2020-12-31-accounts

Charity no. 1175435

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Report and Audited Financial Statements 31 December 2020

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Reference and administrative details

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Charity number Registered address Website Trustees Clerk to Area Meeting Nominee for Land Bankers Investment managers

1175435 Quaker Meeting House 300 Gloucester Road Bristol BS7 8PD https://www.bristolquakers.org.uk/ Susana Askew Ray Bray Appointed 1 December 2020 Fran De'Ath Appointed 17 September 2020 Kit Fotheringham Sanni Kruger Appointed 1 January 2021 Geralyn Meehan Marcus Millington Colin Milsom Resigned 30 June 2020 Catherine Nile Clerk Barney Smith Appointed 1 June 2020 Jeffery Smith Resigned 30 June 2020 Tim Southall Gillian Whitehead Paul Whitehouse AM Treasurer Richard Drake Friends Trust Limited 173-177 Euston Road London NW1 2BJ Triodos Bank The Co-operative Bank Plc Deanery Road P.O. Box 101 Bristol 1 Balloon Street BS1 5AS Manchester M60 4EP CAF Bank Ltd Epworth 25 Kings Hill Avenue 9 Bonhill Street West Malling London ME19 4JQ EC2A 4PE Rathbone Investment Management Ltd 10 Queen Square Bristol BS1 4NT The trustees are who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Reference and administrative details

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Auditors

Godfrey Wilson Limited Chartered accountants and statutory auditors 5th Floor Mariner House 62 Prince Street Bristol BS1 4QD

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

The trustees present their report along with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2020. Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 and 2 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Constitution and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (effective from January 2019).

1. LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

1.1 Status and Objectives

Bristol Area Quaker Meeting is one of around 70 Meetings which make up The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, also known as Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM). It was registered (number 1175435) as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 30 October 2017.

1.2 Object

The object of Bristol 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 Bristol Area Meeting and beyond.

1.3 Trustees

Up to 15 trustees are appointed by Bristol Area Meeting (AM) in Session, on the advice of the AM Nominations Committee. They hold office for a term of three years and may be reappointed for a second term. Area Meeting in Session also appoints the Clerk to the Trustees and the Treasurer, who is ex-officio a trustee.

1.4 Activities

The principal activity of the Area Quaker Meeting is the holding of Meetings for Worship in the constituent Local Meetings: Bedminster, Central Bristol, Frenchay, Horfield, Portishead, Redland and Thornbury. Philanthropic activity is mainly through the Weekly Committee which provides financial support to needy Quakers and in some cases those outside the Society. Some Local Meetings conduct collections to make donations to a range of causes. All members of the Area Meeting are entitled to take part in Meetings for Church Affairs which inter alia appoint the Trustees.

1.5 Membership

Local Meeting	Members 2019	Members 2020	Attenders 2020
Bedminster	29	28	31
Central	24	25	23
Frenchay	34	36	16
Horfield	36	35	23
Portishead	14	14	8
Redland	103	109	96
Thornbury	27	22	8
TOTAL AM	267	269	205

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

2. TRUSTEES’ REPORT

2.1 INTRODUCTION

2.1.1. This is the Annual Report for Bristol Area Quaker Meeting (number 1175435) for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2020.

2.1.2. Local Meetings

The Area Meeting comprises seven Local Meetings of which six occupy their own Meeting Houses. Thornbury Meeting meets in rented premises.

• Bedminster Quaker Meeting House, Wedmore Vale, Bedminster, BS3 5HX.

• Central Quaker Meeting House, Champion Square, BS2 9DB

• Frenchay Quaker Meeting House (and attached Warden’s Cottage), Beckspool Road, Frenchay, BS16 1NT

• Horfield Quaker Meeting House 300 Gloucester Road, Horfield, BS7 8PD

• Portishead Quaker Meeting House 11 St Mary’s Road, Portishead, BS20 6QP

• Redland Friends Meeting House 126 Hampton Road, Redland, BS6 6JE

• Thornbury Quaker Meeting The Chantry, Castle Street, Thornbury, BS35 1HB

2.1.3. Burial Grounds

Two Meeting Houses, Frenchay and Portishead have burial grounds attached. In addition the Area Meeting owns two freestanding burial grounds:

• Kings Weston Burial Ground, Kings Weston Lane, Bristol, BS11 0QT

• Hazel Burial Ground, Hazel Lane, Old Down, Bristol, BS35 3QP

2.1.4. Governance

Meetings for church affairs, in which the Religious Society conducts its business, are meetings for worship based on silence, carrying the expectation that God’s guidance can be discerned if members are truly listening together and to each other. The unity that is sought depends on the willingness of all to seek the truth in each other’s utterances. There is no voting in the meetings, because the Society believes that this would emphasise the divisions between differing views and inhibit the process of seeking to know the right way forward, the will of God as expressed in the sense of the meeting.

The clerk of the meeting bears the final responsibility for preparing the business, conducting the meeting and drafting the minutes of the meeting. Minutes are drafted and read out by the clerk during the course of the meeting, but the final decision about whether a minute represents the sense of the meeting is the responsibility of the meeting itself, not of the clerk.

The Area Meeting in session, open to all members of the Area Meeting is held about 10 times each year. The day to day administration of the Area Meeting’s affairs are conducted by a body of Trustees, consisting of up to 15 Friends appointed by the Area Meeting.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

2.2. General Matters

2.2.1. Statement of Public Benefit

The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit. The principal public benefit is that at least weekly each of our six Meeting Houses (and our meeting at Thornbury) are open to the public for divine Worship. Our Meeting Houses are also made available to suitable local community and interest groups and charities at a reduced rate where the purpose of the user is in line with our purposes. Our Meetings and their members and attenders are supported by the Area Meeting as they engage in a number of community activities.

2.2.2. Financial Review and Reserves Policy

During the year the charity received income of £197,709 and incurred expenditure of £366,485, a deficit of £125,225 for the year, after the £43,551 investment gain. This includes depreciation on freehold property for the first time of £108,994. At 31 December 2020 the charity held restricted reserves of £115,405 and unrestricted reserves of £607,086. These figures do not include the charity’s property, shown in the accounts as £6,019,889 (£434,145 of which is held in unrestricted funds).

The Trustees Reserves Policy is to hold three months general expenditure (£25,000) plus five years expenditure for property maintenance (£251,000), a total of £276,000. Of the current unrestricted reserves £45,000 is budgeted to cover the likely deficit in 2021 as a result of the pandemic. Area Meeting is discussing how best the balance of the surplus reserves may be used and it is expected this will be discerned by the end of 2021.

2.2.3. Summary of main achievements

Our main achievement in 2020 has been to maintain our spiritual community throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. All of our Local Meetings have met online on Zoom each week, and when restrictions have allowed, most of our meetings have met in person, albeit with restricted numbers. Although some Friends have been unable to attend in this way, others especially those from far away have been more able to participate. We have made progress in the technology required for blended meetings, whereby Friends can participate fully either by Zoom or by attending in person. Our business meetings and committee meetings have all taken place by Zoom on line, and although it has drawbacks, this method has been found to have benefits of flexibility.

2.2.4. Sustainability

Information on sustainability can be found in each of the local meeting reports. A sustainability group has produced and circulated a document “Sustainability Advices and Queries”. The Property Health and Safety Committee commissioned Anthesis, to undertake five property audits (excluding Frenchay, completed in 2019) and to prepare a strategy that will help Area Meeting identify the best sustainability options and most effective energy efficiency measures to meet its stated aim to make the Meeting Houses carbon net zero by 2030.

2.2.5. Risk Assessment and Management

We are very aware of the need to manage the risks we face. This is not just in finance, but includes property, employment, provision for children and young people, data protection and safeguarding. Our policies on these matters are reviewed regularly and our risk register is reviewed regularly. We remind Friends involved in organising activities and events of the importance of carrying out risk assessments in advance.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

2.2.6. Serious incidents

There was one serious incident, an allegation of historic child abuse, which was not capable of being investigated. This matter was reported to the Charity Commission which considers it closed.

2.2.7. Trustees Responsibilities Statement

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the net income or expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

• make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charity's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

2.3. Reports of Trustees’ Committees

2.3.1. Trustees

There are 12 Trustees out of a permitted maximum of 15. Trustees are responsible for the practical aspects of our Meetings such as buildings, finances, and employees. The work is done through three major committees, the Property and Health and Safety Committee, Employment and Wellbeing Committee, and the Finance Committee. Each committee is made up of at least two trustees, together with several non-trustee members. Weekly Committee is a very ancient committee which has funds for those in need.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

2.3.2. Employment and Wellbeing Committee

At the beginning of the year the Committee agreed an annual work-plan; one aspect of this was to rotate the venue for our meetings, so that they would be held at different Meeting Houses. Whilst the pandemic restricted this ambition, with all meetings moving to Zoom from the spring, the Committee was able to achieve its substantive work.

For a considerable period of the year most of our employees were furloughed or part furloughed, under the Government’s job retention scheme. The Committee has made sure that there has been regular contact to ensure that employees are supported, and annual reviews have been conducted virtually.

Last Spring saw the retirement of long-standing Wardens for Redland Local Meeting. They made a very considerable contribution to Redland Local Meeting, and to the Wardens meetings which form part of the regular meeting cycle of the Employment and Wellbeing Committee.

Much later in the year, a new role was created of Area Safeguarding Administrator, to support our Safeguarding processes, and to remove from Local Meeting Clerks and others some of the work involved in administering our safeguarding.

Three meetings were held with our Safeguarding Administrators during the year, so that they were supported. The Coordinators have not reported any increase in safeguarding incidents during the year, despite the pandemic.

During the year the Committee drafted a Lone Working Policy, which was adopted by Trustees and contributed to the Area Meetings Health and Safety Policy.

2.3.3. Finance Committee

Finance Committee has overseen a number of changes to our financial governance during 2020. Building on work commenced in 2019 to consolidate our bank accounts, all Local Meetings have now merged their funds into bank accounts managed by the Area Meeting Treasurer. This has reduced costs for Local Meetings and improved financial controls. In the meantime, Finance Committee has been searching for banking partners who share our values more closely and can offer Bristol Area Quaker Meeting a wider range of services. We hope that this work will allow us to offer donors and hirers ways to pay that are convenient for them.

In line with best practice, Finance Committee sought tenders for audit and independent examination services. Trustees accepted our recommendation that Godfrey Wilson LLP be appointed as our auditors. This change in our audit arrangements has also given us the opportunity to update our financial records systems. During the year we migrated from the Sage and Quickbooks bookkeeping software packages to the Xero system and began using Fund Filer to automate our Gift Aid returns.

During 2020, the pooling scheme was put into effect. Income and expenditure relating to the Meeting Houses and burial grounds will now be met out of a pooled fund. This means that no Local Meeting will need to bear an unfair burden of running its Meeting House, which is especially crucial at a time when much hiring income has been lost due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak. Whilst some of our regular operating expenses have reduced during periods where buildings were closed, we have needed to meet some of our financial commitments through deployment of our reserves. We have also continued to pay our employees in full throughout the pandemic, with the assistance of the Government’s furlough scheme.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

2.3.4. Property, Health and Safety (PH&S) Committee

Trustees approved new terms of reference for this Committee. Trustees have also adopted a new Meeting House Policy seeking to achieve a consistent approach to property matters, compliance with shared protocols and improve communications between PH&S and Local Meetings.

