West Somerset Area Quaker Meeting, of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Registered Charity Number 1155009
Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for 1st January 2023 – 31[st] December 2023
This report accompanies the Treasurers Report for 2023.
Charity Name: West Somerset Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Registered Charity Number: 1155009
Contact Address:
Clerk to trustees Faith Cartwright Eastern Barton, Carhampton, Minehead, Somerset TA24 6LX
Reference information
The charity was registered on 15 December 2013 as West Somerset Area Quaker Meeting (WSAQM). The charity is part of the Religious Society of Friends (Britain Yearly Meeting. WSAQM),
Date of submission to Charity Commission : 10.10.24
Date of Submission to Quaker Life: 10.10.24
Names of those acting as trustees during 2023
Faith Cartwright (clerk), Russell Chapman, Diana Fox (appointed 28.01.23), Rod Reeken, Margaret Stenhouse (assistant clerk), Margaret Stocks (appointed: 22.04.23) Philip Parratt (ex officio as treasurer).
Names of trustees at the time of writing this report: Faith Cartwright (co-clerk) Margaret Stocks (co-clerk) Russell Chapman, Diana Fox, Phili Parratt (ex officio as treasurer).
Other key officers during 2023
Area Meeting Co-clerks: Martin Wall and John Ainsworth (co-clerks) WSAQM Treasurer: Philip Parratt, Cornhill House 15 Main Road, Westonzoyland, Bridgwater, TA5 2EW. Safeguarding Co-ordinator: Margaret Stenhouse Deputy Safeguarding Co-ordinator: Peter Burgoine Data Protection Officer: Faith Cartwright
Meeting House Addresses:
Minehead Meeting House, 9 Bancks Street, Minehead TA24 5DJ Spiceland Meeting House, Uffculme, Cullompton EX15 3AZ Taunton Meeting House, Bath Place, High Street, Taunton TA1 4EP Wellington Meeting House, High Street, Wellington TA21 8RA (There are also local Meetings in hired premises in Bridgwater, and Ilminster.)
Website http://www.westsomersetquakers.org.uk
Structure and Governance of the Area Meeting.
Type of governing document: The Governing document and terms of reference was agreed by West Somerset Area Meeting in 2007, and amended in July 2022 to include the use of electronic technology.
Organisational structure and wider network with which the charity works.
The charity is registered with the Charity Commission and operates under the terms of the Scheme issued on 28 July 2014. It is constituted under a Governing Document and Terms of Reference for Trustees agreed by West Somerset Area Quaker Meeting (WSAQM) in 2007. During 2022, the Governing Document has been amended as requested by the Charity Commission to include the use of meetings using electronic technology (Zoom meetings), where required.
The charity functions in accordance with Quaker Faith and Practice of Britain Yearly Meeting in its meetings for business as an Area Meeting and in Trustees’ meetings as well as following the documents referred to above. Decisions in both bodies are made on the basis of seeking unity under the guidance of the Spirit with the clerk of that body minuting these at the time. These minutes are posted on the AM website.
West Somerset Area Quaker Meeting currently recognises 6 Local Meetings and has set various committees for particular tasks. Area Meeting operates bank accounts and accounting for Area and Local Meetings. The Local Meetings are responsible for their own funds and appoint a Treasurer where they can. Accounts are inspected annually.
The Area Meeting is a constituent part of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) within the Religious Society of Friends. It relates to these as appropriate or required. Friends’ Trusts Ltd acts as custodian trustee for the properties owned by the Society within the Area Meeting. Some funds are allocated
to Elders and Overseers for use at their discretion for members in need or for the spiritual and educational development of members, attenders and Meetings.
Ring binders for each Local Meeting have been produced to allow all Area Meeting policies and codes of practice to be easily available in each Local Meeting. Each policy is contained in a plastic pocket to enable ease of replacement should any policy be amended or superseded.
Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees
Names of trustees are put forward by their local meetings and nominated by the nominations committee taking due regard of new safeguarding procedures. They are then appointed by the Area Meeting. The intention is that all local meetings should be represented on the trustee body, where that is not possible representatives from Local meetings are invited to attend as observers.
New trustees are given copies of the Charity Commission Scheme, Governing Document, Terms of Reference and the Memorandum of Understanding mentioned above as well as recent minutes. An induction opportunity is offered after the trustee’s first meeting with the clerk, treasurer and safeguarding co-ordinator to answer questions and offer a basic understanding of the role. New trustees are encouraged to take part in national training for trustees offered by Woodbrooke, either in person or online.
Objects and Activities
The object of West Somerset Area Quaker Meeting is the furtherance of the general religious and charitable purposes of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain in the area of the Area Meeting and beyond.
WSAQM pursues its object of the furtherance of the religious and charitable purposes of the Religious Society of Friends through holding meetings for worship in six different locations on Sunday mornings and in some places at other times. Open meetings on the basis of Quakerism or current issues in society are held from time to time and acts of witness and meetings in public places held or supported on particular matters of concern throughout the year. Each Local Meeting (LM) - and the Area Meeting itself - provides opportunities for learning, discussion and fellowship, not least in developing understanding of being Quakers today. A Newsletter is produced 3 times a year. The national weekly magazine
for the Society of Friends, ‘The Friend’, is available for visitors’ use, mostly stored in the LMs’ libraries for ease of reference.
During 2022 several Local Meetings, though not all, have enabled others to join in their worship through the use of zoom.
Public Benefit
West Somerset Area Meeting has had due regard to the Charity Commission’s advice on public benefit in carrying out its duties during this period.
The charity provides public benefit through the provision of regular public meetings for worship, fostering the spiritual life and development of its members and attenders, co-operation with a range of voluntary bodies with similar aims and the availability of premises owned by the charity for use or hire to a wide variety of bodies in the communities in which they are placed. Meetings also support financially and practically a number of charitable activities, run by Quakers and by others, in line with their principles. Support is given to the Somerset Chapter of Citizens UK – a campaigning group that seeks to bring together numerous civic groups to give voice to unmet need in the community.
Local meetings work with other church groups in their area for the benefit of those in need including refugees, the homeless, food banks, sustainable living activities, and to uphold our witness to peace.
Sustainability.
All local meetings have been asked to produce a sustainability plan and to keep this under review reporting annually to the Area Meeting. Ilminster Meeting has been actively involved in ‘Big Green week’ and have started a ‘dispersed orchard’ of fruit trees in the town. Spiceland Meeting is looking at how they can make the land around the meeting house more sustainable; in March 70 native trees were planted in the grounds of the Meeting House by volunteers from the meeting and friends from other local meetings.
Three local meetings hosted the Loving Earth Exhibition, much enjoyed by visitors and helping to raise awareness of the issues in their areas.
Main Achievements.
Having reviewed our risk assessment at the end of 2022, some action points were taken; local meetings were reminded of the need to carry out
a health and safety risk assessment at least annually and Taunton Meeting House arranged a professional fire risk assessment.
In view of the concerns arising from the difficulty of finding role holders, and in particular new trustees, some tentative approaches have been made to adjacent Area Meetings about the possibility of sharing some Area Meeting responsibilities. Area Meetings adjacent to West Somerset however are small Area Meetings – in view of their size (despite the fact that West Somerset is not a large Area Meeting) they are understandably concerned about keeping their own individuality at this stage. We hope to continue to explore ways of cooperating and some joint events have taken place in particular with regard to climate change awareness raising.
Minor works of refurbishment and redecoration have been carried out on most of the properties and Minehead meeting was able to refurbish the kitchen of the meeting house with the help of a legacy.
Financially the funds of the Area were helped by improved lettings following the difficulties if of the pandemic. More details will be included in the financial report.
In November Ilminster local meeting decided to lay down their search for a new meeting house. The funds originally donated for the purpose of a new meeting house in Ilminster have reverted to the AM funds for maintenance and refurbishment of other meeting houses in accordance with the wishes of the donor.
