Deb Arrowsmith
From cave paintings to Whatsapp groups, via town criers, semaphore, morse code; ways of communicating have evolved as we all do. Quill pens, steel nibs, biros all have had their day… facebook, twitter, Whatsapp- are simply the latest in a long line of us trying to get a message across.
Oxford Meeting does this in weekly notices emailed out and read out in Meeting, Forty-Three newsletter, General Circulation emails. Other meetings have telephone circles.
I’d like to tell you – yes, you (because it will affect everyone) – about changes to the roles of Oxford staff team. It’s been a tough few years we all know. We kept things going and came up with some ‘unleashed ideas’ – trying something different. We need to keep trying! The Snapshot survey of 2021, open to all Friends in the Area, showed us that each local meeting felt a need to work together, speak out more clearly to our wider communities about our Quaker witness, and try to be more cost effective and efficient with our time and resources. All this to lift burdens off Friends and release them to explore what they really want to say/do.
Staff in Oxford office are employed by Oxford and Swindon Area Meeting (OSAM), which is the Charity and Area Quaker meeting to which we all belong. From 1 June 2022 Jacqui and I have signed new contracts of employment and agreed new areas of responsibility. Jacqui will continue to work 20 hours per week. I now work 4 days per week, with the aim of reducing that further when our new way of working shows clear progress – hopefully by the end of 2022. We cover hours we need to work in the Meeting House looking after the Meeting and our partner groups, supported in this by Georgia and Elliot our part time staff. We can also work remotely now from home (or any other meeting house that has Wi-Fi!). Because we do the same job I am pleased to say Jacqui’s and my pay rates are now the same.
So what are other changes? From September we will be using a new booking and invoicing system – Hallmaster – which can handle bookings for all Meeting Houses if needed. Anyone will be able to view room availability on our website and request a booking. We will be more visible – and not just for room hire.
I want to develop more video work for outreach and publicity, getting you (yes you again) involved. Jacqui is building links with City Council business mentoring and Independent Oxford to raise our profile and professionalism. We are encouraging everyone to come up with good ideas for us to develop. We all need to be clear, to be simple, to be efficient, and to be effective in our work – and work together for our Meetings.
We want to create a Google form for all members and regular attenders who give their permission to hold personal data; and we’ll establish exactly what data each person wishes to appear in a new digital and physical Book of Members and Attenders (BOMA). We will assist anyone who would rather fill in a form on the phone or by post. Don’t do email? What about an Area-wide text message service giving event reminders, notices, links to wider Quaker activities? What else can we do to make life easier?
Over the next few month we need to make rapid progress. I will be working with Burford and Charlbury Meetings, in the first instance, to simplify and consolidate their finances as a potential model for other Meetings to join in with in time. Staff will also be providing admin support to Area Clerks and Trustees, to make the work of the Area easier and more efficient.
Many of our concerns of Meetings across the Area large or small are the same; we need to work together sharing good ideas and supporting each other better. Now paid staff will work in support of Meetings. We are here to help. We can do a lot, but each one of you who is part of our community can maybe also take on something more? Come up with a good idea we can try? So get tapping on that computer to office@oxfordquakers.org or call us on 01865 557373 or even clean up the quill pen and get ink dipping – you know the address.
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Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 519 • July 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW
Copyright 2022, Oxford Quakers