YOUNG FRIENDS GENERAL MEETING (YFGM) Norwich Friends Meeting House 11th -13th October 2002 Minutes Present: Co-clerks: Sarah Donaldson Co-convenors of Overseers: Clare Lockwood Nick Sturge Guy Milner Treasurer: Jenny Moy Officer of Outreach: Ruth Wood Convenor of Nominations Committee: Mike Stokes Convenor of Officers: Carol Robinson Co-ordinator: Simon Best Monthly Meeting Representatives: Bromley, Lewisham & Southwark: John Bacon Colchester & Coggeshall: Hannah Leavett Dorking & Horsham: Blair Hunwick Maud Grainger Devonshire House & Tottenham: Daisie Auty Hampstead: Rachel Arnold Leeds: Tara Dowling-Hussey Luton & Leighton: Ellie Colyer North Wales: Joe Anderson North Somerset & Wilts: Tim Hudson Norwich & Lynn: Liam Young Notts. & Derbys: Paul Sladen Richy Rushmer North of Scotland: Emma Salt Purley & Sutton: Anna Page South East Scotland: Vivian Barty-Taylor Warwickshire: Sandy McClure Worcestershire & Shropshire: Dawn Fowler West Devon: Paddy Uglow York: Emily Ross Hannah Jones 30 Adam Boardman, Adam Boulter, Aidan McCartney, Alice Lynch, Andrew Rendle, Anne Pommier, Anneke Spreij, Ben Maher, Ben Parker, Becky Herring, Bluebell Eikonoklastes, Cathie Swailes, Claire Milne, David Sunderland, Ella Kingham Speirs, Emily Parr, Ellen Marshall, Frances Hopkins, Fran Webb Heather Rowlands, Harry Kingham, Hester Speirs, Hugh Williams, Hugo Finley, Joe Coffin, Juliette Stoller, Jessica Thatcher, Katherine Rich, Katy Turquoise, Linda Batten, Marie Drouin, Matthew Colyer, Mike Eccles, Michael Pennock, Marion Penn, Nessa Williams, Nick Perks, Paul Levy, Rachel Phillips, Roanna Heller, Rowan Burrough, Ruth Todhunter, Robin Vanner, Sarah Freeman, Sally Knowles, Simon Gray, Stan Jiun Yih, TOTAL: 77 02/29 Opening Minute We welcome each other here to Young Friends General Meeting in Norwich. We especially welcome Anneke Spreij of Netherlands Yearly Meeting. We look forward to out weekend together. 02/30 Summer Event 2002 We have heard a report from the gathering held in Pardshaw this summer. The theme of the event was 'A Quaker Testimony to the Earth'. The event was fully self-financing. Young Friends who attended enjoyed the chance to gather together to think more deeply about these important issues. 02/31 Living Witness Project Further to minute 02/19 we have heard about the Living Witness Project, how Laurie Michaelis is considering spiritual, social and environmental aspects of sustainable living and bringing a group together to take this forward. We support this project, and feel that in order to get involved we would need one or more enthusiastic people to attend this link group. These people could take the lead in informing the rest of YFGM about developments in facilitating the involvement of more people. We would then be keen for this to come back into business sessions at future YFGMs. We ask anybody who is keen to take this on to contact Nominations Committee today and we will then make one or more appointments. YFGM will pay expenses of representatives to the group as necessary. 02/32 Representation, Communication and Accountability in our Structures (RECAST) Gavin Burnell, Pamela Coren & Shelia Gatiss have spoken to us about the group now known as RECAST. The aim of this group is to look at the current structures of the Religious Society of Friends, and to determine whether they are appropriate, or whether organizational change is needed. They will be running a Special Interest Group later today. In additional to nominating a YFGM representative we are all encouraged to feed into this process. 02/33 Mental Health Further to minute 02/23, we have heard back from the group taking forward our concern on mental health issues. They have spent some time considering this, and have identified a charity which we would like to support, the Association for Pastoral Care in Mental Health. It works in this area in a manner very much in tune with our concern. The group have also discussed some creative activities and awareness raising to help further this concern. We will adopt Mental Health as our new appeal. We ask Nominations Committee to bring us names for a group to take this forward. We ask this group to publicise the new appeal, which will begin on the 1st December 2002. We will review the appeal in October 2003. 02/34 Amendments to Financial Policy Our General Fund Treasurer, Jenny Moy, has taken us through a number of changes in the Financial Policy. We approve changes to the following paragraphs: 1 (h) 2 (e), (g), (h) 3 (a), (b), (c) 4 (a) 5 6 (f) 7 (c) 9 (c) 10 (d) 12 (d) The full text of these amended paragraphs is appended to these minutes. 