As result of the Covid 19 pandemic the Annual Property Surveys have been delayed to 2021; however, the Frenchay Quinquennial survey has been completed. It has been confirmed that all six Meeting Houses are maintaining Incident books. The planned Health & Safety training courses have been delayed to 2021.

Work has continued fitting new solar panel arrays to our Meeting Houses. Central Bristol has had 42 PV panels with a Tesla battery installed, Portishead has had panels fitted to their Hall and Frenchay have secured planning permission for 14 panels and inverter to be installed in 2021. Bedminster have sought to optimise their existing electricity generation by having a new inverter installed.

As a result of the sale of 128 Hampton Road, Redland are creating a new fire escape route and have secured planning permission for the installation of new triple glazed windows in 2021. Horfield have installed a new electricity switchboard, completed the refurbishment of the cleaning store area and installed a new shower room.

2.3.5. Weekly Committee

Weekly Committee is a very old committee established many years ago, so called because it was established to give financial help to those who did not have a weekly wage. It comprises a representative from each local meeting and also three trustees. Some funds are long standing restricted funds, given many years ago for specific purposes, and there is also some money given more recently. Requests for funds are channelled through overseers, who pass the request on to Weekly Committee for their discernment.

3. Reports of Area Meeting Committees, Groups, Representatives and Appointees

3.1 . Area Meeting in Session

Area Meeting met seven times during 2020 with an average attendance of thirty eight. These were all held online except in January and February. The March Day Conference had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, but an online conference took place in October entitled Listening for Peace: Voices for Peace and Justice in Israel and Palestine . As well as the regular items of business regarding membership matters and appointments, two significant minutes were recorded in February: 20.25 - Declaration of Commitment to a Response to the Climate & Ecological Crisis, and 20.26 – Stop Ecocide Campaign. These minutes were both shared across BYM and with Meeting for Sufferings and have led to continuing work.

3.2. Camp

Camp did not take place this year because of Covid 19 restrictions.

3.3. Children and Young Persons’ (CYP) Advocate

The coronavirus pandemic impacted heavily on the work of the CYP work advocate in 2020. At the start of the pandemic all CYP convenors in Bristol were contacted and support was offered for a Zoom children’s meeting. Local Meetings rapidly set up their own weekly Zoom worship sessions and children’s provision. As the

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

advocate’s home meeting is Redland, the Redland children’s meeting was open to all Area Meeting children and has been regularly attended by a young Friend from Horfield.

Information and support from Friends House during the pandemic was circulated to convenors. The advocate role continues to be closely tied into the West Quaker Youth Development Project. Advocacy work for young people (11-18yrs) during the pandemic, and cross-generational work, has been superbly and widely held by the regional youth worker, who has a Local Support Group for the project of which the advocate is a member.

3.4 Conflict Resolution Group

The Group met once in person and twice virtually during 2020.The group said goodbye to some members and welcomed new ones. Our concern is that our community has fertile ground for peace to flourish. We have continued to monitor one conflict and to support those who have been involved locally. 2020 has been an unusual year and in general living with COVID has brought beneficial space. We have been concerned that divisions between those who have embraced meeting through technology and those who do not warm to it does not deepen as we emerge from COVID restrictions. We need to uphold each other with a tender hand.

3.5 Custodian of Burial Grounds

There are four burial grounds within Bristol Area Quaker Meeting, namely Lower Hazell, Frenchay and Portishead, and Kings Weston which is currently closed for burials. The Burial Ground Custodian is responsible for liaising and supporting right ordering in relation to interments and scatting of ashes, and maintaining burial ground records. Maintenance of burial grounds is dealt with by Local Meetings and/or the Property, Health and Safety Committee of Trustees as further clarified in the Memorandum of Understanding between Area Meeting and Local Meetings.

There have been two burials during the year, both at the Hazel Burial Ground, with one Scattering of Ashes at Portishead Burial Ground. All of these matters have been reported to the Area Meeting, with the necessary notification being made in the Register of Deaths and Burials.

3.6 Custodian of Records

Whilst most of the year has been controlled by Covid 19, the work of the Custodian of Records has continued albeit in fits and starts. The year started on a high note with a visit of six interested Friends to see a little of the Quaker records belonging to the Area Meeting which are held in the Bristol Archives. Following a brief introductory talk by one of the Archivists on the work of the Archive Office and their duty of care, the group were taken behind the scenes and introduced to Bristol Quaker Records of which there are a vast number.

The custodian has had many enquiries about records. These include someone who had been involved in the exhumation of the burial ground in Quakers Friars in Broadmead in the 1950s and 1960s and now wanted to make sense of the experience, people wanting to investigate their family history or write a book, and also in finding information about deceased Friends for entry in a Book of Remembrance. The work of the Custodian of Records is far ranging, complex and at times touching.

3.7. Elders

Their first concern is with the spiritual life of our worshipping community and duties are further laid out in Quaker Faith and Practice, the Society’s book of Christian discipline, (QF&P) section 12.12. The Covid 19

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

pandemic dominated life of friends and Area Meeting elders and overseers during the year. Four meetings were held, the last one combined with Overseers.

The March conference on Assisted Dying was cancelled due to lockdown and most worship and all meetings went online where possible. Friends were reminded of and discussed various elements of their task including safeguarding, liaison with funeral advisors, the pastoral care role, involvement of children and young people in worship and links and worship with Avenue House residents.

An AM wide Black Lives Matter group met six times to consider issues of white privilege and racism in the wake of the movement following George Floyd’s death. Hospital visits to some specialised units were initially made possible but more stringent government restrictions prevented further visiting.

Meetings found ways to continue with worship online and in the Meeting Houses as blended worship. Two weddings of Friends were held within socially distanced restrictions during the summer. The final Elders meeting of the year combined with Overseers online proved to be helpful and it was agreed that for the time being meeting together in 2021 would be beneficial.

3.8 Funeral Advisors

Each Local Meeting appoints Funeral Advisors, who take on the responsibility for funerals as prescribed in Quaker Faith and Practice. During 2020 the 12 Funeral Advisors gained support from meeting together on Zoom and communication via phone and email to exchange information and to discuss the different situations we might need to help with during the pandemic. Fortunately, our fear of a high number of deaths among Friends did not happen and we had a fairly typical number of funerals per meeting over the year.

There were two large funerals early in the year until restrictions were brought in in March. After that families were helped to hold small funerals with permitted numbers attending in person and some provided with video streaming or blended worship where this was requested. Some Memorials have been postponed until pandemic restrictions subside. Two advisors produced a Brief Guide to Funerals in Bristol, for use within the Area Meeting. There is a working group currently looking at the potential for Portishead Quaker Burial Ground to be used for burials again.

3.9 Horfield Friends Memory Café

Horfield Friends Memory Café was established, with the support of a grant from the Retreat York Benevolent Fund (now Quaker Mental Health Fund), in late 2018 as a social café open on Friday afternoons in response to the growing problem of social isolation and loneliness. The café met at Horfield Quaker Meeting House on alternate weeks in January and February but in mid-March the decision was made to suspend the café in the face of the growing pandemic. The café’s volunteers have made efforts to keep in touch with the core group of local people who attended the café regularly and a decision on the future of this project will be made once the pandemic has subsided.

3.10. Library and Archives Committee

The year 2020 started well. On 18[th] January a working party catalogued books, chose six books to go to a Friend for repair and packed two boxes of unwanted books to be delivered to the Amnesty Bookshop. These six books have since been repaired and returned to the AM Librarian. Covid restrictions prevented their return to the Library and the delivery the two boxes of unwanted books to the Amnesty Bookshop before the end of the year. Four books were donated to the Library.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

On 22[nd] January six Friends had an interesting morning on a guided tour of the stacks of the Bristol Records Office, looking at early Bristol records and early Bristol Quaker records. The Area Meeting Library and Archives Committee met once in 2020, on 29[th] February, but has not been able to meet since then. Since lockdown in March, three books were bought (including the 2020 Swarthmore lecture) and catalogued but had not been placed into the Library by the end of the year.

3.11 Newsletter

At the beginning of 2020 the editor expressed the hope that the Area Meeting newsletter, published every month with a new format and renewed sense of purpose, would reach every Friend and Attender in Bristol Area Meeting. The purpose was to help enable everyone to feel part of the Area Meeting and the wider body of Quakers, as well as of their Local Meeting.

Throughout 2020 the newsletter gave information in advance of the agenda for Area Meeting, together with informative reports on Friends’ participation in conferences, projects, protests and other events. It was hoped that the newsletter might supply everything Friends need to prepare for full participation in Area Meeting, even if they were unable to attend the Meeting in session.

Friends were also encouraged to send news of future Quaker events and opportunities both in Bristol and beyond. Publishing regulations mean that anyone can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time, but engagement has remained high. Mailchimp enables most Friends to receive the newsletter by email and it can thus be linked more effectively to relevant websites. Paper copies are still available from Local Meeting clerks.

3.12. Nominations Committee

Nominations Committee is responsible for discerning the names of people suitable and willing to undertake the various responsibilities and tasks needed to enable our charity to worship and witness in the community. In the past year the committee has been blessed with a strong and stable membership. We have met online since COVID commenced.

It can sometimes be difficult to find appropriate people to serve in some roles, and we have worked with trustees to redefine the roles to suit them to the changing legal and social frameworks of society. In past years we have been taking the opportunity to implement changes in response to changes in society and the way we operate. This has enabled us to use new skills and release people for the service. COVID has led to further changes in both the work we need to do and the capacity of our members to serve.

We have taken joy in the way that for some the changes have provided new opportunities to serve and participate, but have felt keenly the need to support those for whom it has added extra pressures or limitations. We maintain a task description book describing all the volunteer roles at Area Meeting level.

As a society we rely on volunteers for much of our work, to provide service and to offer opportunities for personal and spiritual growth. We are pleased that we are sending more young friends and attenders to events nationally. Our task is to continue to increase the diversity of those who are willing to serve in such roles, so that all groups are more diverse and more representative of the society.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

3.13. Overseers

Overseers from each local meeting have been appointed. They have met altogether as Area Meeting overseers, but most of their work in carrying out their duties as laid down in Quaker Faith and Practice is done at local meeting level.

3.14. Registering Officer

All regular activities, in terms of responding to enquiries, and if appropriate taking couples through the reflection and preparation processes for a Quaker wedding, have continued. Quarterly reports were sent to the civil authorities and annual returns to Britain Yearly Meeting as usual. During the Covid 19 pandemic the holding of marriages was for a while prevented, then very restricted as to numbers allowed to attend.

Meetings for Clearness were held for the two couples first enquiring in 2019. Two more couples also came forward, wishing to marry in 2020. One pair chose to marry in their family’s Area Meeting, and the second locally, but at a time when their own Meeting House was closed. Their wedding took place on September 19th at Bedminster Meeting House, under strict social distancing regulations. Flexibility and care was needed to carry out the usual preparations this year, but the spiritual as well as practical value of online meetings via Zoom was established. The Assistant Registering Officer’s support was much appreciated, together with that of Elders and Overseers who joined online or in-house Meetings for Clearness.

