Meeting for Sufferings: Report of Britain Yearly Meeting trustees
Jennifer Barraclough presented the report of Britain Yearly Meeting trustees at Meeting for Sufferings
Property dominated the report on the work of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees. The report was given by the clerk of BYM trustees, Jennifer Barraclough. Having realised that she had spent the last twenty years living in Quaker properties, she commented that our buildings are significant opportunities to show what Quakers are about today. We need a vision, she said, for our properties.
Friends House requires a new electrical substation. This has given BYM trustees, she said, the opportunity to look further at how the garden can serve the various communities that use it. The entrance to the garden will be relocated from its present position in front of Friends House. The section nearer the building will, in the future, have space for outside dining and be able to facilitate access for wheelchairs to the restaurant.
The Swarthmoor Hall Project Group has reported to BYM trustees on the options that were set out for the future management of the Hall. It was reported that there had been very helpful input from ninety Friends. A wide range of possible options was discussed and presented for consideration. A recommendation was made to go for one of them: the ‘status quo plus’.
The National Trust was consulted on the options for either a marketing or a management plan. When the marketing option was chosen the National Trust backed out. Swarthmoor Hall, under the option chosen, remains in Quaker hands and Friends and others are encouraged to make wider use of it.
Jennifer Barraclough, as an aside to her report on the BYM trustees’ minutes, told Friends that the board of directors of the hospitality company that manages Friends House have decided to give an additional name to the Large Meeting House. It will be called ‘The Light’.
She explained that the hospitality company felt that having a ‘house’ within Friends House was confusing to non-Quakers who would make use of the hall in the future. The room will remain ‘The Large Meeting House’ for Friends. (See ‘The Light’ by Peter Coltman.)
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