Latest News
AVP international gathering in Ireland
More than 160 delegates from forty countries are gathering in Maynooth in Ireland from 13 to 19 July for the International Gathering of the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP). The theme of the Gathering, which has been strongly supported by Quakers in Ireland, is ‘Diversity and Sustainability’.
JRF supports new journalism prize
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is supporting a new prize for in-depth journalism. ‘The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils’ will be awarded for the first time in 2015. The name is taken from the task given to the JRF by its founder: ‘to search out the underlying causes...
Bootham students work in Quaker burial ground
On Tuesday 1 July some 400 Bootham School students, aged between eleven and eighteen, took part in a ‘whole school service day’. Inspired and organised by history teacher and deputy housemaster, Robert Hudson, the service day saw the students work on a range of projects within their local community.
QSA gains Living Wage Foundation certification
Quaker Social Action (QSA) has gained the Living Wage Foundation’s certification. This means that every member of the east London charity’s staff, including contracted workers, earns not just the minimum but the living wage. This is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, according to the cost...
Three Westminster Friends receive honours
Three members of Westminster Meeting, London, featured in the recent birthday honours list. Michael Bartlet, lately parliamentary liaison secretary for the Religious Society of Friends in Britain from 1996 to 2013, was awarded an MBE for services to equality and social justice.
FWCC meets in Moyallon
Sixteen representatives of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) took part in a residential meeting at The Moyallon Centre in Northern Ireland last week. The centre adjoins the Moyallon Meeting House in County Armagh and for several of the participants the event offered a first glimpse of Ireland.
Quakers reject Trident Commission recommendations
Quakers in Britain strongly disagree with the conclusion of a report published this week that says the UK should retain its nuclear deterrent. The report by the independent cross-party Trident Commission, set up by the British American Security Information Council (BASIC), states that there is no credible alternative to Trident.
Friends General Conference Gathering underway
More than 1,200 Quakers are attending this week’s Friends General Conference (FGC) Gathering at the University of California’s Pennsylvania campus. This year’s theme is ‘Let Love Be the First Motion’, a quote from Quaker and eighteenth century abolitionist John Woolman.
Protest targets arms dealers’ use of church property
Eight Christians, including several Quakers, held a silent vigil at Church House in London on 24 June to demonstrate against the taking place there of the first of two Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) conferences. Among the conferences’ sponsors are some of the world’s largest arms companies, including BAE Systems,...
Quakers return to Crewe after 90 years
Regular worship among Friends in the Crewe and Nantwich area has moved back to Crewe for the first time since 1922. Meetings for Worship take place at the Coppenhall Methodist Centre, Bradfield Road at 3pm on the second and fourth Sundays of each month.