Oliver Waterhouse
Quaker Life

Hello everyone,

This was the first of three in-person sessions that we are running for Meeting House Matters in 2023. It was held at Bristol Central Quaker Meeting. The overall theme for the day was around the use of premises to live out Quaker values. There was a ‘blended’ part of the meeting between 2pm and 3.30pm with a topic of health and safety.

The next online session will be on Friday, 19 May at 2pm. The joining details are below and will also be shared again by email nearer the time.

• Join Zoom Meeting: https://quaker.zoom.us/j/81586087624?pwd=VHk3MW9sTHJUVDdsMFlTMUN3WEpmUT09
• Meeting ID: 815 8608 7624
• Passcode: WT-online

The next in-person session is going to be on Tuesday, 18 July and will be in Leeds at Carlton Hill Meeting House. You can register your interest to attend using this online form, https://forms.quaker.org.uk/mhm-23/.

How do we use our premises to live out Quaker values?

Session 1 Introductions and topics for discussion. 

QF&P 13.33, https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/passage/13-33/

Support:

• (QL) Quaker Life, Local Development workers – 
• Wardens Talking and e-group.
• AM relationship and AM property and health and safety committee. Good and not so good
• QLCC
• Variety of confidence and experience
• Links to role holders
• Wardenship of virtual space
• Dynamics of supporting users-chaotic and wonderful challenges – community partnerships

Wardens

• No Paid help. A second person in the mix is great.  Friends covering to support.
• Pair the real living wage
• Resident/non- resident
• Quaker/non- Quaker – what difference does it make?
• Hiring officer and managers
• Informing our own faith
• Communities in decline – unsustainable
• Property – powered-stewardship – decision making- process.

Simpler

• Meeting House as a community space- Mental Health- dispossessed-ex-offenders
• Simpler meetings
• Finding the joy
• Reengaging the community
• How to make the best use of our resources

The Vision – the challenges of decision making.

• The ‘We’
• Community partnerships
• Visioning exercises
• Threshing
• Factions
• Sell
• Use to the full- stewardship and inheritance.
• Grants
• Being Radical
• Challenges of decision making

Using space to the full

• H&S
• Helping hirers to tolerate each other.
• Using for outreach and promotion
• Base money hirers good

Maintenance

• Investment needed.
• Limited resources
• Decorating
• Health and Safety

Pandemic

• Legacy
• Zoom and online here to stay.
• Blended tech – setting it up well- getting it working well- available for hirers?
• Use of grounds inc. burial grounds

Session 2

Expressing Quaker Values through our meeting houses

Is there a tension? – Real estate management – demographic time bomb Supporting worship and community

• Relationships – with traders and staff show our truth and integrity – pay on time, this is critical and has implications for willingness to return to work for us- be good with the tea and biscuits.
• Hospitality and welcome- make it as comfortable as possible – Love- Loving inclusive all age.  Being present in your community. Use our skills, approaches and methods.
• Use the building to show what Quakers are about.
• Meeting Houses and their communities- Do it together – not just on Sunday – wardens are not wardens or managers of the meeting
• How the quaker community inhabits the space.
• How the wider community inhabits/uses the space- interfaith and chaplaincy.
• Active- Sustainability and net Zero – supporting community groups- Fairtrade, wildlife management. Beware of partnerships but they can work Collaborative working and cooperative models of ownership
• Well known and widely understood. - outreach – spirituality – offering our space

Break out groups.

Using property to the full – relationships, hirers, meeting etc.

• Have an awareness of which meetings are breaking even.
• Primarily a place of worship- e.g., no parties in worship space.  Cancel hirers if necessary.
• Having a balance between serving the community and generating income while having respect for the nature of the building.  The building has impact even on passers by
• Have different rates.
• Keypads are an advantage.
• How do you fill your spiritual bucket? 

