Meeting for Sufferings: 2022 accounts
'Friends were interested in BYM’s strategy on this but Paul reminded them that investments were made in the long term.'
This month’s Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) began with an unusual first session. Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) was late publishing its 2022 accounts, so all Friends were invited to a midweek online Meeting, in which Paul Whitehouse, treasurer to BYM, and Caroline Nursey, clerk to trustees, introduced the annual financial report.
Caroline apologised again for the late accounting, and asked Friends to look at BYM trustees’ minutes to see how they had thought about the lessons to be learned. The figures had been submitted to the Charity Commission around two weeks late, but she felt it would be better to use this Meeting to consider the state of BYM’s finances than to spend more time reflecting on the delays.
And those finances are in good health, said Paul Whitehouse. The 2022 accounts showed a deficit, but this was deliberate. BYM had been cautious through the pandemic and now Friends’ donations were higher than expected, so it was right to use them on the work done in their name. Income from legacies – always unpredictable – was down, but income from the Quiet Company (formerly Friends House Hospitality) also rose.
Spending under the heading ‘Supporting Meetings’ had risen most, said Paul, the result of making local development workers available to every Area Meeting. ‘Promoting Quakerism’ had also received more financing, in part because trustees recognised, in line with discussion at Yearly Meeting (YM), that the decreasing number of Quakers was BYM’s biggest risk.
Paul did warn Friends that BYM costs would rise, particularly staff costs, but all BYM’s work was based on solid Quaker discernment, he said.
BYM’s investment income was down, in line with the world economy. Friends were interested in BYM’s strategy on this but Paul reminded them that investments were made in the long term. He wasn’t concerned with temporary losses, so long as industry standards were being matched.
The cost of raising BYM’s income was at fifteen per cent, said one Friend. Was that reasonable? It was difficult to answer, said Paul, but he thought ‘we’ve got it about right’. A new fundraising strategy was planned, added Caroline.
Questions also came about Swathmoor Hall, currently being refurbished, and about BYM’s use of renewable energy. This did have its limits – the local authority was unlikely to approve a wind turbine on the top of Friends House, said Paul.
Caroline ended by thanking Friends for their interest in the accounts. ‘They do matter’, she said.
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