Latest News
Meeting for Sufferings: Young People’s Participation Day
Thirty-eight Young Friends attended the annual Young People’s Participation Day at Friends House. Meeting for Sufferings heard details of their activities and discussions when the group joined Friends for closing worship.
MP to give 2017 Swarthmore Lecture
The 2017 Swarthmore Lecture is to be given by Catherine West, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green. The lecture will focus on addressing inequality, tackling poverty and promoting social justice. It will examine how change can be effected through politics – both participatory and representative – while ‘living out our faith in the...
Leaveners hit by funding withdrawal
The main funder of the Leaveners, the Birmingham-based Quaker arts organisation, has withdrawn its sponsorship. The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) has provided core funding for staffing and overheads for thirty years. A change in JRCT’s funding priorities means that Leaveners no longer meet their remit.
Army increases recruitment of minors
New figures show that twenty-four per cent of British army recruits are child soldiers. The Ministry of Defence has just released the UK Armed Forces Biannual Statistics for 2016. They reveal that the proportion of the army’s non-officer rank intake aged under-eighteen increased from 22.2 per cent to 24.2 per cent.
Restorative justice theme for 2017 QCJ conference
The Quakers in Criminal Justice (QCJ) group will consider the theme ‘New ways of doing justice and promoting harmony’ during their 2017 conference at Woodbrooke from 24 to 26 February.
Friends join other faiths in low carbon talks
Nearly eighty members of Birmingham faith communities, including local Quakers, recently took part in ‘Tread Lightly on this Earth’, where they discussed practical steps towards a low carbon future.
Barter, not buy, say Texan Friends
Members of Live Oak Meeting in Houston, Texas, marked ‘Buy Nothing Day’ on 25 November with a Quaker Barter Fair.
JRF concern over ‘autumn statement’
The immediate future for people on below-average incomes is bleak, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).
American Friends speak out over ‘Muslim registry’
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has expressed its concern about suggestions that president-elect Donald Trump is to create a ‘Muslim registry’. The AFSC said in a statement that the proposal ‘is an attack on our country’s founding values – that all are created equal and constitutionally guaranteed freedom of...
Backhouse Nurseries project suffers setback
Plans to create a heritage centre in York dedicated to Quaker botanist and philanthropist James Backhouse are in jeopardy following an arson attack. Local resident Jane Cullen is leading a campaign to transform a disused park-keeper’s lodge in West Bank Park into a café and heritage centre, as reported...