Issue 07-11-2014
Featured story
Thought for the Week: Dying fall
November’s leaves flock ginger and stiff along the gutter, Waiting for the wind to say. Boots (black), shoes (brown), knee-socks (white). Their feet speak for them: Brownies and cubs (eyes left to grin at Mum), WRVS, swinging arms whose baskets we know,
Top stories
To end all wars: A week on Iona 14-20 June
‘Where on earth would you get such a mixture of rich experiences: roleplay, craft, graffiti, and worship in between?’ ‘Unbearable, fun, constructive ideas of something to do.’ ‘I never imagined I would be singing “Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag” at the top of my voice in...
Wait until Wednesday (part two)
Last week Giles Barrow shared his reflections on the challenges of the current education system in English maintained schools. He highlighted the distorted impact of inspection, which he felt led to a reductionist model of schooling that prioritises examination over learning, and shared his observations on how the policy culture...
Wellingborough Friend wins peace prize
Godric Bader has won the Gandhi Foundation’s International Peace Award, in recognition of the alternative business model he and his family created, the Scott Bader Commonwealth. The prize was awarded to Godric jointly with the Commonwealth. The organisation came about in 1951 when the Bader family transferred personal shares in...
Peace Studies department celebrates
The University of Bradford’s Peace Studies department celebrated its fortieth anniversary on 24 October. Quaker Peace Studies Trust and Peace Studies staff witnessed the planting of a tree commemorating the founding of the department, the first in the world devoted to the subject. At the same event, the Soroptimists unveiled...
Tapestry museum is a ‘Hidden Gem’
The Quaker Tapestry Museum in Kendal has been named a ‘Hidden Gem’ by tourism body VisitEngland. The museum is one of just forty-six attractions in the country to receive a VisitEngland accolade in recognition of providing a good visitor experience.
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Portadown Meeting closes
A Northern Ireland Meeting has closed after more than a century. Friends held their last Meeting in the Portadown Meeting house on 26 October. The Meeting house, in County Armagh opened in 1905, and was paid for by a fundraising drive that raised £1,000. Although some fifty people belong to the Meeting,...
Philadelphia Quakers in Penn tribute
The 370th anniversary of William Penn’s birth was marked by two days of events at the historic Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia. The celebration took place on 24 and 25 October. Events included a presentation on Penn’s life, describing how becoming a Quaker led him to found Pennsylvania and...
Award for The Retreat
The Retreat’s Acorn Programme has been named the Independent Healthcare Apex Specialist Provider of the Year. The programme, at the York-based mental health facility, is an open, residential specialist service for women. It uses psychological therapies for those who engage in self-defeating behaviours such as self harm and eating...
JRF calls for fundamental change
A Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) report on the UK care home sector has called for fundamental change and an injection of humanity. The call follows a year-long personal enquiry by the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust’s director of care services John Kennedy, which built on existing JRF research.
Words: Spirit
Spiritus in Latin is breath. Several religious traditions use the image of human breath to depict the life-giving force of the divine. The atman of Hinduism, variously defined as the true individual essence or self, likewise derives from an ancient root meaning breathe. The Hebrew, ruah, is wind, and breath...
From the archive: The FAU begins work
In October 1914 tens of thousands of soldiers were making their way across the English Channel to fight on the Western Front. The Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) had been established by this time and the first volunteers trained. Henry W Nevinson travelled to Dunkirk with the first party of volunteers. His...
From the archive: The impact of war worldwide
The first world war was not just confined to the European continent. It had a significant affect on people elsewhere in the world. News of Friends, particularly those who were working in Quaker missions, was reflected regularly in the pages of the Friend. Friends Mission, Constantinople When other missionaries left...
From the archive: Friends witness for peace
In late 1914 it became increasingly clear that the war would not end quickly. Friends continued to speak truth to power whenever they could and to bear witness to the Peace Testimony. The Friend was an important means of communicating this within the Religious Society. Twenty-two students at Woodbrooke sent a...
Eye - 07 November 2014
Carlton Hill Quakers catch the cycling bug Eighteen wheels, topped by nine industriously pedalling Friends from Carlton Hill Meeting, set off to discover the history of Friends in Leeds last month. The Leeds Quaker History Cycle Tour, led by Robert Keeble, took place on 11 October and ‘covered’ several centuries. The...
Letters - 07 November 2014
Attenders and members Graham Watts’ letter (31 October) came as quite a shock to me. Not that the distinction between members and attenders should be questioned, far from it, but that attenders are apparently commonly serving as trustees, co-clerks, elders and overseers! I have been a committed and regular attender for...