Latest News
Friends explore end of life issues
Quaker Life Central Committee (QLCC) is setting up a working group on end of life issues.
Anti-Trident event in Bournemouth
On Saturday 11 April a group of Quakers gathered in The Square, Bournemouth, to raise awareness of Trident and its proposed renewal.
Friend highlights green economy in Scotland
The sole Friend standing as a candidate for election in Scotland has highlighted the need to develop more jobs in the green economy.
BYM redevelops website
‘Quaker.org.uk’, the website of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM), is being revamped. This will make it easier for users to find what they need quickly and easily, on whatever device they choose.
Quakers challenge military spending
Friends joined the Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) on Monday 13 April. Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW) activists were among those taking part in the annual event. GDAMS was launched in 2011, and is timed to coincide with the release of the annual world military expenditure figures by...
Reading Friends hold inequality debate
Some sixty people, including seven election candidates, recently attended a debate on inequality hosted by Quakers in Reading, Berkshire. All of the main political parties, apart from the Conservatives, accepted Friends’ invitation to take part. The audience was drawn from the wider local community, with Quakers strongly represented, Salim Yakub,...
Retreat online archives project underway
Work is underway to digitise the archives of The Retreat, the York-based mental health facility founded by Quaker William Tuke. The project is a cooperation between the Wellcome Library and the Borthwick Institute for Archives. The first batch of material went online at the beginning of the year. The work...
Quaker questions Justin Welby
The Quaker writer and broadcaster Alastair McIntosh has questioned the role of Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, in blessing a cross that was made out of used shell casings. In a letter to the archbishop, Scottish Friend Alastair McIntosh challenged Justin Welby’s participation in blessing ‘a cross made...
Strong turnout for first Friends House hustings
More than 280 people signed up for an election hustings held at Friends House on 31 March. Five politicians had three minutes each to explain why voters should choose their party.
Friends House responds to online criticism
The leading gay rights activist Peter Tatchell has expressed disappointment that Quakers allowed Friends House in London to be used for an event hosted by an organisation that he says ‘supports Sharia executions’. Britain Yearly Meeting has defended the decision to let ‘The Light’ to the not-for-profit organisation MEND (Muslim...