02/35 YFGM Office Heather Rowlands and Alice Lynch of our Management Group have informed us about a proposal from The Leaveners regarding our office. The Leaveners want to move to new premises in Northfield, which are owned by Warwickshire Monthly Meeting, and suggest that we share an office with them there. Management Group and Officers have considered this issue and felt that it would be preferable to keep the office in Woodbrooke. We have considered whether we want to leave Woodbrooke, given all the advantages it offers. We appreciate The Leaveners thinking of us, but we feel that at this time we do not wish to move our office. We think that The Leaveners' proposal is a good one. If their proposal is accepted we would like to discuss using some of the new space on an occasional basis. We will send this minute to the Leaveners. 02/36 Bookkeeping Report Our Co-ordinator, Simon Best, has reported to us on the bookkeeping aspect of his job. Overall this is going well. 02/37 Pardshaw Committee Pardshaw Monthly Meeting have asked us if we would like to help lay a new wooden floor in the Women's Meeting Room in the Pardshaw Meeting House. Harry Kingham has brought this to us on behalf of Pardshaw Committee who would like YFGM to support this project. We agree that work can be an act of worship, and that there will be time for other spiritual activities at this gathering. We encourage Pardshaw Committee to take up this project and run this event next summer. 02/25 Nominations We appoint the following people to the following posts. We release from service those people mentioned below and thank them for all their work on our behalf. Position Period Released from service Person Appointed YQ Editor 3 years simon gray Hannah Jones YQ Treasurer 3 years Alice Drewery To be appointed Employment Treasurer 3 years Ella Kingham Speirs Dawn Fowler Pardshaw Committee 3 years Bryony Evens Nick Perks Pardshaw Treasurer 3 years Paul Sladen Marion Penn Northern Friends Peace 3 years Helen Close Vivian Barty-Taylor Board Representative Outreach Committee 3 years Rachael Veazey Hannah Pennock Overseer 2 years Clare Lockwood Sarah Freeman Overseer 1 year Ben Parker Ben Parker reappointed for 1 year Co-ordinator's Support Group 1 year Nick Perks Nick Perks reappointed Mental Health Concern Anne Pommier Group Jess Thatcher David Sunderland Rachel Arnold Mental Health Appeal 1 year Anne Pommier Group David Sunderland Paddy Uglow Sally Knowles Juliette Stoller Summer Event 2002 Jennifer Brett Hugh Williams Young Friends 1 year Harry Kingham National Gathering 2003 Rachel Phillips Marion Penn Living Witness Project to February 2004 Linda Batten Link People Rowan Burrough Representatives to to February 2003 Sarah Donaldson Cheshire Monthly Meeting Conference, Manchester January 2003 Guy Milner Representative to to Britain Yearly Meeting 2005 Jenny Moy Working Group on Representation, Communication and Accountability in our Structures 02/39 Appointment to Nominations Committee We release Mike Stokes and Rowan Burrough from service and thank them for their work. We appoint Hannah Jones to serve for 2 years. We will make an additional appointment in February. 02/40 Young Friends National Gathering 2003 We have heard a suggestion from a group of Young Friends for a Young Friends National Gathering focusing on Bible Study, to be held next year, possibly around Easter. We are excited by this proposal, and want to support it. We expect the fees from this event to cover the costs, but we will make a £500 float available from the General Fund. 02/41 Minute of Record: Changes of Signatory We authorise the following people as signatories to the following accounts: Employment Account: Dawn Fowler, Sarah Donaldson, Nick Sturge Pardshaw Account: Marion Penn, Harry Kingham, simon gray Appeal Account: Jenny Shellens, Anne Pommier, Sally Knowles YQ Account: Jenny Moy, Hugh Williams, Nick Sturge . 02/42 Minute of Record: New Trustees We have appointed the following people as Officers & Trustees: Hannah Leavett 2years Co-Convenor of Overseers Ellie Colyer 2 years Convenor of Nominations Committee 02/43 Examiner of the Consolidated Accounts We appoint Ian Jackson, of Warwickshire Monthly Meeting as examiner of the consolidated accounts for 2002, subject to consent. 02/44 The Peace Testimony in Our Lives Simon Fisher, who is the director of Responding to Conflict, has led a lively session. We have considered what we mean by the Peace Testimony and how we live it out in our lives today. Simon also led a Special Interest Group. 02/45 Officers, Overseers & Quintessential Summer Weekend We have heard a report from the Officers, Overseers & Quintessential Summer Weekend. This was a valuable opportunity to look back on recent YFGM weekends and things can be improved. It was also a time for team building and supporting each other in their YFGM roles. 