Dear Friends,

From what I can see, the original query has three different aspects to it, so I shall take them in turn:

1. General question of accepting bookings on a Sunday: In Bradford on Avon we don't accept outside bookings before 2pm on a Sunday. The only exceptions from this rule would be Quaker events that can fit around our Meeting for Worship and children's meeting (one example being a YFGM Planning Weekend). We don't have many outside Sunday bookings, and we've only ever had one on a regular basis these past 10 years - a Sunday evening music therapy session that went on every week for 2 or 3 months.

2. The question of whether a Warden is expected to work for a booking at a supposed time of rest: All our regular hirers have their own keys, and on my day off, I don't have to do anything in the building, regardless of who is booked in. If the hirer doesn't have a key, someone else from Meeting will look after the booking. As it happens, Sundays are not my day off (the regular ones are currently Tuesdays and Saturdays), and I normally finish work early/mid-afternoon on a Sunday. So a later Sunday duty does somewhat disrupt my usual pattern of work / rest.

3. The question of what noise and other inconvenience a Resident Warden has to put up with through bookings: Living above the Meeting House's main meeting room, I'm in a similar position to Jane, except that we don't have any noisy extractor fans and such like. We have carpeted floor - furniture-moving noise is much reduced - and our toilets have passive vents only and paper towels (no noisy hand-driers). Mind you, the passive vents are not always as effective as extractor fans would be. Generally speaking, I tend to put up with the noise. However, we also have another flat rented out to tenants. And while their rent level takes into account that they have to put up with noise (and also with having to be extra-quiet when there's hypnotherapy going on underneath their flat), there have been occasions when they did complain, and we did do something about it (no more samba drumming workshops anymore when they're in!). I guess if I did ever feel that the noise from downstairs is getting too much, I would initially raise the issue with my line-manager to get his opinion as to what is reasonable to put up with and what isn't - and then take it from there.

Best wishes,

Klaus Huber

Resident Warden, Bradford on Avon

On Tue, Jul 25, 2023 at 11:43 AM Lancaster Quakers <lancasterquakers@gmail.com> wrote:

I worked Sunday to Thursday when I began and dropped Sundays a couple of years ago when I reduced my hours following an operation. This threw a lot of work back onto members of the Meeting and they have struggled at times to keep up with all the tasks, which recently increased to include starting and operating the blending equipment for Meeting each week.

We used to have a policy not to take bookings by non-Quaker groups before 2.30pm; this has since been stretched to allow some long-standing reliable customers engaged in quiet activities to book rooms as early as 1pm on a Sunday away from the ones mainly used by Meeting. They are all either keyholders to the (side door of the) building or are issued in advance with keys for use on the day.

There is also a long-standing weekly Sunday evening booking, currently covered by a part-time member of staff who opens the building and locks up after the booking is over.

When I handed in my notice the staffing was reviewed prior to the job being advertised and it was decided to revert to Sunday to Thursday. This is because it was felt that some members - including but not restricted to newer people - felt they didn't know anything about the Warden and the related work as they had never met me or didn't see me around. I had always found Sunday afternoon a good time for preparing for the week, sending emails that I knew wouldn't be responded to until the morning, building checks, setting heating &c. Mind you, I always had the advantage of there being a Deputy Warden or Wardens covering Friday and Saturday (later Thursday to Saturday) due to the frequency of bookings on those days.

Alistair Gault, Warden
Lancaster Quaker Meeting House

On Fri, 14 Jul 2023 at 18:20, Ann Turner <warden.scarborough@pandhquakers.org.uk> wrote:

Hello Jane,
I hear your dilemma.
My Meeting needs all the bookings it can take and though I'm contracted to work
Monday to Friday, 25 hours, I have to spread those hours over the week as, as I say,
we need all the bookings we can get.
You might wish to take that booking once a month...can you cope with that extra noise once a month
on your afternoon off?
As it is just once a month, is it a possibility that you can take your peace and quiet time somewhere else,
just for that afternoon?
Also, if the group can be trusted to leave the premises in an acceptable condition, security checks etc?

