self-contained cubicles, one of which is
  accessible.

  *Long Version:*

  Our toilet facilities are trans-inclusive, meaning that toilets
  labelled ‘female’ or ‘male’ are intended for any person for whom
  these facilities are best aligned with their lived
  experience. Further details are outlined below:

   - There is one accessible, un-gendered facility on the ground floor with a
     private basin, hand rails, a sanitary bin, and free period
     products. The size and layout of the cubicle allows wheelchair
     users to transfer from the left-hand side of the toilet only.

  - There is a second un-gendered facility on the ground floor with a
    toilet, basin, baby-changing facilities, a sanitary bin and free period
    products.

  - There are toilets labelled ‘male’ located on the stairs between
    the ground floor and the first floor which contain 2x urinals, 2x
    individual cubicles, a shared hand washing area, and free period products.

  - There are toilets labelled ‘female’ located on the mezzanine
    between the first and second floor which contain 3x single cubicle
    toilets each with a sanitary bin, a shared handwashing area, baby
    changing facilities, and free period products.

  * Full-building wiring survey

    EICR 5-year recommendation, we've been doing it, St. Augs ditto
    We *Agreed* that the Managers should go ahead with this, after a
    review of several quotes.

  * More thorough lift report

    We *Agreed* that the Managers should go ahead with this

* Financial Report

  Chris's report was circulated in advance

  Our thanks to Chris, as before this is very helpful and encouraging.
  Could we have some comparisons with last year at our next meeting, please.

* Works to be undertaken: Bow Room

  * Bow Room/Asbestos Update

  The company who did the original test has gone into administration!
  Asbestos regulations changed in 2012, so our previous survey is out
  of date. What we think is best to do now is:

  - Get a new full building Management Survey.

  - Get a Refurbishment Survey of the Bow Room - because that’s where
    we’re planning to do the work.

  - Get more thorough checks under the floor of the Bow Room corridor
    (for potential accessibility improvements) and in the ceiling
    cavities above the Hall and Meeting Room (for
    soundproofing/heating installation)

  Got 4 quotes for this (all inc VAT)

     - *Forth Asbestos Surveys - £1200*

	The only one who wanted to come and look around before
	quoting.  Based very locally, seems very knowledgeable. But he
	is the most expensive by far

     - *ASA Asbestos - £1008*

	They’ve done work at Riddle’s Court around the corner. I spoke
	to the guy on the phone and he gave a good impression, but
	when I asked about coming to visit the site they said they
	wouldn’t normally do that and they would charge for it.

     - *Safe Environment - £960*

	My least favourite - automatic responses, haven’t answered any
	of my questions

     - Asbestos Building Surveys - £943.20

       Are sending someone round on Tuesday to have a look

* Central Edinburgh Sunday fee

  AM Treasurer has asked if we plan to change this. It's currently
  £600.  Has been done since 2023 (£512).  So maybe £600.

  Need to know when/how much was last increase before deciding, and
   the Quaker rate idea has been agreed   *Action HST*

* Staff escalation route if they need backup

  The Minutes on this item from 2025-10-20 say:

   Trustees asked us:

    "we need ... an assurance from [MHMC] that staff have an
   escalation route whenever they need backup. ... We are happy for
   trustees to be on a reserve backup list in case no-one from MHMC
   is available."

  All we had in the past was an informal phone tree: MHM---MHMC via
  HST---Trustees via Martin Ward

  What SCALP gave us was more in the direction of how to behave
  towards the police in a less than full-cooperation way.  But was not
  really quite what we expected/hoped for for _building staff_.

  Staff now have a plan they are happy with: Manager contact in
  TeamUp, fallback to MHMC via phone list (on wall) *Action Andy* to
  create the phone list

* Policy/procedures for early booking arrivals
  
  What is the policy wrt Friends opening the front door when they are
  in the Foyer, there are no staff present and someone knocks or
  rings?

  This may arise if for example someone with a booking arrives more
  than 15 minutes early, a tourist wants to ask questions or look for
  Major Weir...

  This is clearly complicated, and begs the question of how a Friend
  or Friends may come to be in the Foyer without staff.

  This interacts with the "be a welcoming place for SESAM" goal.

  Jonathan Riddell has complained about not being allowed in

  The problem is only in general outside M-F 9-5.  Outside that time
   if the outer door is locked, it will only be opened for events 15
   minutes before a booking.

  After MfW on Sunday if there is an event is another tricky point.

  The Managers are working on an explicit set of guidelines

  *Action Andy* to send guidelines to Katrina and HST, HST to tidy and
   send to LM Clerks

* Sale of Alcohol

  It might be time to test this question with AM, against a background
  of a shift in attitude towards the consumption of alcohol in
  moderation, when the whole of 7VT is being let, and consumption is
  part of having a drink with a show.

  [Not resolved, carried forward]

* Convenor of MHMC

  HST leaves the Committee on 1 April...

  *Action HST* to produce a list of bullet points wrt what the job entails and
  send to C'ttee (including SS and AT)

  We *agreed* to move quickly to have a meeting of MHMC without the
  Managers or HST to discuss this and how if necessary the role could
  be split

  The C'tte expressed its thanks to HST for the many contributions he
  has made over the last three years.

* Date of next meeting

  We need to do a reset on what everyone's blackout days are...