02/46 Childcare Policy In order to make progress in creating a childcare policy and in updating the Crèche Co-ordinator's job description we ask the following people to meet before February YFGM. Sarah Donaldson Co-Clerk Guy Milner Co-Convenor of Overseers Sowena Nelson Crèche Co-ordintor James Barnard Representative on Quaker Life Children & Young People's Committee Blair Hunwick Representative on Quaker Life Children & Young People's Committee We ask Sarah Donaldson to convene this meeting. We will pay expenses for those attending. We expect to hear a progress report at February YFGM. 02/47 Volunteers We thank the following people for volunteering to help in the following ways at the next YFGM in Bristol 21st - 23rd February 2003. Ella Kingham Speirs Vivian Barty-Taylor Janitors simon gray Caterers Marion Penn Anne Pommier Nessa Williams Pan transport Anne Pommier Off-floor Accommodation 02/48 Closing Minute We have had a full, lively and enjoyable weekend together here in Norwich. We have covered a lot of exciting ground and have also had time to relax and enjoy fellowship together Two of our Officers have come to the end of their periods of service this YFGM. Mike Stokes has been a committed and hard-working Convenor of Nominations Committee. We thank him for all his work during our break times at YFGM, and hope we haven't heard the last of his enthusiastic music making. Clare Lockwood has come to the end of her service as Co-Convenor of Overseers. She ahs always worked hard behind the scenes to help YFGM run smoothly. We have valued her creativity and dedication and give her our thanks. We also thank our caterers, Mike Eccles, Alice Lynch and Rachel Phillips and our janitors, Michael Pennock and Hannah Jones. We look forward to seeing each other again at Bristol in February. Signed in and on behalf of YFGM Sarah Donaldson & Nick Sturge Co-Clerks Amendments YFGM to Finance Policy Paragraph Current Wording Proposed Wording Reason for change 1.h) Independent examiners for each of the accounts belonging to General Meeting shall be appointed each year at a Business Meeting. The independent examiners should be independent of General Meeting and the committee with which the accounts are concerned. The independently examined accounts shall be published in the Annual report prior to presentation at a business meeting. An independent examiner for the consolidated accounts shall be appointed at a Business Meeting. The appointment shall not be for longer than three years. The independent examiner should be independent of General Meeting. Before being sent to the examiner, each of the treasurers appointed by General Meeting shall have their accounts examined by someone independent of the committee with which the accounts are concerned but who may be a member of General Meeting, these people shall be appointed by the Officers. We've been informed by Dori Veness who runs the Treasurer Training at Woodbrooke that the legal requirements about having an independent examiner only applies to the consolidated accounts. We hope that relaxing the independence requirement for the examiners of the other accounts will streamline the preparation of the annual report. 2.e) Young Friends may claim expenses, detailed in this document, from the General Fund unless otherwise stated in this document or in a minute of General Meeting. When not otherwise specified, Young Friends who are permitted by this document or by a minute of General Meeting to claim expenses, should claim from the General Fund I found the original wording hard to understand. The new wording does not represent a change of content. 2.g) In addition to the Treasurer, the Finance Committee shall be made up of all other appointed treasurers detailed in this document and two other Young Friends appointed by General Meeting to serve as fundraisers... In addition to the Treasurer, the Finance Committee shall be made up of all other treasurers appointed by General Meeting detailed in this document and another Young Friend appointed by General Meeting to serve as a Fundraiser... Treasurers of associated groups are not appointed by General Meeting and are not members of Finance Committee. We now only appoint one Fundraiser. 2.h) Fundraising, except that detailed in Section 10 of this document, shall be the responsibility of the Finance Committee and overseen by the Fundraisers... Fundraising, except that detailed in Section 10 of this document, shall be the responsibility of the Finance Committee and overseen by the Fundraiser... We now only appoint one Fundraiser. 