BRISTOL CATHEDRAL COMMUNITY MEETING MEETING NOTE 22 March 2015, Chapter House Attendees: Dean, Canon Precentor, Canon Pastor, Chapter Clerk, Glynn Usher, Roger Dubois and Louisa Pittman, and members of the Cathedral community. The Dean gave the Cathedral community a presentation and update on recent events. This included new appointments to Chapter and to the staff team, an update on Bristol Cathedral Choir School, and progress on some of the Cathedral projects. The Canon Precentor gave an update on worship and liturgy and the Lent programme and Easter services. There were issues with retaining boy choristers as their voices often broke early and there were competing demands for their time. A new alto Lay Clerk would start in the autumn. The Chapter Clerk gave a presentation on the progress of key fabric projects including the toilet refurbishment, boiler replacement and draught exclusion improvements. Copies the presentations can be downloaded from the website: www.bristolcathedral.co.uk/Cathedral community. If you cannot access the internet please request a copy from Emma Howell ([email protected] or 0117 946 8187). Members of the community raised a number of questions and issues, which are summarised below.  Chapter – it was noted that the gender balance needed to be retained in relation to Chapter’s membership, and the Dean confirmed that a further lay woman would be appointed to ensure the balance was kept as the number of male canons increased.  The Lent programme was well received, as it was a larger programme of events/activities than previously.  There were a number of concerns about communications and the need to ensure the Cathedral community were kept regularly up to date. Specifically: - The Canon Precentor would review the leaflets used at services. There was concern that the services were not sufficiently easy to follow for new people/visitors and that there were too many separate documents. - The C/Clerk would put the members of the community roll on to the mailing list for the e-newsletter. This was going to be distributed monthly in future and would include updates on the fabric projects. Community members could unsubscribe if they did not wish to receive the information. In addition there would also be a hard copy quarterly newsletter and an annual review. The C/Clerk would also put a new page on the website specifically for the Cathedral community to help people access information more easily. The weekly news and notes (N&N) bulletin would also be put on the website (under the monthly service list) for easy access. - Community members thought the use of evaluation exercises to get more information on how people heard about events/reasons for coming etc. were helpful.  There were also questions about the Cathedral’s work on volunteering and a discussion about the importance of recruiting new volunteers. The C/Clerk briefed everyone on the progress that had been made. A new application and reference process had been put in place, as part of the safeguarding procedures, and a new volunteer handbook would be available shortly. A new induction presentation was being developed for all new staff and volunteers. The C/Clerk was also holding quarterly meetings with the leaders/representatives of each group to brief them on Cathedral projects and developments. The C/Clerk wanted to see some recruitment events during the year to promote volunteering. The Doors Open day might provide a good opportunity in the autumn. This would be followed up with the volunteers group. If you have any queries about this note please contact the Chapter Clerk ([email protected] or 0117 946 8172). Chapter Clerk March 2015