Meeting for Sufferings: Risks and logos
Risks facing Britain Yearly Meeting were highlighted at Meeting for Sufferings
Some of the risks now faced by the Religious Society of Friends in Britain were highlighted at Meeting for Sufferings held at Friends House, London, on Saturday 2 April.
Ingrid Greenhow, clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees, spoke to the minutes of the February 2016 trustees’ meeting. BYM treasurer Peter Ullathorne spoke to the summary review of financial activities for 2015.
Ingrid told Meeting for Sufferings that the trustees spent much of their February meeting looking at risk. She spoke first of reputational risk, where the use of the ‘Q’ logo and the protection of the Quaker ‘brand’ are a particular concern.
Britain Yearly Meeting holds the copyright for the logo, a piece of original artwork which it commissioned. Acting on the recommendation of a Friend with publishing law experience, however, the trustees have agreed to register the Quaker ‘Q’ as a trademark. Ownership of a trademark offers stronger legal protection than ownership of copyright, Sufferings heard.
Ingrid spoke also of the risk posed to the area around Friends House by the Crossrail 2 and HS2 rail developments, which could cause disruption for up to a decade. She told Sufferings that the trustees’ finance and property committee is to set up a special group to monitor developments. It will work with staff and interested external bodies on ‘planning and mitigating the risks involved’. Britain Yearly Meeting has joined the Stephenson Way Community Group. Its members include other organisations that may be affected by the development. Among them are the Wellcome Trust, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Magic Circle, she told Friends.
Treasurer Peter Ullathorne stressed the risk of not having the funds needed to do what the Society wants to do. He said: ‘If we want to do more, we have to pay for more.’
Peter told Sufferings that he had asked Area Meeting treasurers if members could help the Society ‘raise its sights’, by giving £3 million this year. He acknowledged that this is ‘a big ask’, contributions having been at around £2 million for the past few years.
A Friend asked what this would equate to per capita. Sufferings heard that in the past BYM has asked for £150 a year per member. To reach £3 million, Peter explained, members would have to give between £200 and £250 each this year. He explained that he realised that, for some, this is a lot of money. Area Meeting treasurers have therefore been asked to use the suggested figure ‘at their discretion’.
In summing up, Peter said that the 2015 accounts show ‘a stable and reasonable condition’.
