Meeting for Sufferings: ‘Speaking out and advocacy’
Meeting for Sufferings heard from two BYM staff about how Yearly Meeting speaks out
In the last session of the weekend Friends heard from Anne van Staveren, BYM’s media relations officer, and Grace Da Costa, the public affairs and advocacy manager, about how the Yearly Meeting speaks out on matters of concern to the Society.
There are many ways of telling the Quaker story, said the pair: through national print, broadcast, social media, blogs, podcasts, website, collaboration, engagement and publications. But it was important to be clear about the intended audience, and to have clear messaging.
They talked about recent successes, particularly with Quaker involvement in ending the smacking of children in Scotland, and campaigning against the DSEI (Defence and Security Equipment International) arms market in London. There were some amusing moments: BYM’s most popular blog post was ‘6 things you never knew were invented by Quakers’, which included Red Delicious apples and sanitary towels.
‘How do you deal with adverse comments on social media?’ asked one Friend, a Facebook moderator. ‘Slowly,’ said Anne.
