Issue 18-11-2011
Featured story
Thought for the Week: The housing challenge
It all started, for me, with Cathy. Her homelessness in the 1966 BBC television play ‘Cathy Come Home’ fired people of all faiths, and none, into action. Inspirational work, by amazing individuals and organisations, including Quakers, changed lives and put housing back on the political agenda. Convinced that there is ‘that...
Top stories
A thwarted vision
Over the summer, I was heavily involved in trying to set up Bristol Friends Housing Co-operative. For me, it’s inspired by my Quaker faith, especially the testimonies to social justice and sustainability. My most active partner in working to set up the co-operative is Jon Long; both of us...
Housing for the elderly
Today there are over twenty active Quaker-run charities or Friendly Societies offering accommodation for elderly Friends (and others not in membership) with housing need in England. These schemes are entirely independent and autonomous, although a national body – the Quaker Housing Trust (QHT), offers access to a range of grants that...
Experiment with Light: The culture of silence
Why is Experiment with Light not practised more widely among British Quakers? This was the question at the back of my mind when I began work on a doctorate in 2003. As my work progressed, I found that I was looking at British Friends more generally and that at the heart...
St Paul’s Meeting for Worship
There is now a regular Meeting for Worship at 3pm every Sunday on the steps of St Paul’s in solidarity with the Occupy London Stock Exchange Movement.
Roy Prockter case going to the European Court of Human Rights
A Quaker is to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after being convicted of withholding income tax. Roy Prockter, of Clacton-on-Sea Meeting, has refused to hand over money that could be used for war. A judge last week refused him leave to appeal within English...
All articles
Chancellor closes loophole
British Quakers are celebrating a campaign success following the government’s decision to close a loophole that has allowed corporations to avoid millions of pounds in tax. The chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, made the announcement only weeks after being lobbied on the issue by Friends and other...
UK sends arms mission to Libya
Ministers are planning a trade mission to sell arms to the new Libyan government. The decision has been described as ‘shameless’ by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), a unit of the Department for Business, is planning a trade delegation in March on behalf...
The people’s security service
The world has its ‘first civil society intelligence agency’. That’s how the founders describe Open Briefing, an organisation set up with Quaker support. Open Briefing aims to provide comments and research on intelligence, defence and security. There is likely to be a focus on long-term approaches to the...
We refuse to be enemies
When we go to a talk on Palestine, we are prepared to hear of the stonings, the insults, the injustice, the theft of land, the denial of water, the cutting down of olive trees, the destruction of Palestinian houses and the restrictions on travel. At a recent Meeting of...
The market must serve
The business of business is business – this has been the commercial world’s slogan since the mid-twentieth century, claiming markets are amoral and companies exist only to further the ends of their creators and shareholding owners. After all, by law, company boards exist to maximise returns on the funds of...
Letters - 18 November 2011
Remembrance poppies I trawled the Royal British Legion website to try and find any condemnation of warfare and killing. There was none. I did, though, come across a picture showing armed squaddies wearing combat uniform in what looked to be a war zone, with the caption, ‘It’s time to...
Eye - 18 November 2011
Edible churchscapes Are there moths in your Meeting house grounds? The Churches Conservation Trust, a national charity protecting historic churches at risk, is piloting a new scheme to help manage the bio-diversity of churchyards. It is called ‘Edible Churchscapes’. Eye, in the wake of a recent gathering to consider the...