Kingston Quaker Centre formally opened

Kingston Quaker Centre was formally opened on 6 September

Local MPs Ed Davey and Vince Cable were among those who attended the formal opening of the Kingston Quaker Centre on 6 September.

The decision to create a new Quaker Centre was made in the late 1990s and the present design is the third one to have been produced in that period. The Quaker Meeting house in Eden Street, Kingston, was built in 1773.

Kingston Friend Graham Torr, who has been involved in the project for the past sixteen years, explained that the first two designs had ‘helped clarify what we wanted to create. And we’ve taken energy conservation and environmental issues into consideration more strongly here than we did in the first two.’ 

At the ceremony, which was attended by more than 100 people, Geoffrey Durham and Sheila Hancock spoke with passion about what Quakerism has to offer today.

The mayor and mayoress of Kingston attended the ceremony and Ed Davey and Vince Cable spoke with warmth about the historic contributions of Quakers to society.  The first Meeting for Worship in the Centre was held on 15 June.

Graham Torr added:  ‘We’ve called it Kingston Quaker Centre, which expresses its function as both a Quaker Meeting house and a community centre.’

The new Centre is at Fairfield East in Kingston upon Thames. (A feature on the Kingston Quaker Centre will appear in the 3 October issue).

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