Latest News
Ulster Quakers respond
Friends in Northern Ireland are working together to produce a Quaker response to the NI Executive’s new Draft Programme for Government 2011 – 2015.
QCEA lambasts arms exports report
The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) has described the European Union’s (EU) latest report on arms exports as ‘too late and incomplete’. The report on European arms exports for 2010 was released almost a year after the period it covers, on Friday 30 December 2011. QCEA last week joined ten other...
Citizens UK launches agenda
Quakers are getting ‘much more involved’ in Citizens UK, according to the organisation’s director, Neil Jameson. This week the group launched a ‘citizens’ agenda’ ahead of the London elections in May. Citizens UK is an alliance of civil society organisations, including faith groups, schools, trades unions and community...
Death and dying
Quakers in Leeds are organising a conference to address ‘Death and Dying – the last taboo’. The conference will explore the ethical, spiritual and legal concerns around end-of-life care and assisted dying’. It will be held in Leeds on 12 May.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
A number of Meetings are planning to open their doors to members of local churches as part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from 18 to 25 January. In several towns, there will be prayers for unity in a different place of worship each day. Quaker Meetings including Kings...
Ministers mislead public over Welfare Reform
Ministers have been accused of misleading the public over welfare reform. Research has revealed that the vast majority of respondents to a government consultation were critical of the coalition’s planned changes to benefits for disabled people.
400 being prosecuted for census boycott
At least 400 people are being prosecuted for failing to complete last year’s census. Miriam Yagud, of Nailsworth Meeting, reports that this figure was given to her by the Office for National Statistics after a lengthy telephone conversation.
James Nayler Foundation closes
The James Nayler Foundation has announced that it is to close. The foundation was started in 1998 following an article in the Friend and a BBC television Panorama documentary on the prison work of consultant psychiatrist Bob Johnson. It aimed to embed Quaker values in work with people with severe personality...
Gordon Hirabayashi dies
A Quaker who spent decades fighting for human rights has died in the USA. Gordon Hirabayashi was described as a ‘civil rights icon’ by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). He was 93.
Pews and views
The Quaker architectural historian and writer David Butler is to speak at a forthcoming conference devoted to the non-conformist contribution to the story of pews, benches and chairs.