Mercurial > hg > rsof

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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta name="copyright" content="Copyright (C) 2007 Henry S. Thompson"/><meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/><style type="text/css">
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+       div.caption {font-style: italic; font-weight: bold}
+     </style><title>Future of 7 VT working group: First meeting</title></head><body style="font-family: DejaVu Sans, Arial; background: rgb(254,250,246); font-size: 12pt; width: 20cm; align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto">
+ <div style="text-align: center">
+  <h1>Future of 7 VT working group: First meeting</h1>
+  <div class="byline">This informal summary by Henry S. Thompson, Convenor</div>
+  <div class="byline">Held at 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh on 5 January 2009, 7:30 p.m.</div>
+ </div>
+
+  <div>
+   <h2>1.  Attendance</h2>
+   <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>
+   <h2>2.  Introductions</h2>
+   <p>The members of the working group gave brief self-introductions</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+   <h2>3.  Background</h2>
+   <p>Alastair Cameron, on behalf of Area Meeting gave us
+some background:</p>
+   <ul>
+    <li>What is our vision for what Quakers need as a physical presence in Edinburgh?</li>
+    <li>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.</li>
+    <li>AM looking for renewal of its sense of what its presence in Edinburgh
+should be</li>
+    <li>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.</li>
+   </ul>
+   <p>Don Stubbings, who was
+instrumental in raising some of the questions we will be considering:</p>
+   <ul>
+    <li>Don has served for many years on Fabric and Maintenance</li>
+    <li>Costs coming:
+     <ul>
+      <li>Toilets need renewed</li>
+      <li>Heating is a problem</li>
+      <li>The flats are an ongoing financial drain</li>
+      <li>The kitchen is scheduled for a refit</li>
+      <li>The roof is being refurbished, and is involving more and costing
+more than expected, taking up most of our cash reserves</li>
+      <li>Children's space restructuring?  Interacts with the kitchen refit.</li>
+     </ul>
+    </li>
+   </ul>
+   <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 <i>treat</i> 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 Read 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>
+   <ul>
+    <li>Meeting room itself was an awkward L-shaped space, on first floor,
+up a narrow staircase—some elderly/infirm friends had stopped attending;</li>
+    <li>Need for larger/better children and teenagers space;</li>
+    <li>Desire
+to share facilities with other groups</li>
+    <li>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.</li>
+   </ul>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+   <h2>4.  Topics for next meeting</h2>
+   <ul>
+    <li>Questions we might ask;</li>
+    <li>Whom we might ask, and who will take responsibility for getting
+answers from them;</li>
+    <li>What examples might we look at;</li>
+    <li>Getting a cashflow forecast and a cashflow history</li>
+   </ul>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+   <h2>5.  Next Meeting</h2>
+   <p>Our next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 13th January at 7
+Victoria Terrace.</p>
+  </div>
+
+</body></html>
\ No newline at end of file
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/fmh_2009-01-05.xml	Mon Jan 05 16:48:41 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 '&#163;'>
+]>
+<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 Read 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&mdash;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>