Meeting for Sufferings was held at Woodbrooke from Friday evening 4
December through Sunday lunchtime 6 December.  The main focus was on
"Our Area Meetings today", but before reporting on that, here's a
brief summary of other points of possible interest:

 * Concerns were expressed about TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and
   Investment Partnership), and the question of what BYM could do to
   mobilise opposition was raised.  The response was that it was
   unlikely that this would receive much effort from the centre, too
   much else going on.

 * As part of BYM Trustees' report the BYM Treasurer reminded us that
   "More action requires more money", while noting there had been good
   legacy income, as well as the best-ever income from the Hospitality
   company (which manages Friends House and, as of this year,
   Swarthmore Hall).

 * The "Vibrancy" project will receive 675,000GBP pilot fuding over
   the next 3.5 years, with 3 or 4 regional officers being appointed,
   managed from Woodbrooke

 * Following on from BYM 2015's focus on equality, we heard from the
   Housing Threshing event which happened at Woodbrook in September
   that our Friend Alastair Cameron was helping to take the lead in
   work towards establishing an ethical landlords' association.

 * BYM 2015 had referred one proposed change to our Books of
   Discipline, paragraphs 3.27 (revised) and 3.28 (new), which give
   guidelines for Friends speaking publicly, back to Sufferings.  We
   reviewed and threshed a redraft of these, and now ask Friends to
   please consider them carefully in advance of Yearly Meeting
   Gathering 2016 where they will be presented for approval.

About half our time together was spent reflecting on the status and
state of our Area Meetings.  Perhaps not surprisingly, many other AMs
are reacting to "challenges and opportunities" similar to those which
lead to the creation of SE Scotland AM's STIR group.  We had several
discussion sessions in a 'Home' group consisting of all the
representatives from AMs in Scotland and Wales, followed by a plenary
session.

There will be a more extensive summary of the results coming from the
centre in due course.  In the meantime, here are a few high- (and
low-) points:

  * There is a sense of weariness/sadness around the issue of AM (the
    event);

  * "The business method is not working quite right"

  * We are suffering from many weighty Friends having been "creamed
    off" into AM Trustees

  * Many AMs have launched some form of review process

  * We need to re-understand AM's relationships (up, down, sideways)

  * A number of people mentioned the "Northumbria model", about which
    material will be made available [and I will forward it to Sesame]

  * There's value in trying harder to make the 'business' aspects of
    AM (the event) as focussed and efficient as possible

  * Gatherings for Fellowship, centred on food, hospitality,
    socialising, have been very successful, and need not, indeed
    perhaps should not, happen on the same day as AM for business

  * More effort needs to go into "job descriptions" that make the jobs
    feel possible

  * We should ask ourselves, if AM (the event) didn't exist, [why]
    would we have to invent it?