Issue 03-01-2023
Featured story
Something completely different: Kate McNally’s Thought for the week
I sometimes think about a quote attributed to Michelangelo, when asked how he could sculpt a leaf that looked so real: ‘You just cut away all the parts that don’t look like a leaf.’ In a sense, we all sculpt ourselves. When we let go of all the parts...
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The balloon factory: after a trip with Ukrainian refugees, Elaine Wood turned fact into fiction
‘Wake up Giorgiy! Wake up!’ Not my Dad’s usual, gentle nudge but a serious shake. What’s going on? ‘It’s started,’ he barks, nervously. ‘What has started? ‘The war.’
Family matters: Beth Follini gets the picture
I discovered this photo when helping my mother declutter her cosy apartment in Halifax, Canada. She is a member of Halifax Meeting. We are from a long line of Quakers, direct descendants of Thomas Iredell, who was born in 1676 at Riggs Bank. He migrated to Philadelphia in 1700, carrying with him...
Eye - 3 January 2023
Naming of days Eye is always keen to learn, and one reader has shared further subtleties about a recent story. Barry Williamson, of Chorley Meeting, writes: ‘Eye 20th of the 1st month 2023 refers to the Quaker practice of eschewing naming after pagan gods days of the week. ‘George Fox, however,...
Blue plaque for Ada Salter
English Heritage will be unveiling a blue plaque to commemorate the Quaker Ada Salter.
Fight the power? Jeff Dean reflects on his Ukrainian visitors
For the past four months, three Ukrainians have been guests in our home. They are kind, friendly, generous, gentle people, and they have enriched our lives.
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QARN on missing asylum-seeking children
Friends have spoken out about the 200 children recently reported to have gone missing from hotels run by the Home Office.
Back anti-nuclear ban, Quakers urge
Quakers called for the government to engage with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) last month.
Quakers open more warm banks
Quakers are continuing to set up warm spaces to help the cost-of-living and energy crisis.
Quaker advice on discussing the military in schools
The risk of suicide is two-to-four times higher for young veterans than it is for regular civilians, according to new research commissioned by the Ministry of Defence.
Playing a part: Anne M Jones returns to the refugee day centre in Calais
The flat, grey-green landscape exhales ghosts. They seem to taunt me as my train speeds from Calais to Lille-Flandres: ‘Has the world learned nothing from that terrible war that raged here over 100 years ago?’ Out of the window is an endlessness occasionally broken by small groups of houses nestling around...
Letters - 03 February 2023
QCEA Rebecca Bellamy’s report on her QCEA (Quaker Council for European Affairs) study tour (16 December) was very moving. So much of the focus on Brexit has been on its economic impact and less on the loss of the rich cultural benefits of working creatively with our closest neighbours. Around...