3. a) b) c) a) Fees shall be charged for Young Friends attending business meetings who use the catering and sleeping facilities provided. No fees are payable for attendance of business sessions alone. b) The fees are intended to pay for most of the expenses associated with running business meetings. General Meeting shall, from time to time, set the levels of fees payable. A statement of the levels of fees and the costs of business meetings shall be made available at each business meeting. c) The fee payable shall be discretionary but based on two days' income after housing costs, according to the minute of General Meeting a) No fees are payable for attending business sessions of Young Friends General Meeting and we don't wish any Young Friend to be prevented from attending by financial reasons. Young Friends who need help with travel expenses may apply to the General Fund Treasurer, preferably at the time of registration. Bursary forms are available from the YFGM office, or from overseers. b) Friends are asked to contribute to the essential expenditure in running a business meeting by making a donation based on two days income after housing costs. It is expected that Friends who use the catering or sleeping facilities will make a donation that covers the cost of providing these. c) It is hoped that, over the year, the income from donations will largely cover the costs incurred in running business meetings. A statement of the income from donations and the costs incurred for each business meeting, including the average cost per person attending shall be made available at the next business meeting. This is the most substantive change proposed. I felt that the current wording was ambiguous. Paragraph a) implies that the purpose of charging the fee is to cover the cost of the catering and sleeping facilities, but b) sets the level of the fees to cover a wider range of expenses; c) says the fee is discretionary, but we set a minimum of £11. The proposed wording tries to do three things: to emphasise the importance of including people who aren't able to pay; to urge people to pay for what they've consumed and to contribute to the other costs what they might otherwise have spent in that period; to monitor the situation and enable people to make informed decisions about what to donate/spend. There would be a corresponding change in the wording on the registration form - draft attached. 4.a) Reasonable expenses incurred by Officers while carrying out their duties shall be paid. If appointed groups or committees need to meet between business meetings, reasonable expenses of the meeting, including a suggested allowance of £1 per person per meal, may be claimed from General Meeting. Any further costs should as far as possible be met by the Young Friends as the meeting. Reasonable expenses incurred by Officers to carry out their duties may be paid, although Officers should be careful not to pre-empt decisions of substance properly taken at a Business Meeting. If appointed groups or committees need to meet between business meetings, reasonable expenses of the meeting including food, travel costs and donation for the use of a Meeting House may be paid. Suggested food allowances per person are £8 for a weekend meeting, £5 for a one day meeting (3 meals), £3 for a single meal. Sometimes it is necessary to meet at Woodbrooke in which case their charges for food may be paid. Any further costs should as far as possible be met by the Young Friends at the meeting. Unless otherwise specified by minute of General Meeting, when committees, secretaries or appointed groups are given a budget amount in the annual budget agreed each year at a Business Meeting the intention is that the money will cover the group's expenses, ongoing work and new work specified by a minute of General Meeting and that any remainder may be spent at their discretion to further the aims for which they were appointed. Overspends can be set against their next year's budget or met from the General Fund contingency allowance, by negotiation with the General Fund Treasurer. Underspends will not normally be carried forward to the next year. [It is also proposed that these paragraphs be numbered a) b) and c) and that the existing paragraphs be renumbered accordingly] I think the intention of the original wording was to enable Officers to do their job without seeking separate permission from YFGM for everything that involved expenditure (see Finance Policy 13. a). I wanted to clarify that this covered things that Officers might ask other people to do as well as their personal expenses. Because committees don't benefit from the same economies of scale as YFGM catering, they have been spending consistently more than £1 per person per meal. I thought it was important for the allowance to be updated so that people could realistically try to work within it. I wanted to clarify that the permission given above to Officers was distinct and stronger than the general permission given to committees to spend the money in their budget. I also wanted to clarify the terms on which appointed people/ groups could spend money assigned to them in the budget as this is not currently covered in the Finance Policy. 