Latest News
Online YM for 2021
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) is deciding whether to create an online festival for Yearly Meeting (YM) next year, due to uncertainty around public health restrictions for 2021. ‘Next year there would be a parallel programme for children and young people as well as the opportunity for Quakers to come together as...
Wreaths for Remembrance Day
Exeter Quakers were among the many Quakers who laid wreaths of white poppies for Remembrance Day. This year their annual wreath-laying, in Exeter’s Northernhay Gardens, was videoed and submitted to the council to be included in an online ceremony broadcast on Remembrance Sunday. The gesture followed a short-socially distanced...
Scotland bans smacking
Britain Yearly Meeting has welcomed the ban on smacking children, which has become law in Scotland this month. The move makes Scotland the first nation in the UK to outlaw physical punishment of under-16s.
Friend in financial transparency guide
A leading Quaker environmental campaigner has contributed to a guidebook on climate-related financial disclosure. Chris Martin from Cotteridge Meeting told the Friend that he was asked to comment on early drafts of A user guide to climate-related financial disclosures, as well as writing in the final book.
Quaker site up for sale
Part of the site of the historic Quaker mental health institution The Retreat is up for sale, as part of its restructuring programme.
Friends fund new flats
A Quaker housing association based in the Lake District has converted a 1920s former workshop and showroom into three extra-care flats for older people. The Gatesbield Quaker Housing Association created two fully wheelchair-accessible flats on the ground floor, and a first-floor flat out of the workshop of a renowned arts...
Quakers welcome Biden: ‘There’s a lot to do!
US Friends have welcomed Joe Biden’s US presidential win, saying that there is much work to be done. The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) tweeted its congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, adding: ‘Democracy has prevailed. We can’t wait to work with you and the next...
Postponed COP26 inspires action
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) has joined more than sixty UK faith representatives in writing to the prime minister about emission targets, as campaigners come together to mark the original date of the COP26 November climate talks. The letter calls on the government to commit to ambitious emissions reductions in line...
White poppies at Oxford Meeting
Oxford Meeting marked Remembrance Day this month by displaying a giant white poppy on the Meeting house exterior wall, as well as a white poppy wreath on the door.
Overseas Operations Bill passes through Commons
Quakers have welcomed the news that a judge-led review into the handling of allegations against troops will run in parallel to the controversial Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, which passed through the House of Commons early this month. However, they said they were ‘extremely disappointed’ that the bill...