In accordance with advice from the Charity Commission and Britain Yearly Meeting, at the end of the year trustees started to put together a social media policy, which should come before Area Meeting in 2024.
An ongoing conflict with a local business, regarding parking arrangements at the Taunton Meeting House, has resulted in a threat of legal proceedings from the local business. Previous attempts to settle this matter amicably have not been fruitful and the matter has now been referred to solicitors in the hope of reaching a settlement.
Safeguarding.
Following the appointment of a safeguarding co-ordinator in 2022, a deputy safeguarding coordinator has been appointed, and ‘safer recruitment’ procedures are in place for some specific posts. This seems to be working well without being too obtrusive. A simple guide for those who carry out DBS checks with DDC has been produced and the
safeguarding coordinator has undertaken training from 31:8. Other trustees are yet to undertake this training.
Reports from Local Meetings
Bridgwater
Bridgwater meeting in 2023 is a small worshipping group holding public Meetings for Worship at Bridgwater Arts Centre almost every Sunday. With numbers at Meeting ranging from 3 to 12 and averaging 5 to 6 we are able to contribute little corporately, in the way of organised activities, to the local area or Area Meeting. Members of the Meeting support the Bridgwater Peace Group as part of their Quaker witness.
Ilminster
Ilminster Friends continue to meet in Sweet Surprise sweet shop. We agreed to lay down the search for a meeting house. The money previously earmarked for this to be used for upkeep of meeting houses throughout the area meeting in keeping with the terms of the original bequest.
We are a small meeting. Despite this we play an active role in the community, being involved in the food bank, warm spaces project and Fair Trade activities. Our commitment to sustainable living includes our participation in the Big Green Week “letters to the future”, hosting the loving Earth exhibition and by maintaining a dispersed orchard throughout the town. We also join with the Anglican community by taking part in the Christmas tree festival and laying a wreath of red and white poppies on Remembrance Day.
Minehead.
Minehead Local Meeting holds a regular meeting for Worship every Sunday, averaging around between 6 and 10 attenders with occasional visitors from other meetings. The meeting holds an additional half hour meeting once a month followed by a simple soup and cheese lunch, helping to cement the fellowship of the meeting with each other as well as outreach to others. Some members of the meeting are involved with the Minehead Welcomes Refugees group which continues to offer respite holidays to refugees from other towns in Somerset. These have been much valued by the refugees who enjoy the chance of a break from the anxieties and cares of their lives. Monthly collections are held for charities mainly with local or Quaker connections. In line with our commitment to preserving the planet we keep our sustainability under regular review. Solar panels were fitted in 2016 and these have been serviced and cleaned. At the end of June, Minehead Meeting hosted the Loving Earth
Exhibition in the meeting house, well received by the 40 or so visitors. In September we were thrilled when one of our members was invited to hold an exhibition in a local arts centre – shared with Grayson Perry, exhibiting her own life in textile quilts, including her involvement with Greenham Common, as well as her commitment to Quakerism. Some members took part in a weekly Peace vigil together with others in the town for Gaza and Israel, during the run up to Christmas.
With the help of a generous legacy, we were able to refurbish our kitchen making it more user friendly for hirers. The meeting house is a useful and affordable venue for local groups.
Taunton
In 2023 Taunton Meeting continued its recovery from the effects of the pandemic, not least in the increasing opportunities to engage with the wider community and to respond to world issues such as war and climate breakdown.
The Meeting House continues to serve as a valuable community resource, where groups such as Taunton Welcomes Refugees and Citizens Somerset meet regularly and value the support they receive.
Holocaust Memorial Day and the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima were again marked by silent vigils, and in response to the events in Israel and Gaza towards the end of the year, Friends started holding additional Peace Vigils it the High Street to which everyone was welcome.