3.15. Representation and appointment to non-Quaker bodies

3.15.1. Chaplaincy at Bristol University

In the first few months of the year, silent worship was held weekly; joining with others in ecumenical prayer once a month. For much of 2020, the Chaplaincy was closed to students, staff and visitors because of the pandemic. Regular worshippers in the Chaplaincy group kept in touch via a shared email group, which was a valuable means of maintaining fellowship during periods of lockdown and social distancing.

3.15.2. Chaplaincy at the University of the West of England

The multi-faith Chaplaincy at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) offers students and staff places for prayer and worship, space for private reflection, opportunities to meet others, and advice on spiritual and ethical concerns. Under usual circumstances our representative on the Chaplaincy team visits the University every week during term time, where he leads a small group in silent worship, He also takes part in meetings of the University’s Faith Advisory Board.

Due to the pandemic, it has not been possible to hold face-to-face meetings at the Chaplaincy this since first lockdown began in March 2020. However, during lockdown the Coordinating Chaplain at UWE Bristol has initiated a review of the relationship between the chaplaincy team and faith groups in the city. Her aim is to establish formal partnerships that will so that UWE Students are informed about worship, study and social events that might interest them and so that the Chaplaincy has a clear picture of faith groups’ pastoral and spiritual care arrangements. Bristol Area Meeting is in the process of negotiating such a partnership with the aim that it will be in place once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

3.15.3. Churches Together for a Greater Bristol (CTGB)

Support for CTGB was maintained, which also calls itself Together 4 Bristol. This support includes an annual financial contribution and regular attendance at meetings of its Enabling Group (executive committee). Our representative found the evangelical language and attitudes difficult but was helped to cope with this by a support group. He wrote two articles in the AM Newsletter in which he remarked on the great variety and effectiveness of CTGB's social work, particularly for homeless people and in serving hundreds of free meals to schoolchildren. CTGB and Churches Together in England (CTE) greatly appreciate Quakers' involvement even though some local church people doubt whether Quakers are truly Christian. Our representative ensured CTGB was fully aware of CTE's position on this.

3.15.4. Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Bristol Breakfast

BBC Radio Bristol’s weekday Breakfast Show includes a daily two minute (280 word) Thought for the Day in which individuals from a variety of faith backgrounds reflect on spiritual aspects of news items included in that morning’s broadcast. A Friend from Horfield Meeting has been offering his thoughts occasionally since 2005. Lockdown has meant that contributors to the have phoned in their items from home rather than travelling in to the studio. Topics covered this year have included how lockdown has brought neighbours closer together, the work of local charity The Marmalade Trust whose volunteers made regular phone calls to isolated older people over the Christmas period, and encouraging listeners to be vaccinated against the virus.

3.16. Representation on Quaker bodies

3.16.1. Claverham Meeting House Management Committee

There were three meetings of this Committee during 2020, and AM has been represented at each meeting. The first meeting was held in January and the April meeting was cancelled. While the June meeting was held by Zoom the September meeting was held in person observing all the Covid restrictions.

Meetings for Worship are normally held on a monthly basis at Claverham. There were only 74 hirings in 2020 (2018: 140) which had a significant financial effect. The good news was that the Meeting House and its grounds have been cared for by the Resident Friend together with a great deal of attention from the Clerk of the Claverham Meeting House Trust.

3.16.2. Meeting for Sufferings

Meeting for Sufferings decides the priorities and sets the direction of Yearly Meeting in between the yearly gatherings. It seeks to foster communication, and tests concerns referred to it by Area Meetings. It may give guidance on policy issues. Meeting for Sufferings met in London, face-to-face, in February 2020, when plans were going forward for the Yearly Gathering in Bath! Since then, there have been three Zoom meetings, which have generally worked well, even with 100 or so Friends present.

Amongst the topics dealt with last year were Sustainability, the revision of our Book of Discipline, and Diversity and Inclusion. Bristol Quakers’ concern regarding Ecocide was considered. The Black Lives Matter movement added urgency to the Meeting’s consideration of inequality and racism. December’s meeting was also the Young People’s Participation Day, and a powerful presentation on diversity and inclusion was given. Young people (three of them from Bristol) made striking contributions through words, pictures and song. Our representative has reported back regularly to Bristol Quakers through the Area Meeting newsletter, and is most grateful to the alternate representative for her friendly support.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

3.16.3. Quaker Committee on Christian and Interfaith Relations (QCCIR)

The QCCIR representative was appointed in May 2020. She has two basic tasks, to circulate within AM any consultation documents, statements etc from QCCIR, and to represent AM in the Bristol Inter-Faith Group (BIFG). While there has been less communication with the QCCIR at BYM this year there has been more activity at a local level.

The representative has been involved with BIFG, Bristol Multi Faith Forum, the Voice and Influence Partnership, the Interfaith Network for the UK; and Churches Together for a Greater Bristol. Many planned events were cancelled due to lockdown and other meetings have only been on Zoom, so networking with other faith communities has been necessarily limited.

3.16.4. Quaker Life Representative Council (QLRC)

QLRC provides a two-way channel of communication between Quaker Life staff in London and Friends in their meetings. The main purposes are educational, inspirational and consultative. Every Area Meeting in Britain sends a Representative to twice-annual meetings, where they are able to engage with the latest developments amongst Friends across the nation.

Our Representative was appointed to the Planning Group for the two 2020 events. In January this group met at Friends House in London and decided that the theme for the year would be The Heart of Being Quakers . Under normal circumstances Representative Councils are held as residential weekends at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham. The pandemic made this impossible in 2020 so instead two online extended Zoom conferences were held on 25[th] April and 10[th] October.

At the April event delegates identified two priorities. These were to build back better by holding on to the positive things learned from lockdown, such as the new opportunities opened by our experiences of meeting online and to focus on how Quaker Meetings can get better at resolving conflicts within our own meetings. At the October event delegates were invited to reimagine our future by exploring the work of Britain Yearly Meeting’s Simpler Meetings project and reflections on how Quaker Meetings could learn and grow from lockdown. A common theme was that the demands of lockdown have encouraged Meetings to become accessible in new ways which should continue after the pandemic.

3.16.5. Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW)

The remit of the AM QPSW group is to organise the annual public peace lecture, organise other meetings within the AM, recommend representative(s) for the annual QPSW conference, and to be aware of QPSWrelated projects within AM and support them if necessary. The group comprises representatives from each Local Meeting and is open to other Friends. In 2020, the group met four times with additional working groups as needed.

The peace lecture was given in mid-March (in person and before Covid restrictions) by Diana Francis on Human Security – is it possible? hosted as before by the University of Bristol. In October, an afternoon conference for AM Friends was organised around listening to voices from Israel and Palestine. The spring QPSW conference was cancelled so the appointed Friends did not attend.

At their meetings, the group has shared news of the variety of peace and sustainability activities in our Local Meetings and in the wider Bristol community. In February, individuals supported the Mayors for Peace art

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

exhibition at the City Hall, and in November a white poppy wreath was laid at the Bristol Cenotaph with a message from the whole Area Meeting.

3.16.6. West of England Friends Housing Society (WEFHS)

The pandemic dominated the life of Friends and residents at WEFHS throughout the year. Avenue House (AH) is a 30 bedded care home and there are 18 self-contained flats in Kirwin and Lansdowne houses. Government guidance and Public Health England (PHE) soon set the parameters for dealing with the pandemic.

Social distancing, deep and regular cleaning, and the wearing of PPE by staff in AH served the community well for most of the year; however by the autumn a number of residents caught the virus and PHE declared an outbreak. National lockdowns prevented visits to residents even in the newly provided garden house in an effort to restrict the disease. Sadly two residents died of Covid related illness, while others recovered.

All four Board meetings and the AGM moved online, and the chair instituted weekly catch-up meetings for the Board. Good regular communication was crucial in keeping families informed through a weekly online meeting. Much activity with residents was curtailed. Vaccination of staff and residents in January 2021 has allowed some of the restrictions to be lifted but the virus looks to be around for some time to come.

3.16.7. Young Friends General Meeting (YFGM)

This has been a quiet year for our representation on YFGM it was agreed to reorganise the YFGM committees in future. Our representative provides a valued connection between AM and YFGM.

3.17. Safeguarding

The Area Meeting takes its responsibility for all safeguarding, especially children and vulnerable adults, very seriously. Safeguarding coordinators are appointed who are available for advice and assistance should occasion arise. The co-ordinators report to the Employment & Wellbeing Committee, and Trustees review the safeguarding policy and the safeguarding policy summary annually. This year has seen the retirement of one co-ordinator and the appointment of a new part-time administrator to oversee DBS checking. The safeguarding workshops at Local Meetings were suspended during lockdown, but will resume in due course.

3.18. Youth Work Development Pilot Programme

The West Region Youth Pilot Project was nimble and flexible in response to the huge changes imposed by the pandemic. Monthly Young Friends Friday meetings at Meeting Houses across Bristol allowing young people to get together to share food, play games and discuss pertinent themes, had to be abandoned. They were quickly replaced by weekly Friday Zoom sessions of games and discussions, and fortnightly virtual gatherings with our partner pilot project in Sheffield and Yorkshire.

Our youth worker was supported by two young adult Friends and another adult to provide weekly virtual lunch time sessions during the first lockdown, as well as Sunday evening Epilogues. The project has also been a conduit for young Friends to join national events including BYM Participation Day and Woodbrooke’s Facilitation and Leadership course.

Project time has been given to building links across ages and to build relationships between young people, the youth project and the wider Quaker community. Our Youth Worker co-hosted two successful all age socials, Meetings for Games in two Local Meetings, and weekly informal self-directed crafting sessions for the whole

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

AM. Young people identified they would like to think more about Black Lives Matter, and an all age group was established; co facilitated by Kirsty and a young adult Friend.

Young People’s concern for Climate Justice has combined with the wider AM concern about Sustainability, and a Sustainability Champions group was set up, convened by our Youth Worker. The pilot project concludes at the end of May 2021. NCVO made a national evaluation and provided a very positive report which was well received by AM and Quaker Life Central Committee. The youth project is in an exciting place, developing and building on existing collaborations.

3.19. Website Editor and Administrator

The website Editor was a newly-created post in June, with the remit of working with the website Designer / Administrator to ensure that that the website pages are accurate, appropriate and up-to-date. The first task completed in 2020 was to define the purpose of the website, the responsibilities of the Editor, Administrator and AM Clerk, and produce some basic guidelines. This was completed in July, in consultation with key AM Friends, and subsequently circulated to all LM Clerks.

In liaison with Area and Local Meeting clerks, major updating has been achieved, to ensure that all Area and Local Meeting pages are up-to-date and provide a first point of contact for enquirers. This has been particularly important during the pandemic, when Meeting Houses were largely closed and most Meetings held online. Information for Members and Attenders on current and future events, and points of contact, was continuously updated. Information about Bristol’s Area and Local Meetings was updated on the national Quaker website Find a Meeting pages. AM pages have been refreshed with new text, photos and a link to explain Quaker terms.

4. Reports of Local Meetings

4.1 General

The provision of public worship is the principal purpose of a Quaker Meeting. For much of the year, Covid restrictions have prevented Meetings for Worship to take place in our Meeting Houses, but all local meetings have met regularly online by Zoom, some have tried blended meetings whereby Friends may attend either on line or in person, and some Local Meetings have at some times of the year when regulations permitted been able to meet in the Meeting House with restricted numbers in a Covid secure way.

