'There are many gifts and skills in our staff teams. We value all of these, and hold staff in the light.' Photo: by Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash
Priority delivery: Robert Almond, Jeff Beatty and Caroline Nursey discuss change at BYM
‘We remain ambitious and yearn strongly for change in the world, yet believe doing more on fewer areas will achieve more.’
At Yearly Meeting 2019, Friends welcomed the priorities developed by Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees over the previous year: thriving Quaker communities, a sustainable and peaceful world, and simple structures and practices – all distinctively Quaker, integrated, and well governed.
Since then, Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) Central Committee has been exploring what love requires of us in the 2020s. Much of the reflection, discernment, and dialogue with staff and sub committees, has had to take place online; this enables frequent meetings, but is more demanding than meeting face-to-face.
Our new QPSW strategy was agreed by trustees and welcomed by Meeting for Sufferings late last year. It is available on the Quakers in Britain website. The two interconnected themes are: ‘Peace and Peacebuilding’, and ‘Sustainability and Climate Justice’. A range of approaches has been identified, and Central Committee has set out what this means for the delivery of our programmes.
We remain ambitious and yearn strongly for change in the world, yet believe doing more on fewer areas will achieve more. This does not mean that long-cherished concerns are being laid down, but we see scope to do some things differently. We believe there is an appetite for more work to grow directly from Local and Area Meetings (AMs), or from Quaker Recognised Bodies. Some of this is best led centrally, and some can be carried out differently. We hope the new local development team will support this. We also recognise a need for greater agility – to respond quickly when needed, even if this means laying down or pausing some work – and for better cross-programme activity.
Prioritisation and agility can allow for better budget control, though QPSW’s strategy was developed without that as a main concern. Trustees hold responsibility for BYM finances and expenditure has been £1m more than income in most years recently, which is not sustainable. The pandemic has made the financial challenges more acute. We have lost the significant income normally generated by the Quiet Company. We also realise that some AMs and Friends have suffered financially, and may struggle to give as generously as they would wish. So, trustees have agreed to bring expenditure in line with income sooner than previously planned, by the beginning of 2023. This means reducing costs by nearly one third compared with 2019. Sadly, because three-quarters of our costs are employee-related, that means we will end up with fewer staff. So far, all redundancies have been voluntary. We are grateful that senior staff and the union worked together last year to make provision for that more equitable.
Restructuring in Quaker Life is complete and staff are settling in. Consultation in QPSW has not yet started, and we need to make sure that the work can be done by the staff we will have. There are many gifts and skills in our staff teams. We value all of these, and hold staff in the light.
Robert and Jeff are co-clerks of QPSW Central Committee. Caroline is clerk of BYM trustees.
