Wendrie Heywood

A life long Quaker, I've been involved in Wardening and building management for all of my professional life. I am a seasoned office manager and executor of projects, used to working either with a single manager or a committee to clarify goals and ensure that these goals come to fruition. I have successfully worked remotely, as an independent worker responsible for setting my priorities and goals with reference to the remit given.

Quaker A-Z: H is for History plus Health & Safety

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FMH Muswell Drawing

This is part of the Quaker Alphabet Project – click here for more information.

H is for History plus Health & Safety

History

In B is for Buildings I mentioned writing down a history of the building to act as a corporate memory for Premises Committee.

There is of course so much relating to the history of the Meeting as a community, than a building…

  • Have you asked other members of the meeting to share their memories of the Meeting?
  • Created a way to share those memories with newer members and attenders?
  • Considered creating a scrapbook archive that can be looked through and added to by each generation of members/attenders/children?

2014 03 21 shared mealsThis doesn’t have to be complicated – print out any Life & Service reports to slip into plastic page protectors for example.

An easy addition could be just a photograph or two a year – ask around as members may have taken some or be willing to take some.

A brief note of any highlights (births, deaths, membership matters, social events) would be fun to look back on.

Ring binder photo albums can hold a variety of different types – holding A4 paper, photos etc.

2014 03 21 newspaper clippingsAdd in photos of the children’s latest play, a shared meal, or carol singing and you’ll have wonderful material in years to.

It may even inspire new activities!

Perhaps you can sense that I am an enthusiastic scrapbooker and memory keeper. Don’t know what that means? See the Life Artistry tab above.

One project I enjoyed at Muswell Hill was taking head shots of current members and attenders as part of a Centenary Scrapbook.

I resized the photos to 3″x4″, printed two to a 6″x4″ photo and cut apart. We used paper and card trimmed to 6″x4″ and created a stack of cards inspired by the recent “I’m a xxxx, an xxxx and a Quaker” posters.

2014 03 21 I'm a 6x4Discovering little titbits about each other creates fellowship and much laughter as the cards are read and shared. These were slipped into plastic pocket page protectors which were put into the Meeting’s scrapbook album.

Health & Safety

Again as I mentioned in F is for First Aid this is a concern that often slips into the background…

until someone drops hot tea down themselves or is cut whilst chopping veggies for soup…

The basic requirements are that you have a Health & Safety policy that states that your Premises Committee follow all appropriate rules/legislation and that someone has the responsibility for checking that you are.

As well as that policy I’ve presumed you have a first aid box, an accident book and again that someone has the responsibility for checking those and replenishing stocks if necessary. Plus ensuring that basic H&S rules such as fire exits aren’t blocked, assessments of risk have been done etc.

Not sure what those rules are? The Health & Safety Executive website has a handy H&S ABC section.

Two tips I brought back from the very useful Woodbrooke & Quaker Life course, ‘Managing Your Meeting House’ were:

1) Have Health & Safety as a standing agenda item for Premises – even if all you can report is that nothing has been reported.

2) Put copies of your risk assessment on a wall or noticeboard for hirers. Those who need them won’t have to ask if you have one and those who haven’t thought about such things will be reminded.

To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link here or in the side bar.

  • What have you done to share the history and traditions of your meeting with new attenders and members?

Quaker A-Z: G is for Garden

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2014 02 21 snowdrops 1 This is part of the Quaker Alphabet Project click here for more information.

G is for Gardens

Many Meeting Houses have gardens or burial grounds or both…

QUAKERS BURIAL GROUND
photo by Leo Reynolds

During the Woodbrooke “AM Properties: Spiritual & Strategic Resources” course I attended last year several Trustees brought up burial grounds as a problem.

‘Tis a complicated subject with many variations – so I’m not going to get into the technical legalities of burial grounds and their maintenance.

Nor am I going to attempt to enthuse you about gardening – although it is a passion of mine. Especially in urban areas, outdoor space can be a big draw for hirers of the building, as well as making the building look more inviting.

I mentioned in C is for Choices & Changes that I had told the hirers about Minute 36, what the Meeting hoped to do to reduce its carbon footprint and some practical changes that would be happening.  I also put copies of the minute and other information up on the garden noticeboard – this has guidelines on the garden and its usage.

I was able to talk about how the organic, wild life friendly garden is managed, why the various areas exist and how doing this both improves bio-diversity and reduces our carbon footprint at the same time.

Whilst each group may feel that composting their tea bags and left over biscuits may not be much, they can see that combined with the other groups it does make a difference.  Ensuring that there is a display of what those differences are – for example photos of the apple harvest or pond wildlife can encourage visitors.

Good garden design can make all the difference to the usage and maintenance of the space. Maintenance and some new flowers can also help tremendously.

2013 06 Cotteridge gardenCotteridge Meeting House had their garden designed by a professional gardener Debbie Arrowsmith, who was able to combine a busy Pre-School play area with a quieter meditative space which appears when the play things are all packed away.

Whilst chatting with the gardeners at Friends House, I discovered they have to be careful of the height of plantings – to prevent people using that semblance of privacy for various anti-social behaviours. Instead they’ve redesigned the area to create height and interest in different ways.

Contrasted to another gardening chat with the Warden, where their main vandals were local cattle…

Did you know that there is a Quaker Gardens Project? The Project ran a course at Woodbrooke offering help and advice on using the space to ensure that our Quaker values and testimonies are on show here as well in our buildings. Woodbrooke’s grounds are wonderful – and draw visitors in to their open days who not only enjoy a brief glimpse at this urban oasis but also learn a bit more about Quakers and organic gardening at the same time.

At a Wardens Talking event we discussed ways to use the garden for outreach – such as joining with a local gardening or green group to arrange an open day – especially if there are strong connections with the Meeting already. The group might be able to offer additional people on the day, plus marketing directed at a completely different group.

This sort of joint event could even be arranged in a Meeting House where there isn’t much garden – apple identification, seed swaps etc. are all indoor events.

Horfield Meeting in Bristol managed to convert their rather small and dingy outdoor yard into a space complete with planters and Quaker made tiled mural – a place to stop and admire whilst waiting at the bus stop rather than ignore.

Horfield courtyard

Whilst if you have been blessed with ample green space you could consider using part of it to grow vegetables or fruit, as a memorial area or even create a peace garden [link to peace garden project]. Woodbrooke hold open days which attract many people into the space to enjoy the garden but also to learn a little bit about Quakers too.

  • What have you done to attract people to your outdoor space?
  • Have you considered the usage and maintenance of that space as a way of demonstrating Quaker values?

To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link here or in the side bar.

Quaker A-Z F: Fair Trade Churches & First Aid

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2012 02 23 1st aid drawer

 This is part of the Quaker Alphabet Project click here for more information.

F is for Fair Trade & First Aid

Fair Trade Churches

Fair Trade Fortnight was 24 February – 9 March 2014 this year – did you do anything?

A Meeting House can become a Fair Trade Church – a small but significant step towards a fairer more equitable society.

How? Thankfully that is fairly easy, you may discover you already qualify at least in part.

Your Meeting must agree to the following:

  • Use Fairtrade tea and coffee after Meeting for Worship and in all meetings for which you have responsibility
  • Move forward on using other Fairtrade products such as sugar, biscuits and fruit
  • Promote Fairtrade during Fairtrade Fortnight and during the year through events, worship and other activities whenever possible

The Meeting will get a certificate which you can display in the kitchen. Some meeting houses also have fair trade products available to sell. Others just ensure that the supplies they use are Fair Trade.

The Fairtrade Foundation Churches scheme is supported by Quaker Peace & Social Witness centrally, but each Meeting can join in with the Fair Trade Church campaign.

F is also for First Aid

It isn’t until something happens that it occurs to us to ask… “Is there anyone in the Meeting who has an up to date first aid certificate?” The old question of a doctor needs too much clarification on occasion!

First aid again is another of those not so interesting but necessary items overseen by Premises and building management committees.

One of the useful tips I picked up on a first aid course was to sign and date the accident book when checking the box’s contents. Just to show that you were there – and to prevent anyone from entering an accident that you weren’t aware of.

Did you know there isn’t any legislation saying what you should have in a first aid box – although the HSE do supply guidance free to download. Note: you shouldn’t have tablets or medications in there or be giving them out.

  • Is there a first aid box in the meeting house?
  • When was the last time the contents were checked?
  • If you hire space to other organizations do they use your first aid kit?
  • Do you have any guidance for them or the Meeting on where it is and what to do if there is an accident?

To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link here or in the side bar.

Quaker A-Z E is for Equality & Environment

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2010 12 11 new meeting room set up 1This is part of the Quaker Alphabet Project click here for more information.

E is for Equality and Environment

Environment

Here I’m not thinking of our green and pleasant land, but around the Meeting House inside and out.

According to Quaker Faith & Practice – Elders have a responsibility to ensure ‘the right holding of MfW’ and ‘to be responsible for the quiet gathering of the meeting for worship in order, reverence and harmony, for the arrangement of seating‘.

Whilst Premises have the responsibility to ensure that the meeting isn’t doing that gathering whilst balancing gingerly on unsafe chairs or dodging leaks.

However it is a joint effort to ensure that the building and its surroundings looks as the Meeting would like it to look, as with any place clutter and unorganised areas can start to build up without anyone having the responsibility to sort, purge and clear them away.

  • Have you ever asked yourself or others in the Meeting how the Meeting House should look? Looked as a prospective visitor or hirer may?
  • What does that quote mention of ‘order, reverence and harmony’ let alone the seating look like for your Meeting House?
  • Does the Meeting House meet the needs of all of the various types of user groups and still maintain a sense of peace?
  • Are there ways you could address any problem areas and create a more harmonious and serene space to worship and work in?

Equality

Recently one of the most interesting (and frustrating) aspects of managing a Meeting House has been around Equality. Both in relation to Disability Access and trying to balance all the needs/wants of each group with different ages and practical requirements, in a building which was built well before such concerns was common place is not uniquely Quaker – many other churches and historic buildings struggle with such things.

There are various rights around access and equality that are legislated about. More details on those can be found at the Government’s ‘Creating a Fairer and More Equal Society‘  pages. But to quote one very frustrated disabled Quaker,

“I just wish people would remember that disabled doesn’t mean wheelchair user!”

Ramps, lifts, evacuation concerns and hearing loops may all require professional advice. As well as a disability advisor or architect who can be questioned on specific instances or concerns that you might have about your building. I’m not going to attempt to offer any advice on such things.

But here are a few other tips I found useful that are simple and cheap to implement.

1) Ensure all door frames and doors are a different colour to the surrounding walls.  This gives someone with partial visual impairment a large rectangle to aim at.

2) Have a variety of different types of chairs, some with arms, some without, some taller and some shorter. If at all possible allow people to choose their own chairs, with cushions available for those who need them (one meeting has a basket of fleece rugs too as several of their elderly Friends were feeling the cold), and perhaps footstools. Consider where else you can supply such things – for example left handed scissors and can openers were donated at a previous meeting I attended by a left handed Quaker.

3) Offer different lighting options – a task light by the library desk where people want to read/write for example or under kitchen cupboards where people are preparing refreshments.

4) Supply photographs of drawer or cupboard contents as well as labels. As it was pointed out you shouldn’t presume that people can read your (often small) labels, or can read English…

It also meant the cupboards and drawers were tidied out thoroughly before we took, printed and laminated the photos. These are used and commented upon by people who can read and see perfectly well but find the photos easier.2014 02 05 kitchen photo cupboards

  • What steps have you taken to ensure that your building is suitable for all?
  • Did you find professional advice useful?
  • Have you produced any leaflets or guidance to improve access or equality among members and attenders?

To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link here or in the side bar.

Quaker A-Z D is for Dangers

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2014-02-05 12.11.10This is part of the Quaker Alphabet Project click here for more information.

D is for Dangers

I don’t want to suggest that there are unsuspecting dangers lurking around every corner – but there are a few things I’d like to suggest that each Premises committee should consider.

What are the dangers that you might be most concerned with?

  • Fire
  • Accidents
  • Decay or lack of maintenance which causes the building to become unsafe
  • Loss of hirers and therefore income
  • Loss of volunteers and therefore needing to hire people to do the same work

Then how to solve these:
Most risks can be avoided with some practical preparation and common sense.

Fire and other Risk Assessment templates are easily available from the HSE website with guidance and questionnaires to work through.

Did you know ROSPA do surveys of the building and garden if you want a professional viewpoint. Otherwise ensuring you have appropriate H&S policies and procedures should protect yourself and others.

Be careful to differientiate between things you have to do legally and those that you want to do and what others might suggest you do…

Insurance is always a good idea to protect assests.

Ensuring that each building is surveyed professionally on a regular basis – commonly every 5 years ‘a Quinquennial Survey’ plus more often – at least annually by members of the Premises committee.

Consider ways to build a relationship with your hirers, ask questions to see how that relationship is (doesn’t have to be as formal as a survey), find ways to add value to encourage them to stay with you.

Have a back up plan of how you would run the organization if you didn’t have volunteers and think of ways that your volunteers feel supported and appreciated. (There will be more about this when we get to V!)

To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link here or in the side bar.

Quaker A-Z: C is for Choices and Changes

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Cleaning Cycle
Photo by Garry Knight from Flickr.

C is for Choices and Changes (+ Cleaning)

This is part of the Quaker Alphabet Project click here for more information.

Perhaps not a very interesting title but have you ever thought of the Meetings Choices, Changes and Cleaning as a form of Outreach?

Why Have a Meeting House?

Wherever a few are gathered, in whatever premises, Quakers can hold a meeting for worship; and Friends individually or in small groups can pursue their concerns with success. However, many of us find that the presence and effectiveness of the group is extended immeasurably by having its own meeting house. Sooner or later the meeting will want its premises to serve such needs as these:

  • As a place for the local Meeting for Worship,
  • As a place for Area Meeting,
  • As a physical Quaker presence in the neighbourhood,
  • As a centre for outreach,
  • As a place to call others to Quaker concerns.