Using technology

• If we even have the equipment, are we really using our earths precious resources.
• Confidence in using tech – in zoom itself – not many friends have the confidence to use- those that are tech savy are thin on the ground.
• What works well – discrete smaller screens for small meeting houses.   dedicated laptop.  £150 for a basic or second hand
• Wide angle camera
• Instruction and training
• A sound bar.
• Speakers, remotes wall mounted.
• A microcosm of meeting house use?
• Are we sharing our toys- damage risk, security, easily stealable.  How do we get locking a way working well.
• AM and LM tensions – possessive friends v being available at all times. over specified tech, tech not being used.
• And how do we do our Q process adapt to online elements.
• Not recognizing diversity and importance in a changing world and help for disabled people.
• Not accepting virtual MfW as a spiritual experience – not respecting discernment

Visioning

• Developing a vision – energy – Tools – support all needed- revisioning- a continual process.
• Listening is v. important.
• Holding difference – a middle way
• Listening Space (Restoring Relations  Quaker Listening Space - Restoring Relations Dragon dreaming Dragon Dreaming International – Everything is a temporary node in a process of flow- extern al facilitation
• Balance between exploring possibilities and consensus around a way forward- a shared purpose brings energy.
• Recognizing limitations in the group
• How do we feel in AM/LM? What are the things that separate us?
• I try and remember we are all human.
• Communicate and be welcoming – give to others and share values.
• Conflict can be peaceful but Anger/rage (not directed at a person) can also be energy.
• Recognize what individuals have to offer gifts skills energy.
• Process can include mistakes (Eggs, Omelets, Apples, Carts )

Session 3: Health and Safety Management

Brian Sutleiff joined us from his company called Veilig to give us a presentation and answer questions on health and safety management.

The presentation that Brian gave was share with follow-up notes after the session. If you would like a copy of the presentation email oliverw@quaker.org.uk to be sent a copy.

A film of the presentation was made and is available to be viewed on YouTube at the following link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TySTb4ZsJk. The film is roughly edited from the recording made on Zoom which may affect the quality for some viewers.

If you have questions that Brian wasn’t able to answer during the session you can contact him by email at,

Questions

The following

Does storage of hazardous substances need to be documented? How?

• What is the risk?
• If there is a fire is it in a contained space?
• What quantity is there and is there a place to keep it safely?
• Make sure to disposal of redundant materials.
• Record to demonstrate that you have been acting with care.

Meeting House is near to the hospital where people are often ejected at all times of the day and night. Should there be something in our policy about how to keep employees and Friends safe.

• Yes, should be reflected in the policy and there should be a risk assessment.
• Frequency likelihood of times that people are released when the MH is in use.
• What is the severity or danger?
• Can you get some training on dealing with the situations?
• Additional security onsite?
• Key thing is to have a balance of what is reasonable to protect people and what is affordable for the organisation.

Often H&S comes down to good housekeeping and having people who are familiar with how the meeting house works.

• Yes, all good and housekeeping is the right way forward.

Comments on children's activities especially when the venue is not their usual meeting house?

• Have to assess with children and other vulnerable groups in mind.
• Supervision may be part of the mitigation.
• Need to think about how to limit the access to things that might cause harm.
• Need to pay attention to whether there are specific the rules are for a vulnerable group.

Does including common sense in policies makes it all a bit fluffy?

• Every organisation is formed of different individuals and we can’t know what would seem like common sense to others. That’s why the Health & Safety Executive says there’s no such thing as common sense – but when estimating the likelihood of harm, you have to take common sense into account.

Should we apply our lone worker policy to our self-employed / contracted cleaner?

• You could ask the agency to take responsibility and insert something into their contract that says they need to have lone worker policy / support.
• If the worker is self-employed you need to treat them as an employee in terms of lone working – which needn’t be too onerous e.g.
• ensure you know when they are going to be in the building.
• ask them to text someone when they leave.
• carry out a lone-worker risk assessment to see if there are other things that need to be covered.
• If you are relying on mobile phone signal check that there are not weak-signal parts of the premises.
• Lone working procedures need regular testing e.g. ask the cleaner to deliberately not text you when they leave sometimes. This will make sure you are aware and you have to put into practice your planned response.
• Managers need to consider the mental health impact on themselves of having sole responsibility for monitoring lone working.

In friendship,

Oliver (on behalf of the MHM planning team)

Oliver Waterhouse (he/him)

Quaker Life Team Leader, Local and Area Governance

Quakers in Britain

020 7663 1007 (Direct)

oliverw@quaker.org.uk | www.quaker.org.uk

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