Quakers across Yorkshire have been working since 2019 to develop a shared framework to use all our assets for the work and witness of Friends in our 7 Area Meetings and Quakers in Yorkshire. This has developed into a proposal for a single charity which we have agreed in principle in our Area Meetings. The charity will manage the finance, property, employment and safeguarding matters of Quaker Meetings across Yorkshire. Area Meetings will continue to exist for spiritual and
membership matters.
As Quaker Meetings we need a sustainable way of carrying out our activities. If we can share our resources and mutually support each other, we will be providing a valuable legacy for future generations as well as releasing energy into the system. There are local meetings which are well resourced financially but with few members and vice versa. Much of the current work is carried out unpaid by volunteers and we are an ageing community. We know things have to change to “keep the wheels turning in Yorkshire”.
In the original simplification work we discerned four key principles to take us forward:
These have been at the heart of all the proposals we have brought forward. We would expect that it will take time for the benefits of the new arrangements to be experienced as we transition over the early years following the legal merger.
Yorkshire Quakers has now been registered by the Charity Commission as a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation). During the long time this took, the Implementation Group and the first seven appointed trustees have been actively working on the process of setting up Yorkshire Quakers. Working Groups on Property, Finance, Employment and Safeguarding, with representatives from each Area Meetings, have considered the responses to the consultation held at the start of the year. This paper contains the revised finance proposals for a Common General Fund and a Common Property Fund.
The current 7 Area Meetings and Quakers in Yorkshire have diverse ways of operating. Their combined turn-over is about £1.5million per year. So, Yorkshire Quakers will be a substantial charity and there should be many opportunities to obtain efficiency savings by combining and sharing across Yorkshire. To do this effectively in line with the above four principles means employing central staff who can work for, and with, Friends in Local Meetings.
The proposals below describe the expected roles of the central staff. But these will not necessarily all be extra staff on top of the about 30 current employees who will ALL transfer across from their current employer to Yorkshire Quakers. Some parts of the central roles are already being undertaken by employed and contracted staff in Area Meetings, particularly in finance and administration. The costs of such tasks will transfer to the new organisation.
We have considered the consultation responses and further discussions in detail.
Broadly the proposals were supported but the main concerns were:
We have tried to address these concerns by amending the original proposals. It is up to local and area meetings to say whether the revised proposals are workable and sustainable. The biggest change is in the Common Property Fund where we now propose that local meetings continue to manage their own property income and expenditure. We are aware that this will disappoint some Friends as it means limited sharing and caring for our properties and it goes against the ideal of a regional supportive community. It is possible that in the future more sharing might be welcomed.
The vision of the Common General Fund is that Local and Area Meetings will contribute money to enable the charity to manage the finances of the 38 Local Meetings and the 7 Area Meetings and Quakers in Yorkshire.
Summary box Common General Fund
The budget in 2027 will be £280,000
Local Meeting are asked to contribute to the fund on the basis of £75 for each adult Member and Attender recorded on the 2025 Tabular Statement plus 10 pence of every pound of Local Meeting income from all sources in 2025.
Trustees guarantee that no additional funds will be requested in the first year of operation.
How the money will be spent:
We have worked to estimate the costs of managing the charity. These costs willcover all the following areas:
Some parts of the central roles are already being undertaken by employed and contracted staff in Area Meetings, usually accountancy. Area and Local Meetings will be relieved of these costs.
Local Meetings will continue to meet the costs of local staff roles as they do now.
As a change to the initial proposals, the cost of donations to Northern Friends Peace Board and to Britain Yearly Meeting for the Yorkshire Youth Development Worker have also been included. These costs are already being met by Area and Local Meetings so are not technically “new” money.
The total cost of this work in 2027 is estimated to be £280,000.
We are not sharing our detailed calculations at this stage, primarily to avoid sharing information which could inadvertently breach existing or prospective employment confidentiality. However, we and our Trustees are committed to managing within this financial budget total in 2027 and should this not be possible, we will draw on existing Area and Local Meeting reserve funds and definitely not seek additional new contributions from Local Meetings.
How the money will be raised:
Assuming the first year of operation commences early in 2027, we are proposing that each Local Meeting contribute to the fund on the basis of £75 for each adult Member and Attender recorded on the 2025 Tabular Statement plus 10 pence of every pound of Local Meeting income from all sources in 2025 (donations, lettings, investments and legacies but excluding funds collected to directly pass on to another charitable cause. These are sometimes known as Acting as Agent funds.) We will work with Local and Area Meetings to agree the actual contribution amounts to enable Local Meetings to plan their budgets for 2027.
In the future, Yorkshire Quaker Trustees will consistently use figures for adult members and attenders to calculate the size of contributions at Local Meeting level because this is the best reflection of how donations are made to Meetings.
How the money will be managed:
Payments for the running of the charity will be made by transferring the agreed contributions from Local Meeting funds into the Common General Fund. This will be done with the consent and knowledge of Local Meetings by the central finance staff.
During 2027, all Local and Area Meeting bank accounts will gradually be closed and the money transferred into funds labelled by Local and Area Meeting as part of a very small number of central Yorkshire Quakers bank accounts.
Practical procedures will be developed in consultation with Local and Area Meetings to facilitate receipt of income and authorisation for expenditure. We will develop personal and supportive relationships between central finance staff and finance, bookkeeping and lettings role-holders in Meetings and not depend only on electronic communications. There will be transparent and regular reporting of actual income and expenditure against agreed Local and Area Meetings budgets to enable shared understanding and management.
The way property costs are managed was the most contentious area of the consultation paper as many Meetings felt that they wanted to continue to control this element of our work and witness. In order to start on a cooperative basis, our revised proposals have changed and are based on Meetings continuing to control and be responsible for their premises income and expenditure.
Summary box Common Property Fund
The budget in 2027 will be £140,000
Local Meeting with premises are asked to contribute to the fund on the basis of £40 for each adult Member and Attender recorded on the 2025 Tabular Statement plus 5 pence of every pound of Local Meeting income from all sources in 2025.
Local Meetings without premises are not asked to make any contribution.
Trustees guarantee that no additional funds will be requested in the first year of operation.
How the money will be spent:
The vision of the common property fund is to create a fund which will pay for the following:
The total cost of this work in 2027 is estimated to be £140,000.
Whilst this figure is our best estimate, we and our Trustees are committed to managing within this financial budget total in 2027 and should this not be possible, we will draw on existing Area and Local Meeting reserve funds and definitely not seek additional new contributions from Local Meetings.
We anticipate that over time the Common Property Fund will gradually grow a surplus for wider property support use as may be agreed by YQ Trustees.
The fund will not usually be used to support any costs relating to investment properties where the income is received and the property managed by Local Meetings.
How the money will be raised:
Assuming the first year of operation commences early in 2027, we are proposing that each Local Meeting with premises contribute to the fund on the basis of £40 for each adult Member and Attender recorded on the 2025 Tabular Statement plus 5 pence of every pound of Local Meeting income from all sources in 2025 (donations, lettings, investments and legacies but excluding funds collected to directly pass on to another charitable cause. These are sometimes
known as Acting as Agent funds). We will work with Local and Area Meetings to agree the actual contribution amounts to enable Local Meetings to plan their budgets for 2027.
The role currently undertaken by the Trustees of Area Meetings and Quakers in Yorkshire will now be undertaken by Yorkshire Quakers Trustees. Trustees are bound by charity law to adhere to the terms of all existing restrictions.