A house-group can fulfil only the first of these, no matter how effective the group is as a meeting for worship. A hired room may serve the next one as well, but cannot extend its facilities beyond that. The fact of owning its own premises will enable the meeting to do all these things, at times and in ways of its own choosing. However ownership necessitates the acceptance of responsibilities. If we are to be seen as an enlivening presence in our community we must take up these responsibilities seriously, so that we speak not only through our lives, but through our buildings too.

(Handbook on the Care of Meeting Houses 001.4)

– there so many things that Meetings and Premises committees do because they are good or necessary things to do. But have you ever thought to ensure, that where the Meeting is doing something because it feels led to do so, or is joining with other Quaker groups to support something, that other people know that you are doing them for those reasons?

One example is that usage baseline that Meeting for Sufferings asked each Meeting to calculate after Yearly Meeting at Canterbury. As a warden I sent out a brief email to each user telling them of the practical changes (recycling in the main lobby etc.) that would be happening and asking them to join in with them.

We also weighed all of the landfill, recycling and compostable material leaving the building for several weeks to get an average. This had an unexpected side affect – our main hirer was so appalled at how much was being thrown away by their group, that they altered their policy not only at our building but at their other sites.

Twin Toilet
Photo by Amanda Slater from Flickr

This is somewhere that we can learn from larger Quaker building management – I was tickled whilst on a course to discover that Woodbrooke have twinned their toilets, a talking point and a way to express Quaker values in a fairly subtle way.

Friends House list their values and use a tagline ‘holding an event here won’t cost the earth‘ as part of their reasoning as to why you should hold an event there.

These values are visible enough in the Quaker Centre that they were commented on during a meeting I held there. As the only Quaker – I answered questions which led on to a discussion of the Canterbury Commitment and general Sustainability.

  • Does your meeting only use environmentally safe cleaning materials?
  • Have you made specific choices about how you run your building/garden, hold and organise events or who you collect money for?

Any of these can be a reflection of our beliefs and values that could be shared with others in a non-boastful way.

This sort of outreach is aimed at educating people to what Quakers find important and about the values that we corporately share. To repeat the quote above

“As a place to call others to Quaker concerns… If we are to be seen as an enlivening presence in our community we must take up these responsibilities seriously, so that we speak not only through our lives, but through our buildings too.”

Specifically things we do because we are Quaker rather than just moderately-nice-people…

Looking around your Meeting House –

  • What sort of values does your Meeting House reflect and share?
  • Do you have lists of, or information about and Newsletters from the causes supported by collections?
  • What changes could you implement that could help your Meeting House explain its Quaker values more clearly?
  • What does your Meeting do that expresses these values clearly?

To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link here or in the side bar.

Quaker A-Z: B is for Buildings

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2011 01 Front of buildingThis is part of the Quaker Alphabet Project click here for more information.

B is for Building Records and Tours

Building – perhaps if you read the last post you suspected that B might be for Building. However, I’m going to concentrate on two bits of caring for a building that I often see forgotten.

Building Tours

Two different sorts here – the first is the one that is developed to sell each room or space that you let to prospective hirers.

Have you thought about what should be included in any tour? What points to be sure to raise as you walk around. A list to read from can ensure that nothing important is forgotten. A leaflet to hand out with the main points summarized can be very helpful too.

The second is – have you ever thought of doing a “Getting to Know your Meeting House” tour for local Friends and Attenders?

Empowering them and educating them to the important bits of their building – such as where the toilet paper is kept, where to find cleaning supplies or even the carol sheets?

Not only will it mean that people will feel able to sort out small problems without resorting to the warden, but also that they may feel more ownership of the building.

Combining it with some other issue – such as sustainability or ‘what colour should we paint’ can also add interest too.

This can be useful for members of Premises who may only be concentrating on the bits they see regularly or if they are new may never have known about.

Building Records

Both those from the building and any additions or changes, but also those which slowly help to create a fuller picture.

For example:

  • Do you have a set of up to date drawings?
  • Would you be able to calculate the floor area or the square meterage of each room or the entire building from them?
  • Do the records you have include where the utilities and drainage are – and where they run to?
  • Does the stopcock work and does anyone know where it is?
  • Are meter readings taken regularly?
  • If so are they recorded anywhere that anyone looks at them and can notice trends?

I love photographs – but have also found them invaluable for tracking and recording changes to buildings. Internally and externally as well as the progress of any works that may be happening. With digital cameras you can easily provide a fairly full photographic record of each room and aspect of the building and grounds.