Each of our local meetings reports annually to Area Meeting and the reports are also printed in our AM Newsletter. They are all worthy of a further read, and so at the risk of making this report too long, all seven reports are set out in full, as witness to the full and varied life of our local meetings, which are the beating heart of Bristol Area Quaker Meeting.

4.2. Bedminster Quaker Local Meeting

For the first ten weeks of 2020, Bedminster Meeting continued activities at our meeting house as usual, with weekly meetings for worship on Sundays, regular meetings for children and young people, and shared lunches and discussion groups. However, for the rest of the year, our activities were affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions imposed by our government and by common sense. Our Elders, Overseers, Clerks team and others continually reviewed what was feasible and what we were comfortable with.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

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For the year ended 31 December 2020

Since the end of March, we have made considerable use of Zoom online video software for activities previously held at the meeting house. We were conscious that the greater use of technology is enabling for some Friends yet is less accessible for others, and we tried to provide support and alternatives such as mailing out printouts of key documents.

As the pandemic unfolded, we put Covid-secure measures in place at the Meeting House aimed at reducing the risk of virus transmission in accordance with government rules, professional advice and the guidance of the AM Covid group. For three months later in the year, we were thus able to hold worship at the Meeting House again for those who wished and were able. With effort and some investment in equipment, we achieved a reasonably successful blending of the concurrent worship online and in the meeting house. During the year, we have also experimented with the duration and start time of our Sunday worship.

In 2020, nearly all our meetings for worship included a reading from Quaker Faith & Practice. We held ten business meetings. Separate meetings for children and young people were held regularly, organised by a small hard-working team with appropriate safety measures in place. In particular, all helpers, whether in person or online, have been DBS-checked. A number of Bedminster Friends have served at Area Meeting and national level.

In February, we were sad to record the death of a member, and later in the year we welcomed a new baby to our community. In September, we were pleased to host the wedding of two Redland Friends at our meeting house, and in October we celebrated from afar the Quaker wedding of two Bedminster Friends at Watford. Overall, our numbers have grown slightly over the year with several newcomers joining us.

Our Overseers strived to make sure there was support in place where needed, most recently initiating the formation of “pods” as a way for Friends to keep in touch in small groups. We had the opportunity to join many discussion groups, including a series around the book White Fragility organised by our Elders. We were grateful for the enthusiastic activities organised by the Quaker Youth Worker which included an all-age online games evening in November. We circulated our subscriber hardcopies of The Friend , Positive News and QCEA’s Around Europe . To help keep in touch, we started a weekly email Bedminster Bulletin which rapidly became a wide-ranging sharing of news, photos, artwork and articles as well as notices. Later, we reverted to a weekly email for notices and an occasional newsletter for longer items.

To maintain our outreach into the wider community, we tried to keep the information on our external notice board and webpages up to date. In January we had an article published in the local free newspaper, the South Bristol Voice .

Bedminster Meeting’s 2020 finances were healthy with income exceeding expenditure for activities relating both to the property and to the life of the meeting. This is despite reductions in income from hirers, including a special agreement with Soundwell to waive their office rent for six months. Some hiring of the premises resumed in the autumn. We are unable to record the value of donations given to our monthly Good Causes in 2020, as Friends gave individually rather than through the collecting box for much of the year.

Throughout 2020 we have had an item on sustainability at all our business meetings, and have worked through the suggested topics from the Area Meeting champions. We have installed two more bicycle racks, had our existing solar PV panels optimised, and addressed many of the heat losses identified by the thermal survey at the end of 2019. Our garden has provided a welcome space for worship, fresh air and outdoor activity for families and individuals who would otherwise be restricted to their homes.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

4.3. Central Bristol Local Quaker Meeting

We share the anguish over the heavy worldwide impact of Covid-19, and whilst we were mostly fortunate to avoid infection, the crisis dominated our lives throughout 2020 and there have been personal tragedies and losses for some of us, and pressures for many of us.

The Life of the Meeting: Our Meeting in the centre of Bristol generally has a worshipping group of around 16-18 in person, and towards this level combined when small worship meetings have been permitted alongside online worship. Since March 2020 we have held online weekly Sunday and Wednesday Meetings for Worship and monthly Business Meetings. We have welcomed several visitors online throughout the year, some of whom are now regular attenders and hope their worship with us has been deeply satisfying.

Sadly, three of our community died this year due to non-Covid natural causes and we have been saddened and reduced by their passing. Our funeral advisors have helped relatives with arrangements, and we hope to hold memorial meetings when circumstances allow.

Before lockdown Elders and Overseers were able to arrange Meetings for Worship in the homes or hospitals of long-standing members who were unable to get to Meeting. We have found the roles of Elders and Overseers complement each other and have held regular joint online meetings as we have endeavoured to give those in need spiritual and social support. We welcomed an additional Overseer and additional Elder to our team during the Autumn and have found their service and discernment helpful.

A circle of support was set up in the Spring to enable Friends to offer personal support to others, and a growing series of online discussion, sharing and themed meetings have proved popular and helpful in maintaining outside contact for some and stimulation for those involved. Out of the crisis has come increased companionship and mutual support.

Living our testimonies: Despite long periods of closure or restricted use of the Meeting House and our Wardens on extended furlough, we have had periods of restricted use for worship and allowed educational use. We regret the way that this closure has impacted on the 12-step groups Fellowship Groups, refugee and asylum seeker support and many others. We have seen the donations and income that support our charitable activities and sustainability plummet but regret more deeply the social-justice work that is impeded by the essential restrictions.

At an early stage of the pandemic we identified the pressures that would be placed on support for the homeless and arranged to give control of the Meeting House to our charitable partners to prioritise the running of the Night Shelter and catering. When government public health rules suspended shared dormitory sleeping our partners switched their energies to supporting feeding the homeless taken into budget hotels using our House and commercial standard Servery kitchens. Hundreds of hot and cold meals were made on site and distributed daily. During the last third of December and into the first week of January we closed the building to allow socially distanced sequences of ‘at table’ service of hot meals and rotas of take-away meals. We are touched by the spirit of love shown by the volunteers with these charities and their tremendous efforts.

Following extension of and alterations to our Meeting House in 2019, building work to add a new room in our garden to create counselling and small group space was slowed by the pandemic, but is nearing completion with the reconfiguration of courtyard garden and frontage space yet to begin. We look forward to returning to actively pursuing social justice and supporting others in sympathy with our faith-led values and testimonies and to welcoming people and our own community to our Meeting House.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

For most of this year we lost the opportunity to interact as a community and missed our shared lunches and Quaker events. Any fleeting meetings have been socially distanced and be-masked. Our Meeting House has been a beacon of our values, acting as the focal point for the work of Feed the Homeless and other groups throughout. Guided and strengthened by the Spirit we have been able to love and care for one another in these most stressful of times. We would like to have done more, but have done much to uphold our values and live our beliefs.

4.4 Frenchay Local Quaker Meeting

Before the late March national lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we had our usual activities. We held meeting for Worship weekly in the meeting house, twice monthly Children’s Meetings with up to 7 children, and monthly Meetings for Business. We held our New Year Party on 11[th] January, attended by 25 Friends aged 2 to 95. There was a women’s sharing supper at the meeting house. We continued to collect clothes, food and toiletries for Bristol Refugee Rights as long as they were able to take things.

With lockdown this all changed. We held our first Zoom Meeting for Worship on 5[th] April, after some of us had joined the Area Meeting ones, soon getting used to Zoom for Meeting for Worship, Area Meetings and, from May, Local Meetings for Business, as well as for various committees. We sent representatives to all Area Meetings and they reported back. We reopened the meeting house for Worship on July 19[th] after a professional risk assessment and making it ‘Covid Secure’. We decided to alternate in-person and online Meetings for Worship as several Friends were still shielding. The meeting house had to close again in November for the second lockdown and we decided to stay online only in December. The attendance has been 15-23 online and 10-18 in person. Average attendance at Business meetings increased online from 8 to 10.

We have been concerned about our lack of provision for the children. The eldest, 13, has attended the regional youth group, and children have been able to dip in and out of online meetings, but not use the children’s room and materials. In the autumn we organised a popular garden leaf sweeping afternoon and then, in December, we began a monthly children’s Zoom meeting, with them joining the rest of us after meeting to show what they had been doing.

We had several new enquirers. We set up a system of telephoning them to explore what they knew and explain Meeting for Worship with Covid restrictions. Three have joined us occasionally on Zoom and one or two in the meeting house. Ministry includes readings from Quaker Faith and Practice about twice a month. Some of us have joined Woodbrooke online courses.

Pastoral care: Communication has become more important this year, with people isolated at home, and socialising after Meeting very limited. We have used email more, including for notices, agendas, and our monthly newsletter, with paper copies available on request to post or hand deliver. Our entry on the Bristol Quakers website was updated. We have also kept in touch more by telephone.

Elders and Overseers have met online separately and together and endeavoured to keep in touch with everyone, and we share news of Friends after Meeting, particularly if some are ill. We’ve been delighted to welcome a new baby on Zoom. Since March we have held an informal online social meeting once or twice a week, attended by 3 to 8 people.

Sustainability: We set up a talking wall in the meeting house for ideas from Friends, and held a monthly discussion group, which continued online, on a variety of aspects from food to activism. We progressed plans for making the meeting house more sustainable with a thorough survey and various options from Anthesis, another from the CHEESE project – thermal imaging for heat loss from the building, and assessment for solar

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

panels. We applied for and received planning permission for secondary double glazing and the solar panels and remedial work, which we hope to begin in 2021. The quinquennial survey was also carried out with longterm sustainability in mind, and several associated surveys. English Heritage re-evaluated its Listing and the meeting house retained its Grade 2. The Churches Conservation Trust surveyed it and offered to do routine maintenance checks but we decided we already covered these in an economical way.

We had been trying to car-share more and several members cycle or walk. With online meetings traffic emissions are nil.

Finance: Our Treasurer reports that the transition from Frenchay having its own bank account to the Area Meeting Treasurer managing accounts has been smooth. She has scrutinised the quarterly accounts and we have discussed them at business meetings. We began to consider use of our reserves.

Staffing: Our warden was furloughed in full from March, later part furloughed, and our cleaner was completely furloughed, with the warden doing the limited amount of cleaning required. Friend volunteers have not been able to help much with the garden this year. A Gingko tree was planted in a bare space in the garden in memory of a partner of one of our members.

Hirings have been limited for most of the year by Covid restrictions to at best only 20 in the main Meeting Room, 6 or 10 upstairs and 2 in the garden cottage. Only a very few small groups could use it, and one AA support group.

In this difficult year, the meeting has been an important community for many Friends despite the complexities of meeting. We hope to go forward stronger.

4.5. Horfield Local Quaker Meeting

Regular provision of Meeting for Worship: Horfield Friends have worshipped on Sunday from 10.30am throughout the year, despite pandemic. In March, responding to the increasing infection rate in Bristol, Area Meeting Trustees commissioned a professional risk assessment of our Meeting House. This showed that social distancing requirements limited us to a maximum of 16 worshippers in our main meeting room. As the crisis grew, national Lockdown restrictions meant that the Meeting House was not available for worship between 22 March and 30 August. On 22 March, however, we held our first online Meeting for Worship using the Zoom platform.

