BYMT 8 February 2025

What is this committee responsible for?

Britain Yearly Meeting Trustees are responsible for the national organisation of Quakers in Britain, including the stewardship of its properties, finances and staff. This is the organisation which carries out the centrally managed work discerned by Quakers through Yearly Meeting and Meeting for Sufferings and the central and standing committees of Friends appointed by them. They are also responsible for legal compliance with charity law, health & safety, data protection and safeguarding, as well as for any other work Yearly Meeting asks them to undertake.

What did it do at this meeting?

At this meeting for worship for business, Trustees welcomed three new members. In their opening worship they remembered Simon C. Lamb, who died suddenly and unexpectedly at the beginning of the year. A member of Ireland Yearly Meeting, clerk of the Central Executive Committee of Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) since 2017, Simon was a colleague and friend to many Quakers across the world.

Sarah Donaldson, who has just joined Management Meeting as Senior Change Leader in Quaker Governance, and Paul Parker, Recording Clerk, updated Trustees on the transition to continuing Yearly Meeting sessions and presented a paper outlining some of the financial implications. Staff were asked to explore improvements to the current Yearly Meeting bursary scheme and expenses policies.The Group to Review Central Structures (GRCS) was laid down, having presented reflections from the work it has undertaken over the past two years, and Trustees started to address how they may engage Central Committees in the challenging task of evaluating the programmes run by BYM, discerning priorities, and allocating resources.

Trustees discussed annual reports on Communications and Fundraising, and asked Meeting for Sufferings to consider whether encouraging people to give money should be a duty laid upon Area Meetings.

As some Area Meetings face financial difficulties and struggle to find people to serve in key roles, staff presented recommendations for how Britain Yearly Meeting may support those in danger of becoming unviable. Trustees supported their suggestions, giving approval for work to begin on a pilot programme with some Area Meetings.

Oliver Robertson, Head of Worship and Witness, spoke to his paper about a new outreach strategy. Trustees regard this as a priority area and were excited by what Oliver and the team have planned. They look forward to seeing how this project develops as staff work with each other, Central Committees, external bodies such as Discovering Quakers, and individual meetings to grow the Religious Society.

Trustees will meet again from 6-8 June 2025 at the BYM Yorkshire Centre in Leeds.

How can I find out more?

Please visit the Trustees' page of the Quakers in Britain website, where you will find published minutes from Trustees' meetings.