Latest News
Friends mark Refugee Week
Quakers celebrated Refugee Week last month with a range of action and support. Sheila Mosley from the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN) said that the week, from 14-20 June, is an important time ‘when people come together to raise a positive and collective voice of welcome, to give voice...
BYM reserves grow thanks to legacies
Britain Yearly Meetings (BYM) reserves increased by nearly seven per cent in 2020, according to the annual report released last week. The figures show that BYM’s reserves grew from £86 million to £92 million, despite a seventy per cent loss of revenue from its trading company the Quiet Company, due to the...
FWCC Gretchen Castle reflects
Quaker Gretchen Castle spoke at a Quaker Conversations session about her nine years service as general secretary for Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). The episode on 26 June was the tenth in the FWCC series. Writing on the FWCC website, Gretchen Castle said: ‘I have shared meals with Friends in...
Quaker talks on art and migrant children
The arts have a key role to play in promoting intercultural dialogue and integrating migrant children, said a Bath Quaker at an international conference last month.
Quaker wins landmark arms fair appeal
A Quaker is one of four Christian protestors who have had their convictions quashed by the supreme court for forming a blockade outside a London arms fair. The ruling has been hailed as a significant affirmation of the right to protest.
BYM trustees speak again on racism
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees and senior management agreed a statement this month on becoming an anti-racist employer and embedding anti-racism in all work programmes.
New James Turrell ‘Skyspace’
A large installation by the distinguished Quaker artist James Turrell has opened in Massachusetts. Titled C.A.V.U., it is the latest of his iconic ‘Skyspaces’. The work comprises a repurposed concrete water tank that transforms into an immersive light installation. The artwork measures forty feet in diameter, is...
Friends lobby against nuclear weapon increase
Churches in Stratford-upon-Avon have sent a letter to the town’s MP, expressing their concerns about government plans to expand Britain’s arsenal of nuclear weapons by forty per cent.
Human dignity requires a legal framework
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) has joined people from other faith and belief bodies in appealing to the prime minister to protect the Human Rights Act, which is currently under independent review. A report will be published at the end of June.
QSA launches ‘Cook Up’
Quaker Social Action (QSA)’s new project, ‘Cook Up’, is now up and running in London. The scheme involves free-to-use cooking space in Islington for people without kitchens. This includes people who are sofa-surfing or homeless, sleeping in a hostel or a night shelter or a B&B, or...