Issue 23-10-2015
Featured story
Thought for the Week: Empathy
These days, when I’m talking to people, I tend to bring up the subject of refugees. It’s interesting how they respond. My plumber, who makes a point of employing ex-offenders and those recovering from addiction, expressed a view that crops up a lot: what we should be doing...
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A democratic UK?
So, is this the start of a situation that ends with me being thrown out of a plane and disappeared from my son’s life? This was, perhaps, not the most rational thought at 10pm on a Sunday evening, when hanging washing to dry, but it was enough to make...
The People Called Quakers
Margaret Fell (1614-1702) was one of the most important leaders of the early Quaker movement. She became known as the ‘Mother of Quakerism’, which indicates the vital role she played in practical organisation and in the formation of Quaker ideas. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Margaret Fell acted...
What is a nation?
According to Leonardo Emberti Gialloretti of the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome, a nation is an entity which carves out as much territory for itself as it can, thus bringing division and despair to groups which had hitherto lived, with minimal friction, alongside and intertwined with each other.
Friends of permaculture
The Twelfth International Permaculture Conference was held at Friends House, Euston, on 8 and 9 September. I am both a Quaker and a permaculturist, so when I heard where the conference was being held I put myself down to do a presentation. Laurie Michaelis, of Living Witness, and I gave a talk...
Cowries, currencies and climate change
On my desk is a sea shell, a tiger cowrie, no more than three inches long, from the island of Tarawa in the Central Pacific, found while beachcombing some thirty-six years ago. It has attractively dappled colouring on its back, is pristine white around the lips underneath, and has a...
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Friend makes Scouting history
Ann Limb, of Milton Keynes Meeting, has been elected chair of The Scout Association UK. She is the first woman to hold the post and is responsible, with the trustees and chief executive, for the strategic oversight of the organisation, with legal and financial accountability for its policies and activities....
Glebe House celebrates fifty years
More than 100 guests gathered on 16 October to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Glebe House Community Trust. Among those celebrating was Geoffrey Brogden, who founded the Cambridgeshire project. He gave a speech, as did Friends Sue Brock-Hollinshead and Sheila Gatiss. Peter Clarke, director of Glebe House, gave the welcome speech.
London Friend injured on the West Bank
David Amos, of Wandsworth Meeting, was injured last week when Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian farmers with whom he was volunteering.
Claridge House looks to the future
Major refurbishment and improvements are on the way for Claridge House, the Quaker retreat centre in Dormansland, Surrey. The work includes making all bedrooms en suite and enhancing facilities for people with disabilities. The centre will be closed for the first half of 2016, to enable all the work to be...
Rowntree Walks go further
The Rowntree Society has announced plans to expand its original ‘Rowntree Walk’ leaflet. The new guide will be a twenty-page booklet containing five distinct walks in York, all of which have links to the Rowntree family.
Peru: more open places released
Additional open places have been added for those hoping to participate in the next Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) plenary.
Twelve Friends and a dog
A dozen Quakers and a seemingly camera-shy dog walked from Boscombe Pier to Bournemouth Pier on Saturday 17 October.
Quaker instructional
This is the account of an initiative that was undertaken at Hastings Meeting in Sussex to ensure that our attenders are informed about the fundamental ideas that underpin Quakerism. It was an issue that had been bugging me for some time.
Eye - 23 October 2015
Scenic simplicity Friends from Bakewell Meeting enjoyed their fifteenth annual residential weekend in September. Local Friend Alison Gray took part in this year’s gathering at Ilam Hall Youth Hostel, near Dovedale. She told Eye: ‘The Peak District is well supplied with youth hostels and over the years we have...
Letters - 23 October 2015
White poppies This will be the third year that Witney Friends have laid a mixed wreath of red and white poppies on the war memorial during the morning civic ceremony on Remembrance Day. We have asked the Royal British Legion (RBL) for permission and have bought the red poppy wreath...