Our weekly collections contribute to international, Quaker and local charities in turn each month. Our Quaker Commitment to working towards a safer planet was again shown in the Earth Action Group’s decision to host an exhibition of the Loving Earth panels for a second time. Our home groups continue to thrive, and social events are once again on the calendar.
2023 was a year in which Friends across the globe felt shaken and disturbed by the continued war in Ukraine and the conflict in Israel /Gaza, as well as continued conflicts across the world. We hope and pray for peace and reconciliation in the year ahead.
Wellington
Wellington local meeting has continued to provide a public place of worship every week. We are always pleased to welcome our regular attenders and visitors from other meetings and people interested in experiencing a Quaker Meeting. The fabric of the building has continued to
be looked after with energy efficient heating and lighting. The automatic timer off switch for the heating is environmentally friendly and has helped us reduce our energy demand. The ’access for all ramp’ has been repaired and the entrance made welcoming with planters planted out with the changing seasons. The Peace garden is maintained to a high standard and is enjoyed by the community with its public access and central, tranquil setting just off the High Street.
We are sharing our resources through the Food bank collection. Our hirers value our competitive hire charges and the use of the building for their needs. We work closely with the Toddler Group, Toy Library, and Solitary Writers group and there is provision for other groups on a regular or advocate basis. We represent Friends with Churches Together; World Day of Prayer; and Transition Town Wellington just to name three of the organisations we are involved in. Although we did not hold a separate Celebration of Light we were a presence in the town at the switching on of the town's Christmas lights.
Financial Review
A Gift Aid Claim was made during the year. The process of updating names of officers was difficult (some names being some 10 years out of date!).
BYM donations were £10,350 vs 2022 £4,600, 2021 £21,000. BYM is actively reminding us of contribution levels (which are falling across BYM and have been up and down from WSAQM).
Funds levels at LMs are meeting our reserves policy and following AM treasurer guidance.
The Minehead bequest of £20,000 received in 2022 has been part spent on renovation. With higher costs at The Taunton centre tree planting at Spiceland meant support costs rose a lot vs 2022. Taunton Centre hiring income is (at £25,000) down on 2022 as “corporate” hirings have largely been replaced by lower paying community groups.
Rising interest rates have increased our interest income – but considerably less than the loss we suffered through inflation. Property Reserve fund was increased £35,000-£40,000 (as planned) Our Ilminster fund of some £300,000 has been released by Ilminster Friends for AM use on its other Meeting Houses. Trustees will begin considering how best to use the money. Any proposals will be discerned at local and area meetings.
There were no transactions between the charity and trustees during 2022. Funds exceed reserves policy by £77,000, however when LM funds are excluded the surplus is about £38,000.
signed
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Faith Cartwright (co-clerk West Somerset Area Quaker Meeting) Date 09.10.2024
| Receipts and payrnents | Unrestricted | RestrictedEndowmen | RestrictedEndowmen | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lnveslmentincome lncome from Quakeractivities Iotal incominq rescurces |
