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+Meeting House Management Committee Notes 2025-08-21
+Thursday 21 August, 7:30 p.m., online via Zoom
+
+* Attendance
+
+Henry S Thompson (Convenor); JP Ascher, Rachel Fitzgerald, Katrina McCrea,
+Jacqueline Noltingk, Laragh Quinney; Sammi Searle and
+Andy Tucker (Meeting House Managers)
+
+Prevented: Duncan Wallace
+
+* Finance
+
+JN presented the figures for 7VT.  June and July numbers are
+encouraging, particularly the net surplus of I over E in July.  £3000
+each month was from CVenues, but even w/o that we would still have
+shown a (smaller) surplus.  £5200 from 3F2 4 Upper Bow for the first
+half of the year means the combined total will show us close to, if not
+actually better than, our budgetted deficit.
+
+Staffing is still over budget, there's no obvious route to reducing
+this, so we need to look at how that budget line is calculated in the
+future.
+
+* New budget approach
+
+Trustees plan to propose a new approach to how and when AM budgets are
+set, switching to a 3-year rolling horizon, see attached email from
+the Clerk to Trustees.
+
+The key bit for us is Purpose.2:
+
+ "to agree with Edinburgh MH Management Committee and managers a
+  financial framework for investments to make the building
+  environmentally and financially sustainable over time"
+
+The Managers have been working with Jacqui Nolting, Majk Stokes and
+Ellie Giles to pull together a set of recommendations, bearing in mind
+input from the recent building walkthroughs, the Affordability Group
+report and the Quinquennial Review.
+
+Bow Room [from JN notes] First in line, MS is chasing quotes
+
+Library: Add it to the inventory for booking, with a two-hour midday
+gap so that kitchen access for lunches is available.  Storage needs
+for times when kitchen is _not_ accessible.
+
+Creche: Self-contained small let might be possible, with a modest need
+for investment.  Internet access will require some careful planning.
+May need to restrict to 11-month contracts to allow for Fringe use.
+
+Foyer: Quoting going ahead for insulation.
+
+Wrt heat and ventilation, we agree with "fabric-first".  Looking
+forward to the more ambitious possibilities, MHMC would obviously need
+to be involved as regards closures of (parts of) the Meeting House.
+
+Cafe not at the front of our list at this time, but making the Foyer
+a more welcoming and restful space.
+
+Cleaning contract is under review, with new quotes coming in, does
+require real living wage.
+
+Third tier of pricing for long-term small local groups?
+
+Prepare to think about Fringe 2026, AM on 10 September
+
+Date of next meeting: 1 September at 1500, 7 VT
+
+[Draft minute]
+
+*New budget approach*
+
+Trustees plan to propose a new approach to how and when AM budgets are
+set, switching to a 3-year rolling horizon, in which section Purpose.2
+reads:
+
+ "to agree with Edinburgh MH Management Committee and managers a
+  financial framework for investments to make the building
+  environmentally and financially sustainable over time"
+
+We welcome the opportunity to participate in this process, with the
+specific goal quoted above.
+
+In preparation for this, the Managers have been working with Jacqui
+Nolting, Majk Stokes and Ellie Giles to pull together a set of
+recommendations, bearing in mind input from the recent building
+walkthroughs, the Affordability Group report and the Quinquennial
+Review.
+
+Some details of this have been shared already, and more will be
+forthcoming, but at this point we want to set out the following
+points:
+
+  * We endorse the "fabric-first" approach to  insulation, heating
+    and ventilation put forward by John Renshaw, it's entirely
+    consistent with our own priorities;
+
+  * We are actively exploring improvements to the Bow Room to create a
+    more attractive letting space;
+
+  * We expect to propose some small changes to space usage elsewhere
+    to enable new letting possibilities for the Library;
+
+  * Subject to the outcome of John Renshaw's exploration of "...", we
+    propose to make the Creche a self-contained long-term let.
+
+In each of the latter three cases, starting from the material already
+shared with Martin Ward in an email on 19 August, we aim to provide
+specific plans and costings as they become available.