The less glamorous end of YAHS involves office moves. Leaving Claremont was an epic, and the shift now in progress should be relatively straightforward. But these things are never easy. Furniture is going tomorrow, phones and wifi should be working next week.
The new base is a modest-sized office in Stringer House, HQ of Voluntary Action Leeds. We've had the room painted and re-carpeted, it's suitable for our admin needs, and will accommodate a small meeting. VAL have several other rooms for hire, well set-up with modern AV equipment and taking up to about 50 people. It has a good, friendly atmosphere, with communal areas for coffee and informal catch-ups. There is no storage, so we are renting space in a commercial unit nearby. Section lectures will continue to be held at Swarthmore for the foreseeable future.
Joseph's Well has been a good location for our transitional year, giving a breathing space to rationalise our activities and improve systems. But it was expensive, difficult to park on weekdays, and wasn't used to maximum potential. The overall cost of Stringer House is far less, public transport links reasonably good, and with good access from the M621 and easy parking. So there's the potential to focus more on projects, and devote much more of our assets to the society's charitable aims.
And no more office moves for a while! You can have too much of moving boxes.