38,529 36,ggl 18,473 3,02s 1.993 vI )3 U 8,4733,193 |
( C 20€ 0 n |
38,529 36,891 21,875 3,025 tsql |
51,271 37,142 20,135 a 7617 |
||
| 5,217 | 5,217 | 2,953 | Note 2 | |||
| 14,844 | 14,844 | 9,952 | Note 2 | |||
| 81,930 | 81,930 | 54,105 | Note 2 | |||
| 350 | 350 | 350 | ||||
| Totalresoui;esexnent | 0 | n | ||||
| Netinc. resourcesbefore | ||||||
| 10resourcss after | 3,tll3 | *fi | 0 | Note9 | ||
| 0 | ||||||
| Net movement in iofaifundsbroughtforward,.lJan l!q[yearadjustmenk Totalfunds carriedtorward,31Dec |
ffi 17A,971 314"A?1 -2654i |
ffi | re 457,429 MIlry |
Note1 | ||
| Statement of Asset and LiabilitiCs Ftxaga$3a6 |
UnrestrictedRes{rictedEndowmenl | |||||
| -andandbuildings rixturssand fittings -ongterminvaEtrnents |
0 0 0 |
C C |
0 0 o |
Note6 | ||
| uulrentaasots | ||||||
| Debtors Shortterm deposits Dashat bank |
s {l 4A |
c 0 516)rA |
0 0 il75n8 |
NoteB | ||
| ;ishillt,€B | ||||||
| ]rqditcrs:duewillinone;*;r | 1.375 | Note8 t | ||||
| ;redttors:due afrer oneyear rrovisionsfor liabilities and eharnac |
10.m0 0 |
10,00c u |
a):::-t.::. 10,000 o |
|||
| ::';..,'.'.:.': |
| 52,575 | 48,780 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (0) | |||||
| (10,000) | .. | ||||
| 40,000 | 35,000 | ||||
| 0 | 0 | ||||
| 4,942 | 12,582 | ||||
| 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2J1A | 4,111 | ||||
| 21,774 | 28,452 | ||||
| 16,656 | 17,733 | ||||
| 16,284 | 8,355 | ||||
| funds | Taunton | 15,219 8,000 |
13,959 12,0AA |
||
| -:iri:li- | :- i ,; :i | ||||
| ..j | r':.:i:. | .i.:,.r.:;.::r | i:,:l |
==> picture [7 x 5] intentionally omitted <==
| 3-Trustees and exarniners | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Refundcfexpense* to TrusieesasTruitees | 0 | 0 | |
| Refund of sther expensest0Trij$tee$ | 0 | 0 | |
| Feesfcrexarnination or audit | 350 | 350 | |
| Oiher fees paidtoexaminerorauditsr | 0 | 0 | |
| 0ihercoslsofCovernance | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | |||
| 4-Paidemployees | |||
| 7,357 | |||
| Total |
| 5 | -Grants anddonations | Unrestricled 10,350 100 2,124 0 0 0 |
RestrictedEndowmen,l 6---' 00 00 00 00 00 |
10,3fr1 t00 2,721 0 0 0 |
4,600 50 3,050 150 a o |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals |
| 6a- Resaleand insurance ofproperties |
-rn-sEreREE- valuevalueof land and |
l{esale valueof Land and |
Contents | Dateof valuation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minehead Spiceland Taunton Wellington Milverton BurialGround |
buildinos ------s6t06o Z/oSO0 1,249,000 752,000 0 |
hrrilrlinne 100,000 200,000 525,000 1'10,000 5,000 |
0 0 0 0 0 |
31t12t2012 31t12t2012 171O712017 31nA2012 31t12t2012 |
|
| 'otals | 0 | 0 |
==> picture [2 x 3] intentionally omitted <==
| 9b | -Movement of thefunds | FUnODalances brought lanrrarel |
lncoming ressurces |
Outgoing resources |
Transfers | Gains and losses |
Fund balances canied fonrard |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48,780 | 15,025 | 52,1t75 | |||||||
| (0) t10,000) 35,000 o |
0 0 5,000 0 |
{0} ({0,0&t} 'l{r,lxl00 |
|||||||
| Bridgwaler B-o-S llminster Minehead |
12,000 12,ffiz 0 4,', |
11 28,452 |
7,391 0 3,29i 16,71! |
r0,2s5) {5,0m) 0 (e5o) (500) |
|||||
| Spiceland Taunton |
17,733 8,355 13 959 |
(3,2601 | 16,85G 18,28{ {5.219 |
||||||
| Totalsforunres | ::'l' l | 1 | 1l | ||||||
| Taunton MH Renewa llmlnstet |
( 3.14.621 |
0 3.193 |
0 3r7813-9{ |
||||||
| Totalsfor restrictedfunt | |||||||||
| lunds AssistaneeFune Rrid*r.a-,ziermaintenaneefunc Totalsfor endowment |
20,641 0 |
w | 0 c |
?$,851 n ..lr:r:.,.: |
|||||
| Totalsforall |