Latest News
Hiroshima and Nagasaki remembered
Friends, and others, gathered across Britain on 6 August to mark the seventieth anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. More than 200 people attended an interfaith service at Friends House in London. Readings were given by representatives of a number of religions.
Friends back Charities Bill change
The Quaker Housing Trust (QHT) has endorsed an amendment to the Charities Bill. QHT has joined other housing groups in backing a House of Lords amendment to the Bill. This will protect social housing homes under threat from government plans to extend the right-to-buy scheme to include housing associations.
Leaveners partner hosts writers
The P Café in Stirchley, Birmingham, recently welcomed a group of poets from the Leaveners’ ‘Poets’ Corner’ project. Poets and volunteers came together to learn new writing techniques. They ranged from beginners to experienced writers.
Young Friends plan record-breaking Meeting for Worship
This month, for the first time, participants in Friends Southern Summer Events (FSSE) Senior Conference and Junior Gathering will hold a joint Meeting for Worship.
Friends share nominations practices
Fifty Friends gathered recently at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham for the first nominations conference. Participants were drawn from a number of groups concerned with nominations at the Yearly Meeting level. The groups represented included the Nominations Committee, the Committee on Clerks, and the Yearly Meeting Nominating Group. Members...
First Irish Quaker celebrated
Eighty Friends were among close to five hundred people who travelled to Mountmellick, Ireland, last week for the William Edmundson Homecoming. The week-long celebration was organised by Mountmellick Heritage Society to commemorate the life of the Englishman and Friend, who came to be known as the ‘Irish Hammer’.
Quaker Tapestry reaches out
The Quaker Tapestry is on the road again – for the fifteenth successive year – travelling to Northern Ireland for the first time. The 2015 roadshow will appear in Scotland first, at New Lanark Mills World Heritage Site in August, and then in September visit Northern Ireland where it will be on display...
Film fans appreciate Quaker silence
Waiting & Silence, a short film showing a Meeting for Worship, was screened at the Aperture Festival at the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland last week. The film was made by Corrymeela community member, and Quaker, Paul Hutchinson, and shot at Coleraine Meeting House.
Service in the spotlight
An exhibition on ‘Quaker Service’ has opened at Peckover House, a National Trust property in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. It tells ‘how the work of Friends goes on, bringing relief to war-torn areas, or to any region where aid or repatriation is needed’, according to the National Trust.
QSA funeral work makes award shortlist
Quaker Social Action (QSA)’s ‘Down to Earth’ campaign has been shortlisted for a prestigious Third Sector Award. The funeral poverty project is competing for the Breakthrough of the Year award. It is up against significantly larger charities, including Cancer Research UK and the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative.