Meeting House Management Committee Agenda 2025-10-20
Monday 20 October, 5.15 p.m., in 7 Victoria Terrace

* Attendance: JP Ascher (JP, via Zoom), Eliza Giles (EG, observing),
  Rachael Fitzgerald (RF), Chris Jardine (CJ), Katrina McCrea (via Zoom),
  Jackie Noltingk, Laragh Quinney, Henry S. Thompson (HST), Andy
  Tucker (AT), Duncan Wallace (DW)

* Convenor's report
  * Change of representative from Treasury Team

    We welcome Chris Jardine, the new AM Assistant
    Treasurer, and say goodbye to Jackie Noltingk, with a very warm
    'Thank You!' for your long service and many contributions to the
    work of this committee and your frequent help for its convenor.

  * Suggestions from Local Meeting

    Turns out HST misunderstood the suggestion from LM Co-Clerk Juliet
    Henderson regarding the provision of something to help keep folk
    warm in the Meeting Room: it was _blankets_, not gillets.

    We welcome the offer from Central Edinburgh Local Meeting to
    purchase a number of blankets to be made available for people
    attending Meeting for Worship as the temperature drops and ask
    them to liaise with the Managers about practical details such as
    storage, signage and cleaning.  *Action HST* to inform LM

  * Unpaid leave for Eliza Giles 3 months in August-November 2026: EAPPI

    We are happy to agree to Eliza Giles taking three
    months of unpaid leave August--November 2026 to be a volunteer
    with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and
    Israel and wish her well in that very important and challenging
    activity.

  * Computing infrastructure
    * New domain and storage

    Jonathan Riddell (the AM Treasurer) and David Sterratt have begun
    a restructuring of various aspects of the Area Meeting's computing
    infrastructure, in part in response to the creation of a new
    domain (quaker.scot), including new email addresses and a move
    from Dropbox to Google Drive.  AT and HST met with them to discuss
    changes this requires and/or enables changes in the Meeting House
    computing setup.

    * Windows 10 support

    HST and AT have worked together successfully to extend the
    provision of security updates to three of our Windows 10 PCs for a
    further year to 1 October 2026.  *Action HST* to check with User 2
    about the newest machine vs. Windows 11.

  * Dundee Friends Property Trust (DFPT)

    In response to a request from the trustees of DFPT for information
    as they prepare to replace their single, part-time, employee, HST
    shared some salary and job description informaiton based on
    publicly available information.

    DW suggested finding out more about DFPT's management plan,
    suggesting that it might be useful to develop a relationship with
    them or some other peer with a Meeting House to manage.

* Managers' report

  * Defend our Juries

  There were only two people taken in to custody immediately after the
  demonstration at the Scottish Parliament on 6 January, and they were
  both released later that day to friends and/or family, so the
  Meeting House wasn't needed as a fallback recovery venue.  HST and
  Sammi Searle had been monitoring events via a Signal group so we
  knew when we could stand down.

  * Area Meeting 10 September

  AT introduced himself and Sammi.  He reported to AM how the Warm
  Spaces had gone (well), but it's not going ahead this year.  EG (who
  was also there) and AT answered some questions about the 2025
  Fringe.  We were reminded that in 2024 we put up the programme in
  the Foyer ahead of time so Friends could review and comment.  We
  were asked to make it more obvious that this was a Quaker space,
  which we have taken on board for next 2026, and already discussed
  with Hartley Kemp, who was receptive.

  Perhaps we might reach out to Quaker groups who performed at Venue
  40 to encourage them to consider coming again and telling them how
  to get in touch with Hartley?

  * New Casual Staff

    Two new casual staff are starting, they will each shadow existing
    staff for three hires before starting on their own.

  * 2026 Room Hire pricing

    We *agreed* that prices should go up by at least as much as the
    Real Living Wage (RLW) goes up.  RF helped in 2024 by sharing
    information not only about Augustine United's rates, but some
    other local comparators.  The office is already getting enquiries
    for 2026.  HST and Managers to share a proposal wrt rates from
    January 2026 with RF and DW by 10 NOvember for review.  RLW now
    announced at just under 7%.  *Action* RF to share the local
    comparators info.

  * CVenues 2026

  MS has been doing some follow-up.  Greenside are off the table
  (Alcohol).  CVenues are keen, Momentum will need a venue in 2026,
  supposed to meet around now.  They would allow us to do some normal
  lettings, maybe some rehearsal spaces.  They would presumably be
  gone in a year, and we would have lost Hartley.  Hartley wants a
  3-year contract.  Two reasons to do that: save time each year;
  justify investment on Hartley's part: sound-proofing, network
  cabling/architecture.  *Agreed* To ask Managers to go ahead and
  offer Hartley a 3-year deal, details to be negotiated.  HST to tell
  Trustees

  * Mid-Week Meeting

  Will try to re-house in one of the big rooms if the Library is not
  available.  We could ask them to identify a point of contact.
  *Action* HST to have a chat with Alison and Margaret about how we
  could make communication a bit easier (Whats App; E-mail; phone
  tree).

  * Probation Meetings

  Ellie and Majk's went well.  MS might take his months (already
  agreed) after EG returns.  We might be able to get one of the Casual
  Staff applicants who would suit very well to get a temporary
  replacement.

* Upper Bow report
  * Rent increase

   JP no longer proposes rate increase.  Different bases for
   considering rental value are market rates and desired yield.  We
   should aim to do"an honest job as a decent landlord".  Small
   regular increases are fairer than nothing for a while and then
   bouncing a lot.  We're in good shape wrt value, Southside is our
   best source of advice wrt market rates.  So we *Agreed* to go with
   their advice, for a 2% increment.  Although the market itself is
   not necessarily fair, the proposed raise from £900 to £918/mo
   is not extortionate.

  * Vacancy management

    The tenants have returned.

* Finance report

  CJ presented a very well set-out summary of monthly- and
  year-to-date figures (attached), which show a very good month in
  September, and a decrease in the projected deficit each month since
  July, for which HST thanked staff.

  AT feels that the 'overrun' on the staff budget makes him think the
  budget itself is unreasonable.  The question of what the budget
  should be based on should be sorted with Trustees as a matter of
  urgency.  Contract staff costs are fixed.  Casual staff hours pay
  for themself.  The complexity arises when we get to the need for
  cover throughout each weekday.

  *Action* on staff (and JN) to bring what they can about
  understanding where our income comes from to the next meeting.

* Heating/Insulation/Energy...
  * Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES)
  
  DW points out that there's a local CARES person (Energy Adviser) for
  this part of Scotland who we should cultivate in time for the next
  opportunity.  *Action* to DW to work with MS find out if the
  person we were given to liaise with over the previous application,
  is the right person.

  Two heaters have been fixed.  Library heater under investigation.

* Works to be undertaken Upper Bow
  * Report from Majk Stokes

  Quotes for windows, flooring.  Accessibility is an issue.  *ACTION*
  on AT and MS to give HST something for Trustees on 28 Oct.

* Quinquennial review/News from Trustees

  [out of time, will push this higher up next time]

* Staff escalation route if they need backup

  Trustees wrote to us about this, following up on the meeting in
  July where SCALP (Scottish Community and Activist Legal Project)
  gave Meeting House staff a training session on _Working Well with
  the Police_.

  "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 have at the moment is 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_.

  De-escalation training!  RF to let us know more about this.

  We will come back to this.

* Date of next meeting

  Tentatively 17th November 1715 in the Meeting House

ht