This may not be the most riveting read once it is complete – but it is extremely useful. Obviously ensure that copies are kept somewhere that they can be accessed and not just on one person’s computer.

There is nothing more frustrating than having a shaft dug through concrete – which is meant to reach a drain at 4.6m, but instead hits an unexpected live cable at 3.9m stopping the works… or perhaps that is just me?

To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link here or in the side bar.

Quaker A-Z: A is for Advice

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2012 09 12 apple close up

This is part of the Quaker Alphabet Project click here for more information.

A is for apple and also for

Advice

Where do you get advice about how to be a Warden or a member of Premises or a Trustee with responsibility for buildings?

Starting off the series with a serious post.

One of the reasons for starting this blog was that this IS the most common question.

“I’ve just become a Trustee, or agreed to serve on Premises… where do I find out what I should be doing?”

Hoping that by collecting answers to such questions in a easily read and searchable format would be helpful.

I presume that they’ve spoken to other members of the committee. Plus hope that there is a mentor or similar, who can hand on advice and specific information – that corporate memory that I’ve blogged about before.

First port of call is (as in so many things) at Quaker.org.uk where there is useful advice for Trustees, members of Premises Committees both in their capacity as managers of buildings and as managers of staff or volunteers. Plus of course for Wardens. There are staff at Friends House who support Quakers working in and for local meetings:

Employers
Wardenship
Trustees

Next I always recommend joining the Wardenship E List run by Quaker Life – where you can ask questions and get answers and views from people who have a wide range of experience in all sizes of Meeting Houses & Area Meetings all being run in slightly different ways from a team of paid staff to one very part time volunteer.

Everything from – notification of scam artists; discussions about filing contracts; storage of bulk cleaning supplies; plus serious discussions about new legislation and employment matters.

Finally there is an annual conference ‘Managing Our Meeting Houses’ run at Woodbrooke which is not only a good place for new Trustees, Premises Committee Members and Wardens but also for more experienced people. I know several very experienced Wardens who went and were pleasantly surprised to learn, as well as network and share good practice.

Plus of course there are people who are able to give professional advice – who are available on a consultancy basis or as employees. Quaker Stewardship Committee can help too – they’ve produced a useful manual about the care of Meeting Houses as well as a set of Advices and Queries on Stewardship.

Hopefully you’ll find the answers you seek – and then be able to share that knowledge on to the next round of questioners!

Finally – remembering a salutatory piece of advice I was once given –

 “remember that the results of well meaning, but bumbling amateurs, may lead to more costly repairs in the long run.”

Did I forget anything?
What else would you add to this list?

To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link here or in the side bar.

An Explanation of the Quaker Alphabet Blog project for 2014

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Q is for QuakerI’m joining in with the Quaker A-Z blog event – where all sorts of Quakers from all walks of life are coming together to share ideas.

Linked only by our Quakerism and the format of publishing blog posts A-Z.

In 2013 Rhiannon Grant, Stephanie Grant and Gil Skidmore wrote a blog post each week on Quaker-related subjects in alphabetical order, two posts for each letter. I enjoyed these so was pleased to be invited to join in this year.

I’m inspired by a previous project I’ve done, which was in turn inspired by “The Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life“, so am viewing this as an “Encyclopedia of a Wardening Life”.

In other words, I’m viewing this as a bit of a hodgepodge of ideas and views, some serious and others… well as a bit of fun. To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link is the side bar or here in this post.

Hope you enjoy it!

Images for Quaker Meeting Houses

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Friends House design and circulate a set of posters every year along the theme of Quaker Week – this year Quaker Week runs from Friday 27 September to Sunday 6 October.

However, what if your Meeting House doesn’t have enough space to run all of the series or has difficulty relating to this year’s posters? Previous designs are sometimes available through the Quaker Bookshop in the Quaker Centre at Friends House.

Did you know that there are other Quaker designed images which can be used for leaflets, postcards and posters? Visit the Q-posters page on GroupSpace to see the range available.

  • Which one do you like the best?
  • Have you used any – if so how did you use them?

Generic Email Addresses or how to prevent memory loss…

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email
email from Sean MacEntee on Flickr

What is a generic email address and why do I think they are important?

An example of a generic email address is which for a office or that office holder rather than a person. For Quaker Meetings’ Friends House offer the option to have a standard email address, yourmeeting@quaker.org.uk – which is actually a forwarding address which will send any email to whichever email or email addresses you tell it to. In practice these are usually set up to forward to the clerk or correspondence clerk of the meeting. In the case of co-clerks it would forward to both.

However – the new clerk(s) starts off with a clean slate, as all the old emails are in someone else’s personal account.