5. APPOINTED GROUPS APPOINTED REPRESENTATIVES 6.f) If any Young Friend requires financial help to attend a Special Interest Gathering, they should contact the Events Treasurer in advance. The Events Treasurer may ask the General Fund Treasurer for additional funds to cover these expenses if required. The Events Treasurer may consult with other appropriate Young Friends to decide on the level of help. When setting the fees payable for attending a Special Interest Gathering, the Event Treasurer should give thought to making the event accessible to as wide a range of Young Friends as possible. The General Fund Treasurer should also be consulted in good time about making bursary help available through the annual General Fund budget. If such help is available, information on how to access it should be included in publicity for the Event. [It is also proposed that this paragraph be moved forward to come after paragraph 6.c) and that the subsequent paragraphs be renumbered accordingly] The current wording gives the Events Treasurer full responsibility for making the event accessible. The proposed wording encourages the Events Treasurer to take accessibility into account in setting the fees but leaves other bursary issues to the General Meeting and the General Fund Treasurer who is in a better position to develop a coherent policy. 7.c) If a group has its own funds, it shall appoint a treasurer. Its accounts shall be independently examined. An Associated Group benefits from our charitable status, therefore the auditor shall be appointed by General Meeting, and the audited accounts shall be presented to a business meeting. If an Associated group has its own funds, it shall appoint a Treasurer. Its accounts shall be independently examined. An Associated Group benefits from our charitable status, therefore the examiner shall be appointed by General Meeting and the examined accounts shall be presented to a Business Meeting. Auditing is more rigorous than examining. I think our intention was to ask for the accounts to be examined. 9.c) The Employment Account shall pay for the expenses of the Management Group, Administrator's Support Group and the running costs of the office, including equipment and stationary. The Employment Account shall pay for the expenses of the Management Group, Co-ordinator's Support Group and the running costs of the office, including equipment, stationary and any costs associated with the Co-ordinator's role as the General Fund book-keeper. [It is also proposed to change Administrator to Co-ordinator throughout] The job title has changed from Administrator to Co-ordinator. The Co-ordinator has now taken on the General Fund book-keeping and there have been expenses such as training, software etc. 10.d) All expenses are to be met out of the funds raised by the Appeal, except for expenses incurred in maintaining the accounts. All expenses are to be met out of the funds raised by the Appeal, except for expenses incurred in maintaining the accounts and attending Finance Committee. The proposed wording reflects our actual practice, where all treasurers claim travel expenses for Finance Committee from the General Fund. 12.d) The expenses, including travelling expenses, of the Pardshaw Committee shall be met from Pardshaw Young Friends' Centre funds. The expenses, including travelling expenses, of the Pardshaw Committee shall be met from Pardshaw Young Friends' Centre funds. The travel expenses for the Pardshaw Treasurer to attend Finance Committee shall be met from the General Fund. As above. New Draft Wording for Registration Form Fees How much you pay to contribute to the cost of the weekend is basically up to you, but if you're here for meals we ask you to give at least £7 which covers the cost to us of your food and accommodation. Our aim is to raise enough from fees to cover most of the costs of running the weekend, which includes the travel expenses of people with essential roles and the cost of preparatory meetings. The cost per head of holding a YFGM meeting is currently around £X per head. Since some Young Friends can afford more than others, Friends are asked to make a donation based on two days income after housing costs. YFGM suggests the following guidelines: Your income after housing costs (in £/week) Your fee for the weekend <50 £7-£11 50-100 £11-£28 100-150 £28-£42 150-200 £42-£56 >200 £56-£60 Please tick this box if you are a taxpayer and wish us to reclaim the tax paid on your donation I confirm that I am 18 or over. I understand that I can pay on arrival.