Margaret Fell was a key figure in the early Quaker movement. For #InternationalWomensDay, Rhiannon Grant reflects on women's religious leadership and Margaret Fell's 'Women's Speaking Justified' https://www.quaker.org.uk/blog/women-s-preaching-still-justified
"The Met Police may want to intimidate us into contributing to the govt's closing off of the right to protest... We will continue to hire space to explicitly nonviolent groups, with appropriate checks in place, just as we always have." – Clerk of Westminster Quakers www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...
The right to protest is under threat and there is legislation going through Parliament that aims to give police even more powers to restrict protest.
Join the mass lobby of MPs on 17 March 📅
https://www.quaker.org.uk/blog/protecting-the-right-to-protest-why-we-need-to-act-now
Westminster Meeting House raided by Metropolitan Police again. Statement: “For Quakers, faith and action are inseparable. Peaceful protest, prayer and nonviolent action are integral parts of many Quakers' religious life. Whilst we take the planning of criminal acts very seriously, we believe that this incident is a deliberate targeting of committed young people who want to make our country a more equitable place. This raid is part of a systematic stifling of dissent. That this is the second time in a year that the police have raided our meeting house dramatically illuminates the broader trend in the UK of cracking down on those who disagree with the government. The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy. It's a key part of how people make their voices heard between elections.” – Oliver Robertson, Head of Witness and Worship Quakers in Britain, 5 March 2026
Yesterday evening, for the second time in a year, the Met Police raided Westminster Quaker Meeting House and arrested a number of young nonviolent activists.
STATEMENT: www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...
“We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end...” QUNO echoes the testimony of #Quaker leader George Fox nearly 400 years ago. We mourn the lives lost and call for an end to military action in #Iran: https://quno.org/newsroom/there-is-no-just-war/
On #WorldBookDay, here are seven books to help start conversations about peace and justice with kids 📚🧒 https://www.quaker.org.uk/blog/7-books-to-start-conversations-about-peace
Tonight in Friends House, 6pm - Drawing Hope: Launch event in London.
'Drawing Hope: Children's art for peace' is a global peace initiative that delivers messages of hope through children's artwork for intergenerational dialogue. The exhibition is on until 3 April.
quaker.org.uk/events/drawi...
Military action will not make Britain or its allies safer. It will escalate the conflict, deepen regional instability, and endanger countless more lives. https://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/uk-should-work-for-peace-not-war-in-the-middle-east
"Congress must act urgently to restrain the administration before this spirals into another endless war," @bridgetmoixfcnl.bsky.social said.
📣"War is not the answer."
Our full statement:
The right to protest is under threat again.
Grace Da Costa explains the new dangers and invites people to join a mass lobby of MPs to challenge the potential legislation. https://www.quaker.org.uk/blog/protecting-the-right-to-protest-why-we-need-to-act-now
We're discerning a new direction for the peace campaigning work of Quakers in Britain - what does a confident Quaker voice for peace mean today?
If you haven't been able to attend one of our peace consultation sessions, why not put your ideas in writing?
Link at end quaker.org.uk/blog/an-open...
Join us at this Zoom event on 3 March, 7-8pm, to hear more from the peace education team who'll be sharing more about their work bringing principles of peace education into classrooms throughout Britain. 🏫 www.quaker.org.uk/events/peace...
What difference does peer mediation make in schools?
We spoke to pupils and teachers from across North West England celebrating their progress in launching peer mediation schemes in their schools. https://youtu.be/TBQDtT6OHYY
Text reads: spend three months in Palestine monitoring human rights abuses. Full training provided. Expenses covered. Living allowance. Closing date: Monday 16 March. Please note: we can only accept applications from those residing in the UK or Ireland. Text is overlaid over a photo of an ecumenical accompanier and a Palestinian woman who is pointing to something on the horizon. The two are standing together at the top of a hill at sunset, their backs to the camera, looking into the distance.
Applications are now open for our 2027 cohort of Ecumenical Accompaniers.
Spend three months in Palestine and Israel witnessing and monitoring human rights violations and standing in solidarity with local peace activists.
