Dear Ceals and Natasha,

It is functionally impossible, in a busy building, to completely prevent people from coming in, though all hirers - and indeed all Quakers who have a fob, too - sign an agreement pledging not to leave the outside doors propped open or unattended, and not to let anyone in who is not their personal guest.  When people break this agreement (and they do), one of the things I emphasise is how it puts the lone workers we have here at risk.  Leaving the door propped open and unattended also gets them a very firm talk about how flouting the Ts&Cs could put their continued hire at risk.

We're a bit of a warren, with many of our rooms having two ways to enter or leave, and we are in a very busy part of town.   We do have resident volunteers, and one of their tasks every night after the last of the hirers have left is to do a walk-around of the building, opening every door that isn't locked (including in the non-public areas of the building), to make sure someone hasn't squirrelled themselves away, and to make sure that the doors to the street are properly closed.  Our cleaner works overnight, in the small hours, and he also checks the building as he works his way around.  

The one time in the last seven years that this happened, it was discovered by a hirer opening the door of her hired room in the basement, to find someone sleeping across the doorway.  I signposted this person to a range of appropriate local services (which the Meeting supports), and we continued to welcome him to worship, etc, until he found what he was looking for and moved on.  We've had our fair share of characters come through the building, and in many ways it's amazing that there hasn't been more of an issue, bearing in mind the area we are in includes a lot of very vulnerable people.

When we have had thefts (eg of handbags, or our portable projector), it's happened at the same time as Meeting for Worship, when our front door is open (as the doorkeeper's purpose is to welcome people in, not keep them out!), so I don't think there's much that can be done about that apart from to remind people to take care of their belongings, as it's easy to relax in the Meeting House and think there's no risk at all.  

As for a formal policy on what to do when we've had people come in when they shouldn't: normally I'm the one called to manage the situation, but we don't have a policy as such.  Perhaps we should, so I'm grateful that you raised this.

Lorna Richardson
Premises Coordinator

Westminster Quaker Meeting House (Religious Society of Friends)
07897 591961
8 Hop Gardens, off St Martins Lane, London, WC2N 4EH
If requiring assistance in an emergency, call 07895 978 092

Please note I am part-time, and work flexible working hours; I don't expect anyone to respond outside their own normal working hours.


On Wed, 30 Apr 2025 at 12:38, David Fish <davidfishcf@msn.com> wrote:
Dear Ceals and Tasha

Thank you for raising such a huge and frightening question. The answer flummoxes me as much as it did your police force. 
I wonder if Quaker Life might hold one of monthly on line meetings to discuss the matter and propose solutions.
Should each Quaker local meeting have a security policy written by Quaker Britian Yearly Meeting in the same way that we have
a Child Safeguarding Meeting- A national policy individualised to every local Quaker meeting. Something including locking the doors at all times. Policing the entry during lettings.

Its such an unexpected problem ... but it worries me that your meeting have been found to be breach able by someone in a needy community who will tell everybody else in their community.
You may have to expect further attempts to lock into a toilet. When i first read your words i thought you must have been one of our rich Quaker buildings and had a serious burglery.

At Coventry Quaker Meeting one summer, two reasonable rough sleepers camped in our garden bushes.  This was frightening and challengiing - how should a caring Quaker meeting respond.
When carelessly discarded needles appeared we asked the sleepers to leave. We felt we had to cut down the bushes too and Coventry now has a fruit and flower planted large area of garden insted
that cannot hide campers.

Wishing you both a lot of sympathy and all the best david (rugby local quaker meeting)

David Fish
33 Magnolia Drive
Lutterworth LE17 4RS


From: Lancaster Quakers <lancasterquakers@gmail.com>
Sent: 29 April 2025 13:13
To: Walthamstow Quakers <walthamstow.quakers@gmail.com>
Cc: Quaker Wardenship Support <wardenship@lists.quaker.eu.org>
Subject: [wardenship] Re: Intruder policy
 
Hi Ceals

I can't help as we have pretty much the same as you in terms of lack of helpful policy and open access without the staff presence.  I'm responding because it is a very live issue for us, having recently had someone lock themselves into one of our toilets and then refuse to leave and a very lackluster response from the police call handler saying 'well they obviously just need to use the toilet, what's the problem, they're behind a locked door'.  This was half an hour after we had closed; I found a 2 1/2 ltr empty cider bottle hidden in a cupboard in the toilet cubicle after they eventually left.  The police did come half an hour after I called them, and we would not have got him out without their help. I left the building and waited outside as I had no idea what I would be greeted with when he did eventually leave the toilet - size, weight, physical strength or control - but kept watching through the windows to make sure he didn't escalate things inside.  This is just the latest of several incidents, and although the local committee and Area Meeting Trustees are working on a Lone Worker policy, I very much doubt it will address this issue in any meaningful way.  I'd be very interested to hear if any Meetings have something that is helpful and workable in place - other than having 'reception' staff watching the door whenever the building is open.

Thanks for asking the questions Ceals.

Tasha

Natasha Heny
Meeting House Manager (Warden)
Lancaster Quaker Meeting House

(I work flexible hours over 5 days and have two days off each week)







On Tue, 29 Apr 2025 at 12:52, Walthamstow Quakers <walthamstow.quakers@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello all you lovely people,

Do any of you have a policy on what to do if you get an unwanted intruder in the building?  We have a very brief one but it pretty much amounts to hide and phone the cops. There are very few rooms within the building that anyone could lock themselves in. Also, with the best will in the world, without having someone in the foyer from 8am to 10pm daily checking who is coming in, it is impossible to prevent anyone from coming in who shouldn't be here.

Any help is gratefully appreciated.

All the best,

Ceals

Pronouns: her, she
Building Manager
Walthamstow Quaker Meeting House
1a Jewel Road
London E17 4QU
 
Tel 020 8521 2363
 

Account name:  Walthamstow Quaker Meeting (Premises)
Account number:  00010329
Sort code:  40-52-40
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