If they can leave the premises in an acceptable condition, and you can find your downtime
when they are in somewhere acceptable to you, then that's fine,
but if you just want to be 'at home', then personally I would suggest not taking the booking,
as I know to my cost that mental health is a fragile thing and you really do not need to have
people in the building if you are consciously or subconsciously aware that you are still 'on duty'
even when 'trying not to be'.

It's difficult, but ultimately you have to look after your own mental health,
to carry on with your duties as warden.
I know this.
With supportive thoughts, and
In peace and friendship,
Ann

Ann Turner
Warden, and Bookings

Scarborough Friends (Quakers) Meeting House
Quaker Close, Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO12 5QZ
///honest.noise.ground
m: 07763 763 792

t: 01723 362 756 (mostly answerphone)

Please note I work part-time hours and will respond as soon as I can

www.pandhquakers.org.uk

----- Original Message -----
From:
"Wendrie Heywood" <wendrie@mindfulbusinessservices.com>

To:
"Jane Keay via wardenship" <wardenship@lists.quaker.eu.org>
Cc:

Sent:
Thu, 13 Jul 2023 20:05:28 +0100
Subject:
[wardenship] Re: Sunday Groups

Hi Jane,

It is up to your meeting - but they have a responsibility to ensure that you (and your family) have time off. Can someone else take responsibility on certain days? Or agree that certain times/days are only booked if someone else takes responsibility?

Especially as your living space is so closely entwined with your work space, it is hard to switch off.

At Muswell Hill we put in switches on the doorbells, so that they didn't ring in the Wardens flat when we weren't on duty. Before then I'd found myself on edge waiting/wondering if someone was about to interrupt our time off, after I knew that even if they rang we wouldn't hear them. Didn't stop people walking around the building and banging on windows mind - but those were the very determined ones!

I hope you can find a way forward that meets your needs and the meeting's.

Yours in peace,

Wendrie Heywood
she/her
MindfulBusinessServices.com
Book a meeting with me

On Thu, 13 Jul 2023 at 14:46, Warden <worthing.quakers@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Jane,

At Worthing we don't have days off in the Meeting House and we have Sunday afternoon bookings every other week (I wish we could have it every week as we need money to pay MH bills).

I think it's up to your Meeting to decide and also up to your job contract.
I personally have another job and work every Sunday afternoon there, so I tidy up when I come back in the evening.

I wish that Sunday afternoons would be for the rest, but many people work on Sunday... my family including.
So it's up to you and your Meeting really.

in Friendship
Elena Krumgolde, warden at Worthing

On Thu, 13 Jul 2023, 11:53 Jane Keay via wardenship, <wardenship@lists.quaker.eu.org> wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jane Keay <wardenjanekeay@mac.com>
To: "wardenship@lists.quaker.eu.org" <wardenship@lists.quaker.eu.org>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2023 11:13:40 +0100
Subject: [wardenship] Sunday Groups
Dear Wardens/Managers and Resident Friends,

At Watford Quaker Meeting House we have groups hiring our rooms and the garden throughout the week, also Saturdays.
I have been asked by a local Romanian Christian group whether they could book once a month on a Sunday afternoon. (A couple of rooms including the Children’s Room.) For years we given space to the local Unitarian Fellowship on a Sunday, once a month. This seems to work fine.
I live directly upstairs from the Meeting House and can hear furniture being moved and the extractor fans in the toilets etc !
I would love to take on the Romanian Christian Group who are eager for the space but my dilemma is that Sundays afternoons are a time to stop and rest.
My question is: Do other Meeting Houses book groups on Sunday afternoons?
Is there an expectation to do this from your Meeting ?
Would this work if this was passed on to another person to clear away afterwards? Or can the Meeting House building just have a quiet afternoon ? (After the occasional shared lunch and talks of course.)

Thank you for any comments or shared experiences,

Jane K.
Warden

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jane Keay via wardenship <wardenship@lists.quaker.eu.org>
To: "wardenship@lists.quaker.eu.org" <wardenship@lists.quaker.eu.org>
Cc: Jane Keay <wardenjanekeay@mac.com>
Bcc:
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2023 11:13:40 +0100
Subject: [wardenship] Sunday Groups
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