This is a bit like taking over a new job and discovering the last person took the contents of the desk and filing cabinet with them! Usually when you take over a job you are able to have a hand over period, or at least dig through the files to find out what x is or who y is.

A shared email account can be two people ‘me&him@emailclient.com’ or it can be for an office or post.

If you send email to the clerk of London Quakers you write to ‘Clerk London Quakers at gmail dot com’ which is an email account shared by the clerking team. You can create similar accounts for Treasurers or any office post you feel might want to ease transitions and avoid memory loss.

This shared email account means

  • the outgoing post holders don’t have people continuing to write to them, nor do they have to keep explaining that they’ve left that post
  • you don’t have to notify everyone on your contact list to get them to change their email address books
  • if the new office holder needs to find some information out they can do a search on the emails (and document folders – but that’s a different post) rather than asking you
  • any existing conversations can continue as the new person able to ‘catch up’ by reading back and then replying to the existing thread.
  • when you don’t want to deal with your role’s email you don’t have to – and can still read your own personal email.

However, it is fairly simple to set up a domain and have email attached – where you can then have clerk@yourmeetingsname.org.uk If your meeting already has a website it is worth asking the webmaster or hosting company to see if that is possible. A full POP3 email account means you can receive and send email from that address, and any email will be stored on their server so accessible for several people.

I set up or mange such email accounts for my clients, this ensures not only can I access their email remotely – so can they! Importantly they can continue to access it if things change. For example, if I’ve been supporting a meeting between wardens and they’ve now appointed, as it is simple to hand back control of their email account and have all the correspondence to enable a smooth handover to the new system.

  • How does your meeting support transitions between office holders?
  • Do you use generic email addresses?

Affording our Meeting House – Sustainability

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563990405fc2130fc312f244476a8ba99ee8d99d2477577b998321d01f0d852c3e41d200Six Weeks Meeting  are the representative Trustee body for the 40 Meeting Houses in London. Last March they wrote a minute about how they would be tackling the 2011 Britain Yearly Meeting corporate decision to become a low carbon community – often called “Minute 36: Our Canterbury commitment”

SWM13/23 Six Weeks Meeting Statement on
a Low Carbon Sustainable Community for Quakers in London.

Further to minute SWM 12/44, we have been reminded of Minute 36 of Britain Yearly Meeting 2011.

We, the Trustees of Six Weeks Meeting, wholeheartedly endorse the sentiment contained in this minute. In our role in managing the maintenance and repair of the Quaker Meeting Houses in London, we recognise that the built environment is responsible for around 50% of global CO2 equivalent emissions.

We wish to commit Six Weeks Meeting, on behalf of all the Quakers in London, to significantly reduce the energy consumption of our Meeting Houses over the next few years. This will require us all to re-envision how we use our buildings, and how many we seek to maintain. To this end we wish to draw up a strategic vision and plan of action. The scale of change required will need more financial capital than we currently have available.

This is an opportunity given to us. Change is always challenging. It also offers new opportunities for growth and renewal.

To incentivise and accelerate energy reduction methods they’ve come up with an Energy Saving Fund. This isn’t new money per se – instead the financial savings that accrue during the first five years after each energy-saving-project are then ring-fenced for future re-investment into further energy saving projects.

Sustainability is always a complex subject – it is easiest to look for the ‘green bling’ as I’ve heard it called – the solar panels on the roof and the electric or hybrid car. But as in so many things it is in the small daily actions which will make the biggest difference.

Trent, a frugality blogger explains it re saving money, but the same principle can be used to save energy.

First, there are more opportunities in your life to practice the small stuff. We spend money dozens of times a month – at the grocery store, online, on our bills, and on little incidental things. Each of those is an opportunity to spend less and seek out a greater “bang for the buck.”

The same applies personally – do you leave the water running when you wash dishes, use low energy bulbs, compost your kitchen scraps? These aren’t as glamorous of course but do add up.

Each building no matter its usage will have similar opportunities to save energy – and that is the overall goal. Current UK Government targets talk about reducing today’s levels by 60% over the next decade.

As a result of that Canterbury Commitment, Meeting for Sufferings instructed Quaker Peace & Social Witness to create a baseline of energy usage. Our Meeting completed questionnaires, measured and noted many things. Including – we weighed our rubbish – every bag was hung from a luggage scale and its total duly noted.

We were delighted to discover that we recycled and composted over 50% of our rubbish. We are lucky to have a garden where we can compost and a local authority that collects recycling weekly.

However, I was also delighted to note that the Pre-School who use the lower half of the building were so surprised by how much was being thrown away – that they changed their practices. The staff put a recycling box in the class room and encouraged everyone to use it. Peels and waste food from their healthy snacks are now fed to the worms in the wormery or put into the compost.