Elders have read from Advices and Queries during a number of our Meetings for Worship, and this has included passages from Bristol Area Meeting’s Sustainability Advices and Queries .

Horfield’s experience of online Worship: Initially, online Worship was held for 45 minutes followed by notices, collection and a virtual coffee session hosted by the Duty Elder. In general, we have been pleased with the extent to which Friends have been able to make use of the technology and surprised by the sense of presence and spiritual unity possible during online worship. Some Friends have not been able to worship online but the technology has meant that others who have difficulty getting to the Meeting House have been able to join in – including some Friends in other parts of the country and who live abroad. As we became more confident in the value of online worship, Elders progressively extended the length of worship to a full hour.

In July we set up a COVID-19 Working Group to prepare for the re-opening of the Meeting House for worship, which we anticipated might be possible in September. Informed of developments at other Meetings across the country through our Warden’s involvement in Yearly Meeting’s Talking Group and by support and guidance

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

offered through Yearly Meeting, the group were keen to explore the emerging possibilities of Blended Worship through which Friends in the Meeting House could be joined by others worshipping online in their own homes.

Our Working Group ran a series of tests and trials which established the technical and health and safety practicality of Blended Worship. The group also produced role descriptions for Friends responsible for ensuring safe and meaningful worship. Protocols were also developed for safe distance marking in and outside the Meeting House, signage within the Meeting House, the use of face masks and hand sanitiser and a record sheet to be compiled by the Welcomer. Financial support from Area Meeting paid for the installation of a large video screen in the main Meeting Room so that online Friends could be seen by those at the Meeting House. With all of this in place, our first Blended Meeting for Worship was held on 30[th] August. Attendance at blended meetings has been comparable with that prior to the pandemic.

We have also run two Memorial Meetings for recently deceased Friends using the blended approach. Again, these have been enriched by the online involvement of Friends and relatives from other parts of the UK and indeed across the world – specifically Australia and Canada.

Meetings for Church Affairs: As is our normal practice, Meetings for Church Affairs have been held on the first Sunday of every month except April, August and December. In addition, an emergency Meeting for Church Affairs, which made the decision to move Meeting for Worship online, was held on 15[th] March. All subsequent Meetings for Church Affairs have been held online. An unanticipated advantage of this has been that the Clerk has been able to share and edit draft Minutes on screen.

We have been represented whenever Area Meeting has met in Session throughout the year, until March in person and since then online.

Children’s Meeting: At the start of the year, we offered Children's’ Meetings on the fourth Sundays of each month with limited attendance. Our COVID risk assessment precluded this from the end of March but since April, thanks to Yearly Meeting’s Quaker Youth Project, there have been opportunities for our children and young people to take part in online activities with others in the AM.

The Portal Youth theatre, involving young people from our meeting together with other young people, performed their alternative nativity play, which this year was shared online, on the second Sunday of December. We have not held All Age Worship during 2020 but the baby son of two of our members, born in May, was introduced to Horfield Friends at the end of an online Meeting for Worship during the summer.

Pastoral Care: Our overseers have been stretched this year. At the start of 2020, we had only one overseer but another was appointed in July. Our three elders have met with overseers regularly throughout the year to share responsibility of oversight in our meeting.

Social Activities: A number of evening Epilogues were held online during the summer. We have continued our monthly sharing of our individual Spiritual Journeys, moving online from April onwards. Despite restrictions, a small group of Friends were able to meet in Ashton Court during the Christmas holidays for a much-needed walk.

Sustainability actions: Our AM Sustainability Champion has been joined in our Local Meeting by other Friends to look at how we can deepen our witness to sustainability. At the start of the year we introduced a talking wall and invited one another to share any changes we are making in our individual lives to live more sustainably or things we are thinking of doing but which require more effort from us. Beginning in December Elders have also organised a monthly Sustainability Hour to give Horfield Friends the opportunity to discuss

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

sustainability issues. We have appreciated that holding Meetings for Worship online is more sustainable than Friends travelling to the Meeting House by car or public transport although previously a number of Friends would always walk to Meeting and one Friend cycled across Bristol.

Members and attenders: Sadly, three members of our Meeting died towards the end of 2020. One died in October and was buried at Lower Hazel burial ground in November followed by a Meeting for Worship to give thanks for her life at the Meeting House and online. Another died with COVID in December and had a private funeral. The third died in December and a Blended Meeting for Worship following her cremation was held on 1 December.

Representation on Quaker bodies: Horfield Friends have been appointed to the following roles within AM: BBC Radio Bristol Thought for the Day Broadcaster; Funeral Advisor; Membership Secretary and List of Members & Attenders Editor; Record Keeper (Nominations); Registering Officer; Safeguarding Coordinator; UWE Faith Representative. They have also served on the following national and international bodies: Friends World Committee for Consultation Staff Advisory Committee; QPSW International Peacebuilding Subcommittee and Quaker Life Representative Council.

Safeguarding: At Horfield DBS checks are required for Friends involved in our Children and Young People’ Group and for regular volunteers at Horfield Friends Café who work with vulnerable adults.

4.6. Portishead Local Quaker Meeting

Regular provision of Worship: We held Meetings for Worship every Sunday at the Meeting House from January to the first Sunday in March 2020. Thereafter, the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent Government guidelines meant that we could not hold Meetings for Worship at the Meeting House. Other Local Quaker Meetings provided an opportunity for Portishead Friends to join their zoom Meetings for Worship. This was most welcome until we were in a position to offer our own zoom Meetings for Worship.

Not everyone is comfortable with using Zoom and so we offered Friends and attenders a weekly At Home Meeting for Worship. This entailed emailing out a suggested reading, piece of music and a poem. Friends and Attenders were invited to share their suggestions for reflection. When restrictions were relaxed we opened the Meeting House for two Sundays in August. However, we returned to Zoom meetings thereafter due to ongoing government restrictions. We held one evening Meeting for Worship via Zoom in September.

We continue to use Advices and Queries on an ad hoc basis and have regular readings from Quaker Faith and Practice. Readings from QF&P are included in our meeting for Worship At Home. Afterword is invited at each Zoom Meeting for Worship. We advertised our Meetings for Worship on the Bristol Quakers Facebook page, Quakers at Portishead Facebook page and, along with other local churches, in Gordano Living Magazine.

We held bi-monthly Meetings for Worship for Church Affairs this year in person in January and March. The pandemic delayed our next MfWfCA until June, at which time we were in a position to offer meetings via Zoom. For the rest of the year we held monthly MfWfCA via Zoom.

In March 2020 Elders in our Meeting took the decision that further development of the Caring Circle within our Meeting would be beneficial to each member and attender. This meant we could all share the responsibility of oversight within our meeting. A new Caring Circle has been prepared ready for use from January 2021. We faced many challenges in 2020, but ‘helping one another up with a tender hand’ has strengthened our faith

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

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For the year ended 31 December 2020

and given us hope for the future. Friends were kept informed of local and national Quaker news and events through weekly notices send via email.

Members and attenders: w e were pleased to welcome visitors to our Meeting, one of whom has returned and may continue to attend after lockdown. We welcomed one new attender. At the end of 2020 we have 11 members and 8 Attenders.

The interment of the ashes was recorded at Portishead Burial Ground on 27th October of a Friend who was an attender at Portishead Meeting for many years.

Regular activities of the Meeting: following a break, our QF&P study group moved online in November. Our initial discussion group sessions focused on the Quaker Testimonies. We hope, in 2021 to invite friends from the local community, to join us.

Our Knit for Peace group had to discontinue meeting due to Covid-19 restrictions but we continued to knit and crochet items at home. Our Meeting co-hosts Crafting Together with our Youth Development Worker. These varied age sessions were conducted via zoom and we had four sessions during November and December.

Four male Friends meet together over coffee when restrictions permit, as an informal men’s support group.

Friends have had opportunities offered via Zoom to take part in Quaker webinars locally and nationally. These include Black Lives Matter, Quaker Voices on Mental Health, BYM Annual Lecture and many more.

We have two Elders with Oversight and gratefully acknowledge the hard work they do on our behalf. They supported Friends in managing the impact of Coronavirus on the life of our Meeting at Portishead.

Representation on Quaker and other bodies: o ur Clerk represents us at Churches Together Portishead (CTP) weekly zoom meetings. We played our part in a pre-recorded Christmas Assembly for Gordano School led by CTP. Our meeting supported and was represented at the CTP Drive-in Carols Event! The event raised funds for two local charities.

At the invitation of the RE teacher at Gordano School, we took part in a Q&A about Quakerism with their Year 10 pupils in November. We supported Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) North Somerset in planning two events (in Portishead and Pill) to mark HMD in January. We have two Local Meeting representatives on the Fairtrade Portishead steering group who organised a launch event during Fairtrade Fortnight. We moved to using Fairtrade tea and coffee for refreshments at the Meeting House. At an individual level many local Friends are involved in a range of Community and voluntary activities, activism and support groups.

Sustainability actions: p art of the burial ground was set aside last year for rewilding as per the Blue Heart Campaign to increase wildlife and biodiversity. AM engaged a contract gardener to maintain Portishead Burial Ground. He has planted wild flowers and plants and will continue to manage this area. We welcome the Bristol Sustainability Advices and Queries booklet which has been distributed to our members and Attenders. Our discussion group plans to discuss Sustainability in January 2021 based on the booklet.

Safeguarding: With regard to Safeguarding there were no concerns raised with the Safeguarding Coordinators. We are not in a position to provide a children’s programme therefore parents are expected to supervise their children at all times. We are mindful that we could have vulnerable adults. We received a new safeguarding poster from the Area meeting Treasurer which has been displayed in the Meeting House.

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Hirers: At the beginning of the year the Hall was used by two regular hirers and for some one off bookings. However, the pandemic has closed our Hall to hirers since March 2020. During the year we agreed to join with other local meetings in pooling our resources. Under the guidance of our Treasurer and the AM Treasurer we were enabled to donate our surplus to the Quaker Mental Health Fund and to Central Bristol Meeting for its Night Shelter 365 project.

Improvements to our meeting room: We have authorised the following improvements to our Meeting Room, lighting, space heating, seating and notice boards which we hope will make the building a little more cosy and welcoming to visitors and our regular attenders. We look to the completion of these additions as soon as the current restrictions are lifted. We hope our meeting House will be considered for the installation of equipment and WiFi that will allow for the provision of blended worship as needed.

4.7. Redland Local Quaker Meeting

Regular provision of public worship: Meetings for worship have been held every Sunday at 11am and on the first and third Sunday of each month at 8.30am. Since 22 March all our meetings have been held online via Zoom, due to the pandemic. Worship is introduced and concluded by Elders with Oversight and Advices and Queries has been regularly read in ministry. Our experience of online worship has been largely positive, though we miss the warmth of face-to-face personal contact and the friendly informal talk which normally precedes and follows worship. Attendance has equalled, and often exceeded, the levels recorded last year.

Our early Zoom meetings welcomed in Friends from across Bristol. A minority of Redland Friends have opted out of online worship, but other Friends find online meetings easier to access. This includes Friends with health and mobility issues and a few who regularly join us from abroad. Some who dislike Zoom video have chosen to join by phone and have felt fully included. We hope to prolong the benefits of online worship by introducing blended worship when our Meeting House reopens (combining physical presence with Zoom access). We been regretfully unable to support meetings for worship at Avenue House and at Bristol University during the pandemic.

Children and young people: Children’s Meetings are an integral part of Redland Meeting and have therefore also been organised online. The youngest children enjoy half an hour of singing, stories and games, before rejoining the adult meeting at 12 noon. Children aged 5-11 years take part in a range of activities linked to a broad theme which may also provide the basis for monthly all-age worship. Teenagers have their own monthly discussion meeting, organised through the regional Youth Project.

Our regional your worker has led an exciting range of activities throughout the year, drawing together younger and older Friends and encouraging young people to feel part of a national and international Quaker community. Young Friends from Redland Meeting have contributed to a Bristol Quaker Question Time, attended a BYM Participation Day, and contributed to writing and implementing Bristol Quakers’ environmental strategy.

Other regular activities of the Meeting: Members and attenders at Redland Meeting are invited to join one of seven Sharing Circles which provide pastoral care and help Friends to know each other better. The Sharing Circles have been particularly important during the pandemic, offering personal contact to individuals and some shared social activities. Elders with Oversight meet monthly and develop plans which have strengthened the spiritual and communal life of our worshipping community.

Monthly Meetings for Learning have flourished during the pandemic, with particularly strong attendance for a series of reflective sessions about aspects of Quaker faith and practice. We have also organised virtual shared lunches on the second Sunday of each month, providing a forum for relaxed discussions and mutual support.

24

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Whilst it has been impossible to sustain some activities during the pandemic, including Quaker Film Club and Singing before Worship, other groups have made a successful transition to Zoom. We continued a poetryreading group, ran an anti-racist reading group and launched a Black Lives Matter discussion group which continues to meet weekly six months later. Redland Quakers continue to play an active role in environmental and peace work.

Redland Meeting is part of the BYM network of Sanctuary Everywhere meetings and our commitment to supporting people seeking sanctuary has found new expression in the development of a Sanctuary Housing Project proposal which will be brought to Local and Area Meetings for Business during 2021.

Redland Meeting for Business has met online since April 2020. Quaker business has also been carried forward through online meetings of many groups with specific functions within our Meeting. Attendance at Business Meetings remained quite low, apart from the September 2020 meeting which discerned our support for the sale of 128 Hampton Road (formerly Redland wardens’ house). This meeting was preceded by a well-attended Threshing Meeting. During the year an important transition towards more centralised AM financial management was successfully completed.

The role of Redland Meeting’s weekly notices has expanded during the pandemic. Notices now keep Friends in touch with the Meeting’s business as well as with other Quaker activities and include weekly links for donations to the charities we support through Sunday Appeals. We continue to email out the monthly Redland Newsletter , offering space for more reflective pieces as well as for local news.

Members and attenders: At the end of 2020 Redland meeting had 108 members. We are sad to record the deaths of five Friends. We are happy to have welcomed nine Friends into membership, attached to Redland LM, and were also joined by two Friends transferring from Sussex East and Cambridgeshire Area Meetings respectively.

We are pleased to record two marriages of Redland members during 2020, one marriage taking place in Northumbria Area Meting, and one taking place in Bedminster Meeting House.

Redland Meeting has welcomed fewer visitors and new attenders than usual during 2020, due to the pandemic. A small number of new attenders and enquirers have joined us through personal contacts and website publicity for our Meeting.

Representation on Quaker and other bodies: Redland Meeting contributes strongly to the worshipping life and business of Bristol Area Meeting. A gradual strengthening of this connection has been welcomed by many Friends. One member of our Meeting has recently been appointed to Quaker Life Central Committee, after many years of service with children and young people. Redland Meeting assists the work of Avenue House. We are represented at Churches Together in Clifton, Cotham and Redland, as well as within Cotham and Redland Welcome (community sponsorship of a Syrian refugee family).

Significant events during the year: The pandemic has brought grief and anxiety for many Friends, and economic hardship for some. Redland Meeting’s biennial residential weekend at Ammerdown was sadly cancelled, due to the pandemic. All Meeting House room hiring came to an abrupt halt in March 2020. Probably the most significant event of 2020, apart from the pandemic itself, was the retirement of our wardens on 30 April 2020. We warmly thanked them both for their 18 years of service before turning our attention to future arrangements for wardenship and care of our Meeting House.

25

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

During the spring and summer a listening journey led us to conclude that the former wardens’ house should be sold. We decided to trial non-resident wardenship arrangements, and to divide the three key functions of wardenship between existing Area Meeting staff (the wardens at Horfield and Central Bristol Meetings), assisted by a commercial cleaning company and a strengthened Redland premises group.

These arrangements have been endorsed by AM and will be reviewed at an appropriate point in 2021. Meanwhile substantial building work is being carried out at our Meeting House during its closure. A new fire exit has been created, triple-glazed windows are being installed and an area of roofing is being replaced and fully insulated. Redland Meeting decided to meet most of this expense from its own surplus funds, rather than drawing on Area Meeting resources. The Meeting House has been equipped throughout with covid-proofing signage, in preparation for its eventual reopening in 2021.

Sustainability actions: Despite the pressures of the pandemic, Redland Meeting has sustained its commitment to supporting strong environmental policies and actions. We have contributed to initiatives led by Area Meeting, including the appointment of sustainability champions and the publication of a Declaration of Climate and Environmental Emergency. This declaration was sent to Britain Yearly Meeting, together with a minute of support for the Stop Ecocide movement which originated from discernment at Redland Meeting for Business (February 2020).

Sustainability remains an overriding concern for many members of Redland Meeting and some Friends have continued to engage in environmental activism, though several intended actions were curbed or prevented by the pandemic. Sustainability remains a guiding principle for the ongoing Meeting House improvements.

Safeguarding

DBS certificates are up-to-date within Redland Meeting.

4.8. Thornbury Local Quaker Meeting

Since March 2020, following the Government’s measures to contain the spread of the corona virus, we have not met at The Chantry. Instead meeting for worship has been held each Sunday on Zoom from 10.00 - 11.00 am, followed by 30 minutes of discussion time. Friends have welcomed this and give thanks for the faithfulness of Friends who Sunday by Sunday have enabled it to happen. Attendance has been high, with one Friend able to join us from Italy.

Once the initial lockdown on meeting was relaxed we held small outdoor meetings for worship, at the same time of the Zoom meeting, for those Friends who were not in a position to join us fully on Zoom. This culminated in a blended meeting for worship with those on Zoom, which was a great joy. But then lockdown was reimposed.

Meeting for worship for business has been held regularly on Zoom since September. We have now resumed our monthly appeals to support the Foodbank and other charities. £500 has been donated to Woodbrooke.

Extensive use has been made of our email link. Each Sunday a summary of the ministry in meeting and the after meeting discussion is given, together with news of Friends.

We have not been able to hold our midweek meetings nor our monthly shared lunches. However spiritual learning groups, held on Zoom, have been started. Individual Friends have been keeping in close contact with one another by email and telephone.

26

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Elders and Overseers have worked closely together for many years, holding meetings every six weeks to consider spiritual matters concerning the Meeting as well as the needs of individual Friends. Since the lockdown this co-operation has become even more close with Elders sharing in the oversight and Overseers taking responsibility for the right holding of meetings for worship. Friends have encouraged them in this and agree that in 2021 they should work and be known as the Elders and Overseers Team.

Two of our attenders have been accepted into membership. We were not able to undertake any outreach event to mark Quaker Week, but we have advertised our Zoom meetings for worship in the local press and magazines.

As regards our environmental concerns, we are pleased to report that because of the restrictions on meeting together our carbon footprint as a Meeting has been virtually nil.

We long for the opportunity to come together again face to face in meeting for worship. However, in the meantime we feel strongly supported by each other both materially and spiritually.

This report was approved by the Trustees on 14 May 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Catherine M Nile

Catherine Nile Clerk to Trustees

27

Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) (the 'charity') for the year ended 31 December 2020 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet and the related notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charity's affairs as at 31 December 2020 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

28

Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• sufficient accounting records have not been kept;

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• we have not obtained all the information and explanations necessary for the purposes of our audit.

Responsibilities of the trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out in the trustees’ report, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

29

Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charityʼs trustees, as a body, in accordance with section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and the regulations made under section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charityʼs trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditorʼs report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charityʼs trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Godfrey Wilson Limited

Date: 17 May 2021

GODFREY WILSON LIMITED

Chartered accountants and statutory auditors 5th Floor Mariner House 62 Prince Street Bristol BS1 4QD

30

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Statement of financial activities

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Endowment Note £ Income from: Donations and legacies 4 - Charitable activities - Other trading activities 5 - Investments 6 - Total income - Expenditure on: Raising funds 3,198 Charitable activities 108,994 Total expenditure 8 112,192 (112,192) Net gains on investments 38,763 Net expenditure (73,429) Transfers between funds (621,611) Net movement in funds 10 (695,040) Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward 6,319,049 Total funds carried forward 5,624,009 Net income / (expenditure) before gains / losses	Restricted Unrestricted £ £ 48,841 74,211 - 3,384 - 58,444 2,180 10,649 51,021 146,688 - 75,468 56,936 121,889 56,936 197,357 (5,915) (50,669) - 4,788 (5,915) (45,881) (172,868) 794,479 (178,783) 748,598 294,188 292,633 115,405 1,041,231	2020 Total £ 123,052 3,384 58,444 12,829 197,709 78,666 287,819 366,485 (168,776) 43,551 (125,225) - (125,225) 6,905,870 6,780,645	Restated 2019 Total £ 168,136 10,025 127,068 17,974
			323,203
			130,594 302,667
			433,261
			(110,058) 102,061
			(7,997) -
			(7,997) 6,913,867
			6,905,870

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in note 18 to the accounts.

The 2019 comparatives have been restated for additional depreciation charges, as described in note 2 to the accounts, and for reanalysis of expenditure between activities as shown in note 8.

31

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Balance sheet

As at 31 December 2020

Note Fixed assets Tangible assets 13 Investments 14 Current assets Debtors 15 Cash at bank and in hand Liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year 16 Net current assets Net assets 17 Funds 18 Endowment funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Designated funds General funds Total charity funds	£ 8,327 269,078 277,405 (92,314)	2020 £ 6,019,889 575,665 6,595,554 185,091 6,780,645 5,624,009 115,405 650,255 390,976 6,780,645	Restated 2019 £ 6,034,624 685,597
			6,720,221 10,546 294,418
			304,964 (119,315)
			185,649
			6,905,870
			6,319,049 294,188 311,511 (18,878)
			6,905,870

Approved by the trustees on 14 May 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Catherine M Nile

Cathy Nile Clerk

Paul Whitehouse AM Treasurer

32

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

1. Accounting policies

a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities in preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note.

b) Going concern basis of accounting

The accounts have been prepared on the assumption that the charity is able to continue as a going concern, which the trustees consider appropriate having regard to the current level of reserves. The trustees continue to monitor the impact that Covid-19 is having on operations and are taking actions to minimise their effect on the long term reserves of the charity. Under all of the scenarios reviewed, the charity has sufficient reserves to continue as a going concern for the foreseeable future. There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

c) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from the government and other grants, whether 'capital' grants or 'revenue' grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

d) Investment income

Interest on funds held on deposit, dividends and other investment income are included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity. This is normally upon notification of the amounts paid or payable by the bank or investment managers.

