Thought for the Week: The Friend
Ian Kirk-Smith writes about The Friend
The Friend was established in 1843. It is one of only a handful of weekly magazines in the world that have been published continuously since then. In over 170 years it has failed to appear only a couple of times. This was during the second world war when there was a severe paper shortage.
The Friend is not part of Britain Yearly Meeting. It is a completely independent journal. It was established to report on the life and witness of Friends in Britain and continues to do so. The magazine is both a mirror and a window. It reflects, back to Friends, the rich diversity of Quaker faith, in terms of the opinions and beliefs held, and the challenges faced by contemporary Quakerism. It also offers, for non-Friends, an insight into the world of Quakers and their values, concerns and activities.
At Yearly Meeting Gathering in Bath this August there will be an official launch of ‘The Friend 1914-18 Digital Archive’. This is an exciting initiative for the Friend. The five thousand pages of the archive are a ‘treasure trove’ of social history and individual witness: compelling, surprising, illuminating and inspiring. They offer a fascinating insight into the life of Friends during the first world war.
The trustees and staff of the Friend are delighted to be able to bring the archive to the widest possible audience by making it available online. We feel we are stewards of an enterprise that, over 170 years, has absorbed the energy and creativity of hundreds of committed Friends. The archive is part of their enduring legacy. We are presently collecting donations for this project and are extremely grateful for the generosity of Friends who have contributed so far. We hope that the archive, in the future, may be able to bring in a small additional income to the publication. It is needed.
The Friend is a non-profit charity. Our voluntary income is tiny. The magazine is almost completely paid for by subscriptions and income from advertising. It receives few legacies and we are very grateful for a grant of about £14,000 from Britain Yearly Meeting for our coverage of Meeting for Sufferings. Financially, like many small non-profit charities, it ‘sails close to the wind’.
We must cover the weekly costs of producing, printing and dispatching our cherished journal. Since 2011, when the annual subscription was last increased, the cost of postage alone has gone up by £5 per subscriber per year. Obviously, other costs have also increased.
Despite the increase in our costs, the staff and trustees of the Friend have worked strenuously to delay and minimise any price rise, understanding the pressure on many Friends’ incomes. However, we must now increase the annual subscription by £3 to £79 a year (a rise of less than 6p per copy) and the monthly subscription (which has not risen since 2007) to £7. The cover price will rise by 10p to £1.80.
For online subscriptions we are now required to add VAT to the price and we also need to invest more in ongoing development work, which increases the subscription to £59 a year. Paper subscribers wishing to add online access will be asked to pay £5 a year. The new prices apply from 1 July 2014.
In 2010 I came from Northern Ireland, after several decades in the BBC, to offer some service to the Religious Society of Friends for a couple of years. It has been quite a contrast. I have been deeply impressed, in a world where loyalties are often so fickle, by the commitment of subscribers to the Friend. It is like a huge, extended family. You differ in many things but unite on the essentials and keep the magazine alive with your support. Thank you.
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.