Closing date: Mon 16 March 2026
Apply at: www.quaker.org.uk/applyeappi
A Concordis staffer in Darfur facilitating a community consultation with a group of women as part of a peacebuilding project. The group is outside seated in shade.
Concordis work to ensure that everyone impacted by a conflict has a voice. This includes people neglected due to age, gender, ethnicity, people who take up arms, and those who do not, as well as governments and civil society.
Read more about their work: concordis.international
Concordis staff working with a community group in the CAR. The photo shows conversation happening between different people at the table in an outdoor, porch-type setting.
"Their humility, respect, enthusiasm, and consistent promotion of their local partners over themselves is an international model for this millennium."
From Chad to South Sudan, they support communities to rebuild, farm safely, and become resilient to famine, climate change, and war.
We're delighted to nominate Concordis International for the Nobel Peace Prize! 🕊
Concordis works in some of the world's most fragile conflict zones, helping people tackle the root causes of violence. www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...
"As a parent and an author, I can see the value of reading for pleasure... Books can open us up to new light."
Sarah Hagger-Holt reflects on the importance of reading 📚 https://thefriend.org/article/the-national-year-of-reading-sarah-hagger-holt-says-quakers-should-get-involved
Anna lived with Sarah-Maria Buxton. They started a school together and were buried together in the local church (with Sarah-Maria’s family). In her will, Anna called Sarah-Maria her “faithful and beloved Partner”.
Read more of Anna and Sarah-Maria's story at: queernorfolk.com/news/anna-gu...
A sepia coloured photograph of Anna Gurney. She is wearing a plain dress, shawl and mob cap. Her expression is carefully neutral but the ghost of a smile plays around the corners of her mouth and eyes. Photo from the collection of the Library of the Society of Friends.
Anna researched geology, palaeontology, and ancient languages. She was the first woman to join the British Archaeological Association and her fossil collection is still in Norwich Castle Museum.
Line drawing of Anna Gurney from a pamphlet held by the Library of the Society of Friends.
Anna was born into the Gurney family, well-off and well-known Quakers. She had polio as a child and used a wheelchair throughout her life.
This year’s LGBT+ History Month theme is scientists and innovators, so we’re highlighting disabled, fossil-hunting, school-starting ‘cottage lady’ Anna Gurney (1795-1857). 🏫🍄 🔎
queernorfolk.com/news/anna-gu...
My final Pause for Thought of the month on BBC Radio 2. Winter might finally be on its way out, but what do we do if it lingers on inside us? Quakers know experientially there's always a glimmer of light to be found in the darkness. #Quaker #spirituality @quaker.org.uk www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
"Reparations are about healing and repair, a process that is rarely easy."
Reflecting on a reading from bell hooks, Esta Nyeko-Lacek explores how love offers the emotional and ethical groundwork for repair and justice. https://www.quaker.org.uk/blog/hope-is-our-covenant-reparations-reflections
"Long-term peace comes from building trust, friendship and mutual dependence between nations, not the constant threat of military retaliation."
Oliver Robertson, our head of witness and worship, in today's Guardian responding to the defence chiefs' recent article www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
One of the foundational texts of global Quakerism, 'Women's Speaking Justified', is soon to be republished in a modern English edition.
Today we went to the @quaker.org.uk library, to go and have a look at the original.
Summary below.
Former Ramallah Friends School student, Shadi Khoury, has been sentenced by an Israeli military court to 32 months in prison and a 12,000-shekel fine. https://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/shadi-khoury-sentenced-to-32-months-in-israeli-military-prison
Presented my 3rd Pause for Thought of the month on BBC Radio 2, this time on fasting. Quakers don't have a corporate practice of fasting, but we do have a practice of simplicity. #Quaker #theology #spirituality
@quaker.org.uk www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Say No to Nuclear-Armed Jets
We're calling on the UK government not to waste £700m on nuclear-armed aircraft - making nuclear war more likely into the bargain.
Come join us at RAF Marham on 28 February and make your voice heard.
Glad to be presenting another Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 2. I talk about love as a habit of care. It's not enough to say "God is Love", we have to prove it with how we treat others. #Quaker #theology #spirituality @quaker.org.uk www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