Investment income generated from endowment funds is either restricted or unrestricted, depending on the terms of the endowment fund.

e) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity: this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

33

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

f) Funds accounting

Endowment funds are funds which are held on trust to be retained for the benefit of the charity as a capital fund. Where the Trustees must permanently maintain the whole of the fund it is referred to as permanent endowment and such a fund cannot normally be spent as if it were income. Where the trustees have a power of discretion to convert endowed capital into income, it is referred to as expendable endowment.

Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity's work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose.

g) Grants payable

Grants payable are charged in the year in which the offer is conveyed to the recipient except in those cases where the offer is conditional, such grants being recognised as expenditure when the conditions attached have been fulfilled. Grants offered subject to conditions at the year end are noted as commitment but are not accrued as expenditure.

h) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

Expenditure on raising funds includes all expenditure incurred by the charity to raise funds for its charitable purposes, and includes costs of all fundraising activities including direct staff time, investment management fees and any associated support costs.

Expenditure on charitable activities is inucrred on directly undertaking the activities which directly further the charity's objectives, including any associated support costs.

i) Allocation of support and governance costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity, including the costs of complying with constitutional and statutory requirements and any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities. These costs have been allocated between the costs of raising funds and charitable activities on the following basis:

	2020	2019
Raising funds	50%	50%
Charitable activities	50%	50%

34

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

j) Tangible fixed assets

The freehold properties carried in the accounts consist of Meeting Houses and Burial Grounds and the title deeds are held in the name of Friends Trusts Limited. Historical costs were not known and the cost values were based on reinstatement values for insurance purposes, which were considered to represent deemed cost on transition to FRS102 at 1 January 2014.

Other tangible fixed assets are initially recognised at cost, which includes all costs incurred to bring the asset into its intended working condition. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Freehold land No depreciation charged Freehold buildings 50 years straight line Property improvements 20 years straight line Equipment 5 years straight line

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000.

k) Listed investments

Investments in quoted shares, traded bonds and similar investments are measured initially at cost and subsequently at fair value (their market value). The statement of financial activities includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluations and disposals throughout the year.

l) Unlisted investments

Unlisted investments comprise investments in co-operative share capital, which are held at fair value. As co-operative shares do not appreciate in value, the fair value is deemed to be the same as historic cost less impairment.

m) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

n) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

o) Creditors

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

p) Concessionary loans

The charity has received social investments made exclusively to further its charitable aims in the form of concessionary loans. Concessionary loans are recognised when the commitment is entered into and the relevant loan documentation has been completed. The loans are initially recognised and measured at the amount received, with the carrying amount adjusted in subsequent years to reflect repayments.

35

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

q) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

r) Pension costs

The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for its employees. There are no further liabilities other than that already recognised in the SOFA.

s) Accounting estimates and key judgements

In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

The key sources of estimation uncertainty that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are described below.

Freehold land and buildings

As described in note 1j to the financial statements, the freehold properties were initially recognised at deemed cost, which was based on historic reinstatement values for insurance purposes. The split between land and buildings has been estimated on the basis of local government estimates for the value of land determined in 2014, and approximate hectarage of the land. The total deemed cost of the land is estimated at £899,000.

Depreciation

As described in note 1j to the financial statements, depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life.

36

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

2. Change in accounting policies Depreciation of freehold properties

The opening funds and prior period have been restated for depreciation charged on freehold properties since transition to FRS102 at 1 January 2014. This has affected the following balances:

Balances brought forward at 1 January 2019

£ £ As originally stated 6,348,702 6,921,973 Additional depreciation (544,970) (544,970) Restated at 1 January 2019 5,803,732 6,377,003 Balances carried forward at 31 December 2019 £ £ As originally stated 6,348,702 6,973,013 Additional depreciation (653,964) (653,964) Restated at 31 December 2019 5,694,738 6,319,049 Expenditure Total expenditure recognised in 2019 has been affected as follows: As originally stated Additional depreciation Restated for the year ended 31 December 2019 Endowment funds Fixed assets: Freehold property Fixed assets: Freehold property Endowment funds	Total funds £ 7,458,837 (544,970)
	6,913,867
	Total funds £ 7,559,834 (653,964)
	6,905,870
	2019 £ 324,267 108,994
	433,261

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Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

3. Prior period comparatives: statement of financial activities

£ Income from: Donations and legacies - Charitable activities - Other trading activities - Investments - Total income - Expenditure on: Raising funds 3,658 Charitable activities 108,994 Total expenditure 112,652 (112,652) Net gains on investments 94,937 Net income / (expenditure) (17,715) Transfers between funds (40,239) Net movement in funds (57,954) Net income / (expenditure) before gains / losses Endowment	Restricted £ £ 113,695 54,441 - 10,025 - 127,068 5,450 12,524 119,145 204,058 - 126,936 17,158 176,515 17,158 303,451 101,987 (99,393) - 7,124 101,987 (92,269) 75,239 (35,000) 177,226 (127,269) Unrestricted	Restated 2019 Total £ 168,136 10,025 127,068 17,974
		323,203
		130,594 302,667
		433,261
		(110,058) 102,061
		(7,997) -
		(7,997)

4. Income from donations and legacies

Donations CJRS grant Prior period comparative: Donations	Restricted £ £ 48,841 52,042 - 22,169 48,841 74,211 Restricted £ £ 113,695 54,441 Unrestricted Unrestricted	2020 Total £ 100,883 22,169
		123,052
		2019 Total £ 168,136

38

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

5. Income from other trading activities

Lettings income Feed-in tariff Misc income	Restricted £ £ - 47,595 - 10,039 - 810 - 58,444 Unrestricted	2020 Total £ 47,595 10,039 810 58,444	2019 Total £ 118,782 8,286 -
			127,068

All income from other trading in the prior year was unrestricted.

6. Income from investments

Income from investments
Dividends and interest from investments Bank interest Total income from investments Prior period comparative: Dividends and interest from investments Bank interest Total income from investments	Restricted £ £ 2,180 8,889 - 1,760 2,180 10,649 Restricted £ £ 4,953 11,249 497 1,275 5,450 12,524 Unrestricted Unrestricted	2020 Total £ 11,069 1,760
		12,829
		2019 Total £ 16,202 1,772
		17,974

7. Government grants

The charity received government grants, defined as funding from Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme during the year. The total value of such grants in the period ending 31 December 2020 was £22,169. There are no unfulfilled conditions or contingencies attaching to these grants.

39

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

8. Total expenditure

Total expenditure
Staff costs (note 11) Grants payable (note 9) Other meetings donations Bank charges Cleaning Energy Gardening Hospitality Insurances Ministry/library Other professional services Property repairs / maintenance Staff housing costs Waste disposal, water and sewerage Rent Depreciation Office and other costs Investment management fees Audit and accounting fees Sub-total Allocation of support and governance costs Total expenditure	Raising funds £ 32,021 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3,593 - 35,614 43,052 78,666	Charitable activities £ 32,021 57,519 1,110 - - - 2,475 5,397 - 3,694 - - - - 381 142,170 - - - 244,767 43,052 287,819	Support and governance costs £ 2,483 - - 279 732 12,286 - - 8,741 - 3,150 36,510 4,902 2,792 - - 1,340 - 12,889 86,104 (86,104) -	2020 Total £ 66,525 57,519 1,110 279 732 12,286 2,475 5,397 8,741 3,694 3,150 36,510 4,902 2,792 381 142,170 1,340 3,593 12,889
				366,485 -
				366,485

Total governance costs were £13,924.

40

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

8. Total expenditure Prior period comparative Staff costs (note 11) Grants payable (note 9) Other meetings donations Advertising/promotional Bank charges Cleaning Construction costs Energy Gardening Hospitality Insurances Ministry/library Other professional services Property repairs / maintenance Staff housing costs Waste disposal, water and sewerage Youth worker Rent Depreciation Office and other costs Investment management fees Audit and accounting fees Sub-total Allocation of support and governance costs Total expenditure	Raising funds £ 39,397 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3,997 - 43,394 87,200 130,594	Charitable activities £ 39,397 9,851 13,050 1,445 - - - - 3,068 11,859 - 8,568 - - - - 7,171 2,070 118,987 - - - 215,466 87,201 302,667	Support and governance costs £ 3,056 - - 310 424 1,230 13,394 - - 7,758 - 7,971 102,145 5,834 3,781 - - - 19,498 - 9,000 174,401 (174,401) -	Restated 2019 Total £ 81,850 9,851 13,050 1,445 310 424 1,230 13,394 3,068 11,859 7,758 8,568 7,971 102,145 5,834 3,781 7,171 2,070 118,987 19,498 3,997 9,000
				433,261 -
				433,261

Total governance costs were £10,274. The prior period has been restated for additional depreciation charges (see note 2) and for reanalysis of costs between activities.

41

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

9. Grants and donations payable Grants to institutions (32 institutions, 2019: 5) Grants to individuals (15 individuals, 2019: 10) 10. Net movement in funds This is stated after charging: Depreciation Trustees' remuneration Trustees' reimbursed expenses (2 trustees, 2019: 6) Auditors' remuneration: Statutory audit (including VAT) Other services 11. Staff costs and numbers Staff costs were as follows: Salaries and wages Pension costs	2020 £ 54,786 2,733 57,519 2020 £ 142,170 Nil 286 8,000 599 2020 £ 64,371 2,154 66,525	2019 £ 8,924 927
		9,851
		Restated 2019 £ 118,987 Nil 3,159 9,000 -
		2019 £ 78,929 2,921
		81,850

No employee earned more than £60,000 during the year.

The key management personnel of the charitable company comprise the Trustees, who did not receive any remuneration during the current or prior year.

Average full time equivalents Average head count	2020 No. 2.00 7.00	2019 No. 3.00 9.00

12. Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

42

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

13. Tangible fixed assets

Cost At 1 January 2020 Additions in year At 31 December 2020 Depreciation Restated at 1 January 2020 Charge for the year At 31 December 2020 Net book value At 31 December 2020 Restated at 31 December 2019 14. Investments Market value at 1 January 2020 Additions Disposals proceeds Gains / (losses) Movement in cash balance Market value at 31 December 2020 Represented by: Listed investments Unlisted investments Cash Historic cost at 31 December	£ £ 6,348,702 300,180 - 115,421 6,348,702 415,601 653,964 - 108,994 20,780 762,958 20,780 5,585,744 394,821 5,694,738 300,180 Rathbones funds £ £ 665,597 20,000 49,759 - (194,204) - 43,551 - (9,038) - 555,665 20,000 539,537 - - 20,000 16,128 - 555,665 20,000 336,812 20,000 Freehold property (restated) Property improvements Unlisted investments	£ 49,964 12,014 61,978 10,258 12,396 22,654 39,324 39,706 2020 £ 685,597 49,759 (194,204) 43,551 (9,038) 575,665 539,537 20,000 16,128 575,665 356,812 Equipment	Total £ 6,698,846 127,435
			6,826,281
			664,222 142,170
			806,392
			6,019,889
			6,034,624
			2019 £ 637,065 42,501 (83,576) 102,061 (12,454)
			685,597
			640,431 20,000 25,166
			685,597
			453,478

Unlisted investments comprise an investment co-operative share capital, which do not appreciate in value. The investment is reviewed annually for any diminution in value and is believed to be worth the amount stated in the balance sheet.