Other building wide improvements which will have a daily effect in reducing the amount of energy needed to run the building have been done. We were lucky enough to be able to take advantage of the Muswell Hill Low Carbon Zone and were able to get some building works including cavity wall and loft space insulation funded for us.

Smaller steps included ensuring all light fittings had low energy bulbs (LED would be next and is being considered), noticing that people weren’t using the recycling bins outside and finding places inside to put smaller containers.

608421722d0e0e13120c3ef9c93f6263dd713a6f75daad586ccf5bb1753677ffdd4b1152In the garden we installed water butts, linked where there was space.

Plus we diverted one guttering down spout to feed the garden pond.

The pond acts as a reservoir as well as adding important bio-diversity habitats.

We garden organically, adding plenty of mulch to maintain soil moisture and healthy soils. Plus we consider what we grow – fruit, flowers and vegetables.

Less picturesquely – a new condensing boiler was installed which is programmable – this should reduce the overall gas usage quite considerably. We’re taking monthly readings to ensure we keep a look at how much we use over this rather unusual year.

There is one Meeting House which was determined to lower its energy usage and fuel costs. To do this it has put into their Terms & Conditions that you are to set the room thermostats to 10C at the end of your session. If you don’t – you pay double for that session. I was told it only takes one or two occasions for new hirers to decide it is worth the hassle!

More ideas on how to tackle energy reduction can be found online at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

  • What steps have you taken to make your buildings and meetings more sustainable?
  • How have you inspired other groups using the meeting house to get involved in reducing cuts?

Affording our Meeting Houses

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2013 06 18 Collection boxThis could be taken two ways – how do we ensure that the Meeting House is affordable for both the local community and the worshipping community that uses it. Not only financially, but also with reference back to an earlier post: Beacon or Burden.

Hopefully, all Quaker Meetings are a spirit-led, all-age faith community trying to create a vibrant worshipping community, based on their testimonies of equality, integrity/truth, peace, simplicity & sustainability. From that there is the expectation that this community should be able to support itself & its activities.

I’ve talked about how you can increase the visibility of and welcome to your building for both potential hirers and visitors. These actions can hopefully increase the numbers of hirers and enquirers who find you.

Now I’m widening this to the more intangible costs – I’ll cover ways of reducing utilities etc. later.

In this post instead I’m going to talk about the costs on the members of the Quaker community that uses the building.

  • How can we find ways to empower all members of the meeting to take responsibility for their meeting?
  • How can we decide each time a decision or suggestion is made if this a good use of our meeting’s energy and time?
  • What is our Meeting’s Ministry and how can we work together to achieve it?

Obviously, I could talk about outsourcing some of the routine tasks – cleaning, gardening, bookkeeping, lettings administration but those are the easy ways to release energy.

Or I could mention that Clerking teams or combined Eldership & Oversight work well for many meetings. There needs to be a balance between keeping the jobs within a small ‘weighty friend’ circle and overburdening a new attender or member.

  • What ways are there for ensuring the work is equally spread between new and more experienced Quakers?
  • What ways are there to experiment with structures and ensure everyone feels able to contribute?
  • What ways have you found in your Meeting to do this?

Marketing – the next steps

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2012 07 23 banners at Friends House

So you’ve read my previous post and either been busy ensuring you’ve met all the recommendations or you might be thinking, ‘yep knew all those!’ What other tips can I suggest? Well, hanging huge banners outside your building is one that Friends House did last summer…

However, much of what is next will be very personal to your area, your meeting and your possible clientèle. If you are based in a small low income rural town with lots of competition offering similar services, than your marketing will be different from a busy market town, or an inner city building with dozens of rooms.

First step – do some research!

  • Make a list of your existing hirers and where they came from (if known).

  • Decide how many hours/sessions/rooms are available and supportable with your current admin/caretaking set up or how you would cover any additional requirements.
  • From there you can estimate how much work might be sensible to fill those gaps.
  • Look at the vacancies you have – are they all morning or mid afternoon? Could the meeting offer unpopular gaps to local groups at a discount? Drop in centre, adult education groups etc.
  • Look out for other venue’s marketing, decide if it is successful and if you can adapt any of it to your building.
  • Make a list of what possible advertising outlets there are locally – not just newspapers – think blogs, review sites, festivals, podcasts or radio shows, contacting schools, training organisations and local businesses who might want office space.
  • Are there any places your meeting could advertise it is available – perhaps at the Fresher’s Fair, or the local community festival, having a stack of ‘rooms available’ leaflets next to the ‘all about Quakers’ leaflets is fairly easy to arrange.

Review these possibilities – asking yourself what the Meeting would be comfortable with and what would be appropriate for your building. Just starting the discussion within the Meeting might turn up more suggestions, information or even the decision that the building is busy enough!

