Meeting for Sufferings: BYM trustees’ report
BYM trustees spoke to their report at Meeting for Sufferings
The percentage of income made up of voluntary contributions from Meetings and individuals that contributes to the cost of running Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) is now down to eighteen per cent.
The total cost of maintaining the administration and work of Britain Yearly Meeting is £10,549,000. Voluntary contributions make up £2,100,000 of this figure.
Legacies, gifts and grants contribute a further £2,432,000. Other major sources of income include investments, the work of the Hospitality Company and income generated by charitable activity.
Staff costs, of the £10,549,000 total cost of running Britain Yearly Meeting, are £5,971,000.
Peter Ullathorne, treasurer of BYM trustees, spoke to the BYM trustees report at Sufferings and reminded Friends that he felt the voluntary contribution figure should be in the region of £3,000,000. The operating deficit was £838,000.
He described the finances as ‘stable’ and stressed that the income produced by the Hospitality Company continues to improve. It had made £300,000 more than the previous year.
The budget and operational plan for 2017 had been approved at the 18 November meeting of BYM trustees.
Ingrid Greenhow, clerk of BYM trustees, had earlier spoken of the main agenda items of the November meeting. The situation regarding the development in the Euston area of the HS2 project, and its impact on Friends House, had been an important focus in recent months.
She explained that both Friends House and Drayton House are considered ‘places of worship’ and an agreement reached with the secretary of state gives ‘a route wide assurance that it will consider reimbursing places of worship adversely affected by the authorised works if they suffer a significant loss of revenue’.
Friends were given information on the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva and told that key funding from the Swiss government, along with funding from Norway and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Foundation is coming to an end.
Ingrid Greenhow welcomed two ‘positive’ reports from Anne Bennett, clerk of the Quaker World Relations Committee (QWRC), and Rowena Loverance, clerk of the Quaker Committee for Christian and Interfaith Relations (QCCIR).
The strategy of QCCIR has ‘crystallised around three concepts: visibility, engagement and communication’. It is working on a proposal on ‘The Changing Face of Faith in Britain’ that will look at the changing religious landscape.
The Operational Plan for 2017 was described as a ‘work in progress’ and Friends were given a summary. This sets out what each department at Friends House is for, how many staff are involved, what the non-staff costs are, and also highlights the areas of work and high-level objectives for each department, such as Quaker Peace & Social Witness.
Ingrid Greenhow explained that trustees were ‘pleased that staff are beginning to align their work with the objectives’ of the Our faith in the future report.
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