Gathering of the Northern Friends Peace Board
Friends met in Huddersfield for a meeting of the Northern Friends Peace Board
Eighteen Friends came together at Huddersfield Meeting House this month for a meeting of the Northern Friends Peace Board (NFPB).
Philip Austin, coordinator of the NFPB, said the event on 14 April started as news filtered in about the missile strikes against Syria the previous night.
‘This was much in our minds throughout the day,’ he wrote in the meeting’s report. The participants reflected on past activities and shared information on a range of peace concerns, ‘focusing on nurturing the roots of peace as well as the bigger issues of militarism’.
Philip Austin wrote: ‘From acts of witness against [the] arms trade to promoting dialogue in our communities, we heard of challenges as well as creative and inspiring responses.’
He said that the meeting reaffirmed the need for community and persistence: ‘We never know when a significant breakthrough may come.’
Resources and information shared during the day include the Quaker witness at the forthcoming Eurosatory arms fair in Paris from 11-15 June and the 2018 Don’t Bank on the Bomb report. Friends also shared details of the Rethinking National Security conference in June and the Take Action on Militarism resource pack from Friends House and ForcesWatch.
One attender tweeted that the event included ‘lots of discussion, discernment and ideas for action.
‘During lunch we watched this inspiring new film Direct Action to Stop a War about the actions of Sam Walton and Daniel Woodhouse last year.’
A second meeting will take place in Lancaster on 12 May.
