Latest News
Quaker in same-sex marriage denied CTE presidency
The news that Quaker Hannah Brock Womack had been blocked from her appointment as a Churches Together in England (CTE) president because she was in a same-sex marriage sent ripples through the press.
Quakers head to Glastonbury
Quakers undertook some musical outreach in 2019 when, for what is thought to be the first time ever, it had an official presence at Glastonbury Festival. Writing in the Friend, Joseph Fuller, from Cheltenham Meeting, who was part of the team of four who ran a stand in the Green Futures...
‘Stansted Fifteen’ receives suspended sentences
The year started with the high-profile news that the ‘Stansted Fifteen’ group of protesters, which included Friend Lyndsay Burtonshaw, were appealing their terror-offence-related conviction received at the end of 2018. The members of the End Deportations group were found guilty of blocking the take-off of a deportation flight in March 2017 at...
Historic England recognises beauty of Meeting houses
The beauty of Quaker buildings was officially recognised when seventeen Meeting houses were granted listed status or had their listed status upgraded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the advice of Historic England.
Quakers pave way for climate emergency declarations
As 2018 drew to a close with the ominous warnings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report tolling in people’s ears – that the human race had just twelve years to limit the most devastating impacts of global warming – a steady wave of councils kicked the year off by...
Quakers join call for politicians to promote ‘social cohesion’
Quakers are among a group of faith, belief and community organisations who have signed a statement calling on politicians to heal societal divides. The statement from The Faith and Belief Forum calls on politicians ‘to put social cohesion at the heart of their policies’ and says: ‘Challenging the growing polarisation...
Friends raise over £5,000 for homelessness
A Quaker from Blackheath Meeting in London raised over £2,500 for homeless people this month. Jo Keogh raised the amount (including Gift Aid) when she took part in the Big Sleep Out event in Trafalgar Square on 7 December as part of the World’s Big Sleep Out campaign. The team of...
Paul Parker explores extreme poverty and food banks
Paul Parker, recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM), took part in a Trussell Trust event for church leaders this month. The gathering explored the role of faith communities in addressing the effects and root causes of the extreme poverty which drives food bank use.
Art the Arms Fair donates work to the Peace Museum
The partly Quaker-founded Art the Arms Fair, which was formed as ‘creative resistance’ to the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair in London, has donated some of its work to the Peace Museum.
FWCC launches second sustainability webinar
Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) has released a video of its second webinar on the theme of sustainability and climate justice. The project follows the success of the first webinar ‘Quakers Coming Together to Care for the Earth’ in July 2019 and was launched on FWCC’s YouTube channel this...