On our marks

Things are coming together for the start of our project fundraising. The latest edition of Quakevine (York Area Meeting newsletter) monthly has news about the the first fundraising activities.

Things are happening online, too. Our new website has just launched, with a special Friargate Project page. (Same address as before: yorkquakers.org.uk)

And from today our secure online donations page with justgiving.com is open for business, too.
(To donate there, go to Friargate Quaker Meeting, or Friargate Quaker Meeting House.)

Reminders

During the week Friargate Meeting House can be very busy, with so many different groups using the building.

Very pleasing, then, when our meeting house manager gets compliments like that spotted in a recent letter from the director of a regional social care group: 

It's always so calm where you are, and a nice atmosphere. I think we may be back in the summer.

– A reminder of the qualities of our staff. And of the values we are hoping to take forward in our development of this community project.

Spot the friar

Volunteers of the Community Archaeology Project have been out braving the January and February weather on Monday afternoons. One of the team's tasks is making drawings of the wall to be demolished.  Artist Brenda Tyler, of Friargate meeting,  has also taken time to paint the volunteers themselves, and one of her pictures is on display in the meeting house.

Brenda suggests that the figure on the right might well look like one of the medieval friars come to see what's going on.

Appeal Publications go to print

Since last year, the fundraising team has been working on two publications to spread the word about the project. Today, we were able to sign off the final versions of the Prospectus and the Appeal Leaflet and send them off to print.

The small Appeal Leaflet will be widely circulated. It summarises aims of the work. The larger Prospectus sets out the background, plans and finances in more detail.

After getting several quotes for the work, we have finally gone for Big Sky Environmental Design and Printing in Findhorn, Scotland. They're a community-based printers with a strong commitment to environmental values. They only use recycled paper and all inks are vegetable-based.

It's great to be working with a company sharing sustainability concerns with Friends.

To print or not to print

Hundreds of people use the meeting house every week. We want to keep everyone informed about the building development project, what is currently going on and what will be happening over the coming months. One of the ways we're doing this is via Update, a simple news sheet that will keep everyone up to speed every few months. Update 1 has been in circulation since January, and on the table in the meeting house foyer. Comments so far have been very positive, but yesterday there were two critical remarks. About the paper.

The first was that it would be more environmentally-friendly to spread the word online, and save the paper. Point taken.

The other was that the paper quality could have been better, as it was a bit flimsy and off-white. Well, the thinking behind it was that if we were going to produce something printed with a short life, it would be best to go for recycled paper. And this is not just any recycled paper, this is low-grade, unbeached recycled paper made with the waste paper nobody else loves. To most people asked, the quality seems good enough for our purposes.

A print run of Update is 500 sheets = one ream of paper. And here are the stats for the paper we're using:

79 litres of water, 16 kWh electricity, 7.5 kg wood pulp less. On just one ream of paper.
Food for thought.

Still early stages

It's now over 18 months since our Quaker Meeting began thinking about the local implications of the Yearly Meeting Framework for Action 2009-2014. In particular, Friends have been concerned about the right use of our resources, and how we relate to the community around us.

First we discussed in our business meetings, then consulted other users of the building, and finally, with York Area Meeting Trustees, made the commitment to go ahead. The City of York Council gave the green light with planning permission in the autumn of 2012.

Now our Finance and Premises Committees, working hard with our architects, are taking the project forward stage by stage. There are all kinds of sub-groups looking after various aspects. It's amazing just how much expertise Friends are bringing to bear on the work. Architectural experience, financial management, landscape gardening, archaeology, environmental sustainability and communications strategy are all part of the day-to-day project work. A fundraising group has been set up and the countdown has begun to the launch of our appeal in March.

Under the able guidance of our resident archaeologist Friend, Andrew "Bone" Jones, a Friargate Community Archaeology Project has been set up to find out more about the historic site of the meeting house garden, before the builders move in. Apparently, there are already over 50 volunteers signed up to the project.

At the meeting house this week Ailsa Mainman, Director of Research at York Archaeological Trust, gave a talk about the Urban Monasteries of Medieval York. This set the background for the work of the archaeology project. Amazing, just how much of York was owned by the monasteries. Our meeting house is built on the site of a huge 12th century Franciscan friary, L-shaped and extending right down to the river. The inside wall of our Woolman Room is just one of the few tangible reminders of the friary. Knowledge about the friary is limited, so our community team is keen to see if they can add to what is known.