It will be no surprise to report that Friends involved in our work have found the context for promoting and taking action for peace very challenging this year. We hope it is also no surprise to note that Friends and others find it really important to meet with one another, to share concerns, ideas and … Read more
NFPB gathered in York, with some also online, for our third meeting of the year. Friends joined us from across the North – from North Scotland to Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Area Meeting, North Wales to North Yorkshire. We had invited Rachel Julian to give a talk on Building Peace in Troubled Times. Rachel is Professor … Read more
The very widely-reported forced-entry by police into Westminster Quaker Meeting House on 27 March has caused NFPB concern and alarm. We uphold those directly affected by this incident and those: – seeking to find nonviolent ways of expressing legitimate dissent to pressing issues of peace and climate justice; – working for change to the punitive … Read more
This year’s Global Days of Action on Military Spending take place between between 10 April and 9 May. Northern Friends Peace Board has been a member of the UK network supporting this campaign (GCOMS) for a number of years and in March our members welcomed GCOMS UK Coordinator Russell Whiting to our meeting, in a … Read more
NFPB members gathered in Nottingham and online on 1 March for our first meeting of the year, after a week in which issues of war and peace, diplomacy and international politics could not be ignored. Military spending was a focus during our morning session. Russell Whiting joined us to speak about the issue and about … Read more
NFPB members met at the end of September, gathering at the Quaker Meeting House in Penrith and online via Zoom. We were joined by Ruth Harvey who, as well as being a Penrith Quaker, is currently serving as leader of the Iona Community. Ruth had been invited to talk about the Community’s peace concerns and … Read more
In the second of this summer’s regional NFPB events Friends from three Area Meetings gathered at Darlington Meeting House on 6th July 2024. The date and theme had been planned before the General Election announcement, but the result of that election two days previously provided a not-insignificant backdrop to the meeting. Rethinking Security – the … Read more
The wars in Ukraine and Gaza are distressing, causing horrifying levels of death, and devastation to ordinary people now and into the future. Northern Friends Peace Board has, during the past two years, sought to promote understanding of the nature of the conflicts and also of possible routes to peace. The very nature of war … Read more
At our meeting in Sheffield at the start of March, NFPB members heard from a member of the staff team with particular responsibility for the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Palestine and Israel. They described the challenges that programme continues to face, as well as the advocacy work that Quakers have undertaken in calling for a … Read more
For our second members’ meeting of the year, Friends gathered in Darlington and online on 24 June, with roughly equal numbers in the physical and virtual spaces respectively. The date of our meeting coincided with the government-sponsored ‘Armed Forces Day’ and Friends had the opportunity to reflect on this in the opening part of the … Read more