You might want to work out what costs are involved with each booking – and ensure that your hourly rate covers those. If not that needs to be reviewed too – but that is a topic for another post.

Another set of decisions you need to consider – what sort of people and groups do you want to attract?

  • Ad hoc groups, who use the building as flexible space?
  • Regular groups who book a block at a time?
  • A mixture of the two?
  • Only community and non-commercial groups or are you willing to allow commercial groups?

Think about other venues locally that you and others might visit, especially how are they decorated. A fresh coat of paint, clean windows and tidy noticeboards goes a long way towards making spaces feel welcoming. A place where others might want to hold classes or meetings.

All of the above sound as if they are just marketing but they are also a way of ensuring any enquirer looking for a spiritual home can find out that Quakers exist. Then discover where the nearest Meeting is and when they arrive feel excited to find this clean bright and welcoming place. First impressions are so important, you want to ensure no one is put off even before they cross the threshold.

Discussing these topics can help members of the meeting to think about how to prepare your meeting house to welcome newcomers too. Once inside it is easier to find that welcome pack of leaflets and information from a tidy lobby or point out useful courses on a recently sorted noticeboard and of course it is useful for both hirers and enquirers to know where the loos are!

Not forgetting – all of these improvements don’t have to cost much and can be considered inreach, as well as outreach and marketing. After all, even faithful long standing Members and Attenders will be happier to walk into a clean, tidy building with flowers in the garden!

As always if this is something you or your meeting would like some help with – don’t hesitate to contact me on wendrie@mindfulbusinessservices.com

This is the third in a series of three for number one click here

“Marketing or Outreach?“

or for two click here

“Marketing your Meeting House the Basics”

Marketing your Meeting House – the basics

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2011 01 Front of building

When was the last time you looked critically, as a newcomer might, at the front of your Meeting House?

Does it look inviting? Welcoming? Or a bit run down? Even somewhere you might be concerned about your personal safety?

Have you ever tried to find out about your local meeting without knowing anything about it? I remember when Residential Yearly Meeting was held in Exeter University – it was pointed out that the local Meeting wasn’t included in the ‘where to worship’ bit of the University’s local information pack. We were assured that was to be put right.

First you might want to put a notice outside the Meeting House to say that there are rooms to hire, giving rates, terms and any conditions you might have (eg “no alcohol or children’s parties”). Ensure that whatever telephone or email address you list is monitored and any messages answered promptly.

Secondly, you might ask your members and attenders if they would be willing to mention the Meeting House to any groups and associations they belong to. Another leaflet could be produced giving the same information as above with the addition of a map and directions (including any public transport links and whether parking is available). These could be given out at local fairs, put up in local shops or libraries, or given to the members and attenders to hand out or put up further afield.

2012 10 22 New outside noticeboard cropped

Thirdly, you might want to put a noticeboard outside that shows what sort of events and classes are held in your Meeting House.

This does several things:

  • It is likely to draw attention to your building as people look for classes and events. They might even stop to look at the Quaker information too.
  • It supports the people and businesses who use your building as their venue, helping them stay in business (and hopefully continuing to supply you with income).
  • Finally, this helps generate community. You could even consider putting up community notices if you have space. 

All of these are positive things… and increase the likelihood of people using the building and therefore paying in money.

O.k. You’ve done all of those – what next?

Hopefully your Meeting has at least a basic website which can give someone information on where to find you. The main Quaker.org.uk website has that much on each meeting – searching for “Exeter” in their “Find a Meeting” database brings up Exeter Quaker Meeting.

But of course that doesn’t help someone who wants to run a yoga class or is looking for a venue for their new business, as they’re unlikely to look for a Meeting House unless they’ve used one previously.

If you have a Meeting website adding a page for ‘rooms to hire’ with dated information and at least one photograph is a good place to start. Dated so people will be reassured that you have looked at it recently – which does mean that it does need to be updated regularly. Think of it as the online equivalent to the noticeboard above. You need to maintain it and ensure it looks welcoming.

If you have several Meeting Houses in your local Area Meeting which hire out rooms, do the people organising these talk to each other? Are you close enough geographically that they are able to refer someone they cannot help to you, or accept a referral from you?

Have you considered looking for local websites such as Churches Together or local Business Forums which encourage people to shop or run businesses locally?

Have you investigated Google Places? Considered putting a poster up at your local train, bus, or tube station?

If you think these sound like great ideas but wonder where to start, I’d be happy to hear from you. I’m always interested in helping a Meeting come up with a locally based marketing plan – click on the Contact tab at the top or email me on Wendrie at Mindful Business Services dot com.

This was the second in a series of three. For number one

“Marketing or Outreach?“

or number three

“Marketing the Next Steps”

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