43

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

15. Debtors

Debtors
	2020	2019
	£	£
Other debtors	8,327	10,546

16. Creditors : amounts due within 1 year

Loans Trade creditors Accruals Other taxation and social security Pension costs	2020 £ 63,000 19,980 7,784 1,470 80 92,314	2019 £ 63,000 44,935 9,000 1,886 494
		119,315

Loans comprises a short term loan from the Triodos Foundation, which commenced in August 2019 and is repayable in June 2021, following an extension of the term. No interest is charged.

17. Analysis of net assets between funds

Tangible fixed assets Investments Current assets Current liabilities Net assets at 31 December 2020 Prior year comparative: Tangible fixed assets Investments Current assets Current liabilities Restated net assets at 31 December 2019	£ 5,585,744 36,265 2,000 - 5,624,009 £ 5,694,738 582,117 42,194 - 6,319,049 Endowment funds Endowment funds	£ - 96,459 18,946 - 115,405 £ 252,774 - 41,414 - 294,188 Restricted funds Restricted funds	£ 434,145 442,941 256,459 (92,314) 1,041,231 £ 87,112 103,480 221,356 (119,315) 292,633 Unrestricted funds Unrestricted funds	Total funds £ 6,019,889 575,665 277,405 (92,314)
				6,780,645
				£ 6,034,624 685,597 304,964 (119,315) Restated total funds
				6,905,870

44

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

18. Movements in funds

Movements in funds
At 1 January 2020 £ Endowment funds Permanent endowments: BQ Loan Funds 2,000 Somerset Charities 30,902 Land and buildings 5,694,738 Expendable endowments: Friends Relief Fund 36,445 Women's Fund 57,380 Not Necessarily Friends 583 General Repairs Fund 11,501 Friends School Charity 232 Bristol Education Fund 3,338 Long term investments 481,930 Total endowment funds 6,319,049 Restricted funds Somerset Charities Income 1,623 Friends Relief Fund 1,373 Women's Fund 2,588 Not Necessarily Friends 335 Friends School Charity 5,695 Bristol Education Fund - Horfield Memory Cafe 453 Library 3,189 Central Refurbishment Fund 20,000 Weekly Committee 5,255 Young Friends' Fund 503 Holocaust Memorial Day 400 NS365 (fixed asset) 252,774 Appeals for Others - Total restricted funds 294,188	Income £ £ - - - (162) - (108,994) - (191) - (301) - - - - - (2) - (17) - (2,525) - (112,192) - - 648 (3,800) 1,021 (4,664) - (918) 147 - 49 (1,438) 109 (171) - (158) - - 846 (931) - (503) 206 (606) 2,125 - 45,870 (43,747) 51,021 (56,936) Expenditure	Gains/ (losses) £ - 1,963 - 2,315 3,645 - - 15 212 30,613 38,763 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	£ - 3,562 - (38,569) (60,724) (583) (11,501) (245) (3,533) (510,018) (621,611) (1,623) 38,569 60,724 583 245 3,533 - - (20,000) - - - (254,899) - (172,868) Transfers between funds	£ 2,000 36,265 5,585,744 - - - - - - - At 31 December 2020
				5,624,009
				- 36,790 59,669 - 6,087 2,144 391 3,031 - 5,170 - - - 2,123
				115,405

45

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

18. Movements in funds (continued) At 1 January 2020 £ Designated funds: Bedminster LM 5,104 Camp 6,434 Camp Bursaries 508 Central LM 11,752 Frenchay LM 77,083 Horfield LM 38,875 Nash Legacy 2,000 Portishead LM 8,256 Redland LM 106,573 Repairs Fund 249 Thornbury LM 1,855 Somerset charities 14,942 NS365 (fixed asset) 37,880 Fixed assets fund - Total designated funds 311,511 General funds (18,878) Total unrestricted funds 292,633 Total funds 6,905,870 Unrestricted funds	Income £ £ 3,281 (1,293) - - - - 3,446 (1,123) 6,443 (1,164) 4,315 (1,954) - - 2,158 (1,746) 15,480 (2,744) - - 1,740 (2,779) - - - - - - 36,863 (12,803) 109,825 (184,554) 146,688 (197,357) 197,709 (366,485) Expenditure	Gains/ (losses) £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4,788 4,788 43,551	£ (408) - - - (11,753) (19,903) - (2,000) (32,326) (249) - (14,942) (37,880) 434,145 314,684 479,795 794,479 - Transfers between funds	£ 6,684 6,434 508 14,075 70,609 21,333 2,000 6,668 86,983 - 816 - - 434,145 At 31 December 2020
				650,255
				390,976
				1,041,231
				6,780,645

Purposes of endowment and restricted funds Bristol Quakers (BQ) To make loans to Friends in need, giving preference to loans for furthering Loan Funds their careers.

Somerset Charities

For the relief of poverty and other charitable purposes such as education or apprenticeship. Upon review, the income generated from this fund is deemed to be unrestricted. Brought forward balances in restricted and designated funds have therefore been transferred to general funds this

Land and buildings

All freehold property is shown as held on permanent endowment for general charitable purposes, although Bedminster, Central Bristol, Horfield and Redland Meeting Houses are in fact unrestricted freehold property. They appear to have been wrongly classified by the Charity Commission in the 2012 Scheme. The Commission has been approached to rectify this before the end of 2021. Expenditure against this fund represents depreciation charges.

46

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

18. Movements in funds (continued) Purposes of endowment and restricted funds (continued) Friends Relief Fund To assist needy Friends. Women's Fund To assist needy women Friends. Not Necessarily Friends To assist needy persons, not necessarily Friends. The balance remaining of this fund was used for the improvements at Central Bristol Meeting House. General Repairs Fund For the upkeep and maintenance of the properties, including burial grounds. The balance has been transferred to the fixed asset designated fund, for property improvements capitalised during the year. Friends School Charity For the education of Friends' children. Bristol Education For the education of needy Friends or those connected with the Society and Fund their children. Long term investments These have been transferred to general funds in the current year. Horfield Memory Cafe To provide for the setting up and maintenance of a cafe where those suffering from dementia and their carers can meet regularly. Library For the upkeep of old Quaker books. Central Refurbishment Fund Donations received towards planned refurbishment of the Central Meeting House. The balance has been transferred to the fixed asset designated fund, for property improvements capitalised during the year. Weekly Committee To provide financial support to those Members and Attenders within Bristol Area Meeting who are struggling financially. Young Friends' Fund To assist the children of Friends (who are below 25 years of age) at the start of their careers. Holocaust Memorial Day To use for memorial day activities. NS365 (fixed asset) An extension to Central Bristol Meeting House in order to provide better facilities for users of Caring in Bristol's Shelter 365 project. Improvements carried out during the year were added to this and the balance transferred to the fixed asset designated fund. Appeals for Others Funds received specifically for organisations and projects that we support that we pass on including gift aid.

47

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

18. Movements in funds (continued)

Purposes of designated funds

Designated funds represent amounts set aside for specific purposes, principally for repairs and maintenance of buildings. Also included in designated funds are funds for the specific Local Meetings.

Transfers relate to funds transferred between individual area bank accounts, funds transferred to the fixed asset fund for property improvements and to align records from prior periods.

Prior period comparative

Prior period comparative
£ Endowment funds Permanent endowments: BQ Loan Funds 2,000 Somerset Charities 28,249 Land and buildings 5,803,732 Expendable endowments: Friends Relief Fund 31,331 Women's Fund 49,329 Not Necessarily Friends 25,622 General Repairs Fund 9,887 Friends School Charity 9,454 Bristol Education Fund 3,087 Long term investments 414,312 Total endowment funds 6,377,003 Restricted funds Somerset Charities Income - Friends Relief Fund 584 Women's Fund 1,345 Not Necessarily Friends 793 Friends School Charity 4,739 Bristol Education Fund (331) Horfield Memory Cafe 2,505 Library 3,290 Central Refurbishment Fund 97,412 Weekly Committee 6,122 Young Friend's Fund 503 Holocaust PD - NS365 (fixed asset) - Total restricted funds 116,962 Restated at 1 January 2019	Income £ £ - - - (133) - (108,994) - (203) - (320) - (166) - (64) - (61) - (20) - (2,691) - (112,652) 2,133 (510) 789 - 1,243 - 519 - 191 (10,000) 78 - 681 (2,733) 30 (131) - (934) 1,983 (2,850) - - 400 - 111,098 - 119,145 (17,158) Expenditure (restated)	Gains/ (losses) £ - 2,786 - 5,317 8,371 4,348 1,678 1,604 524 70,309 94,937 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	£ - - - - - (29,221) - (10,765) (253) - (40,239) - - - (977) 10,765 253 - - (76,478) - - - 141,676 75,239 Transfers between funds	£ 2,000 30,902 5,694,738 36,445 57,380 583 11,501 232 3,338 481,930 At 31 December 2019
				6,319,049
				1,623 1,373 2,588 335 5,695 - 453 3,189 20,000 5,255 503 400 252,774
				294,188

48

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

18. Movements in funds (continued) Prior period comparative (continued) £ Designated funds: Bedminster LM 15,433 Camp 6,062 Camp Bursaries 490 Central LM 15,263 Frenchay LM 107,199 Horfield LM 50,639 Nash Legacy 2,000 Portishead LM 9,262 Redland LM 136,686 Repairs Fund - Thornbury LM 2,268 Somerset charities 13,724 NS365 (fixed asset) - Total designated funds 359,026 General funds 60,876 Total unrestricted funds 419,902 Total funds 6,913,867 Restated at 1 January 2019 Unrestricted funds	Income £ £ 13,844 (9,427) 5,389 (5,017) 18 - 43,192 (31,819) 24,032 (30,656) 35,098 (25,422) - - 4,475 (2,710) 48,454 (53,086) 249 - 1,887 (1,820) - (61) - - 176,638 (160,018) 27,420 (143,433) 204,058 (303,451) 323,203 (433,261) Expenditure (restated)	Gains/ (losses) £ - - - - - - - - - - - 1,279 - 1,279 5,845 7,124 102,061	£ (14,746) - - (14,884) (23,492) (21,440) - (2,771) (25,481) - (480) - 37,880 (65,414) 30,414 (35,000) - Transfers between funds	£ 5,104 6,434 508 11,752 77,083 38,875 2,000 8,256 106,573 249 1,855 14,942 37,880 At 31 December 2019
				311,511
				(18,878)
				292,633
				6,905,870

49

Bristol Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Notes to the financial statements

For	the year ended 31 December 2020
**19. **	Financial instruments at fair value
		2020	2019
		£	£
	Financial assets measured at fair value	559,537	660,431

Financial assets measured at fair value comprise listed and unlisted investments.

20. Related party transactions

The trustees are not aware of any related party transactions in the current or prior period.

21. Capital commitments

At 31 December 2020, the charity had entered into an agreement for purchase and installation of new windows for the Redland Meeting House for a price of £35,000, which had not been invoiced at year end.

50