Eye - 23 March 2018

From reunions to adventurous painting

Young Friends reunite

Links spanning over four decades were celebrated at a recent reunion of a Young Friends group that formed in the sixties and early seventies.

On 14 March twenty-five Friends who had belonged to the Young Friends group of Lancashire and Cheshire Quarterly Meeting gathered at Frandley Meeting House.

Jo Tobler, of Ruthin Meeting, told Eye: ‘We are all seventy-plus now, but have kept in touch through the years and meet up every couple of years in different parts of the country. We are all grateful to have been part of a Young Friends group which was active and lively, having at least one weekend a month away staying at Meeting houses all over our area, as well as attending weekly Young Friend Meetings at our Local Meetings, holidays abroad and work camps. At one time we had over seventy names on the register.

‘This reunion was special though, as we had gathered to remember four of our number who have died in the last year or two, but whose funerals we had been unable to attend for various reasons.

‘We sat in silence and then shared memories. We laughed together, occasionally sometimes tinged with sadness, especially when we also remembered the son of one couple who recently died in his twenties.

‘It was a special time and we all appreciated the links that we have and realise how lucky we were, and still are, to be part of such a supportive and loving Friendly group.’

Painting adventurously

Young Friends in Sheffield have been ‘painting adventurously’ by transforming a defaced fire exit door at their Meeting house into a striking piece of street art.

Local Friend Laura Kerr told Eye the story of the door: ‘Some months ago it was defaced by graffiti – simply scruffy “tags” of the names of those who wrote them. One bright idea… that a genuine piece of street art would inhibit further vandalism, led to another bright idea… that our teenage group might enjoy doing it as a Sunday morning activity.’

A vision ‘of blossoming trees, faraway hills and a bold fox emerged as our preferred design, with a favourite Advice written – adventurously – freehand, rather than from a stencil’.

Laura explained: ‘The first week, when we practiced using an aerosol, was probably the most hilarious. Altogether the work took a number of weeks because of snow, ill health and the paint we used, not aerosols, having to dry in stages.

‘The final coat is supposedly “anti-graffiti” paint, which means it can easily be washed down if someone else did make further unwanted contributions. It’s bright, distinctive and has a coded message for Quakers in the fox!’

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