Judith Atkinson, Lis Burch, Val Ferguson,
Laurie Michaelis, Sue Smith
We will be holding threshing sessions about the future of the Garden Room at a Friday with Friends at 19:00 on 3 September and 14:00-16:00 on Saturday 4 September. Both meetings will be held
on Zoom and in person, but will not be blended. Threshing is a Quaker process for hearing out and discussing different perspectives on a matter, in preparation for a business meeting to discern the way forward.
Details will follow later but put these meetings in your diary. Please come. We need you all.
We expect to have more threshing sessions later in September, and hope to be ready to consider next steps at the Local Business Meeting in October.
Here is a reminder of what has happened so far, and
the issues for us now.
Background
Oxford Meeting’s Garden Room project represents a long-standing commitment to our future. Its history goes back at least a decade, when we promised ourselves we would open up our buildings ‘from
front to back’ to the Oxford community.
The arrival of COVID
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit us all. The future needs from our buildings have become very uncertain, both for us, and for the community we serve.
Room hire by community groups has plummeted, seriously reducing our income. Our staff are on part-time furlough. Our Meetings, and some of the community groups that use our premises, have
resumed some in-person meetings but many gatherings are likely to stay online for at least the next several months.
Each of our expectations of future Quaker worship and community life are different. Some of us feel able to worship again in person, some cannot contemplate it as it feels too unsafe. Some are able
to worship online, some feel unable or unwilling to do so. Is there such a thing as returning to ‘normal’? What does the ‘new normal’ look like?
What you said in summer 2020
A few months into the pandemic, Lis Burch as Clerk of the Premises and Finance Committee encouraged Friends to send in their thoughts about the Garden Room. Friends expressed great appreciation, thanks, love, and support to the Garden Room Steering
Group for their efforts and dedication on behalf of the Meeting. Many recognised that things had changed so significantly since the Garden Room development was first proposed, that it was in ‘right
ordering’ to take time for a rethink. There was recognition that with the fall-off in room hire, we would be unable to (and should not) apply for a mortgage. Several Friends expressed the view that our priority should be making our buildings more sustainable, rather than larger. There was recognition of the enormous work our Managers do in building community with local groups and networks, and a feeling that ‘if money is short, I would rather pay for staff than for buildings’.
The current plans
The architects had presented the plans in two phases. Phase 1 covered kitchen and toilet refurbishments and a rebuild on a slightly larger footprint of the garden room. Phase 2 covered the additional pavilion room to be built in the garden. The original plan included moving the kitchen to where the toilets currently are, and moving the toilets into the pavilion area. It’s already been decided this is too expensive and the kitchen will stay where it is but will be refurbished to make it more versatile as a meeting space as well as a
kitchen, and to meet environmental health regulations.
Refitting the existing kitchen and toilets is currently being costed but no decisions have been made. We don’t currently have plans that will clearly show Friends exactly what is now proposed; the plans we
have should suffice but will need some explanation.
Donations and costs
Premises and Finance Committee minuted in June that we currently have in the region of £200,000 available for the Garden Room project. Some of this would be needed for the kitchen and toilets if we want to refurbish them. This is money allocated from the Meeting’s general fund or given specifically for the redevelopment. Some Friends have pledged money towards the project but we are not clear how much of this would now be available for a revised plan. Other possible funding sources are a grant from OSAM Trustees or the income from letting 42 St Giles. A bank loan or mortgage is
currently out of the question as it would be calculated on our ability to repay, which is dependent on lettings income.
A new element: planning as an Area Meeting
A new element in our considerations is the revisioning of what Local Meetings might do together (Abingdon, Charlbury, Faringdon, Headington, Oxford, and Swindon). There are open discussions going on about where next for the Snapshot survey on our future, written by Deb Arrowsmith with input from 80 Friends in our Area Meeting.
| Previous Article | Next Article |
Back to September 2021 Newsletter Main Page
Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 509 • September 2021
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW