Friends extend welcome at Christmas
Meeting houses offered a warm welcome over the holiday season
Refugees were among those who found a warm welcome at Meeting houses over the holiday period.
Stockport Meeting invited asylum seekers staying at a local hotel to lunch at the Meeting house on 2 January.
Phoebe Spence, a Stockport Friend, said: ‘Nearly fifty came, mainly young Kurdish men from Iran, Iraq and Syria. They thanked us warmly, some staying for piano music and use of the wi-fi. Local Quakers are considering how this might be followed up. Arrangements at the hotel are very transitory.’
Huddersfield Meeting opened its Meeting house to asylum seekers, refugees and others on Christmas Day for lunch and all-age games. The fifth annual ‘Winter Warmer’ was run in conjunction with the Huddersfield Town of Sanctuary group. Some 140 people attended.
Bury St Edmunds Friends opened their Meeting house on Christmas Day for ‘quiet companionship and light refreshments’.
