the8 March 2019 | £2.00Friend

‘We are committed to fostering a spirit of loving unity within Quakerism.’ Young Friends General Meeting on gender and inclusion 8 Mar 4/3/19 16:18 Page 1

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News 4 Hate speech, creativity, and more Rebecca Hardy

Letters 6

Transgender values 8 Fostering a spirit of unity Young Friends General Meeting trustees

Thought for the week 9 Real community Terry Hobday

The life of Benjamin Lay 10 Owning an anachronism Simon Webb

Cape Town’s peace centre 12 A new direction Carole Rakodi and Carol Bower

Review 14 Telling the Truth About God Abigail Maxwell

Review 15 Seen and Unseen Roger Iredale

Poem 16 The poet, the prophet and the pilgrim Lesley Morris

Friends & Meetings 17

All our senses are given to us to enjoy, and to praise God. The smell of the sea, of the blossom borne on the wind, of the soft flesh of a little baby; the taste of a ripe plum or bread fresh from the oven, the feel of warm cat’s fur, or the body of a lover – these are all forms of thanksgiving prayer. I am sure that it is as wrong to fail to delight in our bodies as it is to misuse them through excess.

Bella Bown, c.1980

Quaker faith & practice 21.24 regular ‘myth-busters’, such News as one which said: ‘Many people think migrants and [email protected] refugees are still coming to Europe in huge numbers – but in 2018 new asylum requests dropped back to QCEA launches anti- media companies and the below pre-2014 levels.’ hate speech campaign feeling was that no matter It also acts as a ‘hate The Quaker Council for how much they try, it’s speech tracker’ that aims European Affairs (QCEA) never going to be enough to follow as many MEPS has launched a campaign to moderate hate speech and assistants as possible. aimed at tackling anti- effectively. The general Martin Leng explained: migrant hate speech finding is to try and ‘If we see any hateful in preparation for the moderate unpleasant stuff, xenophobic messages, we European Parliamentary but also to encourage more can respond by posting elections in May. positive conversations.’ links to facts and messages The ‘Choose Respect’ Current polling suggests of positivity. It’s only been campaign was started that up to a third of going a week and it’s after QCEA researched seats in the European going really well. We want anti-migrant speech last Parliament may be won as many Europeans as Forbes Barbara year and found that, by the populist right wing. possible to get involved.’ hearing on 15 April will be according to Martin Leng, Inspired by a Swedish cancelled.’ communication and group called ‘I am here’, Stansted Fifteen’s call The activists’ lawyer, fundraising coordinator which tracks online hate back to court a mistake Raj Chada of Hodge Jones for QCEA, ‘hate speech on speech and attempts to The Stansted Fifteen & Allen, said: ‘At least online comment sections counter it by responding protesters have been told HMCTS have retracted is often unchecked and with facts and positivity, that their summons to and apologised to our this has consequences in the ‘Choose Respect’ court on an aggravated clients. It doesn’t take real life’. campaign seeks to ‘build a trespass case last month away from the misery He told the Friend: more positive narrative’. was an ‘error’. that our clients suffered that one study showed A Twitter feed for the The courts apologised over the weekend. that spikes in online hate campaign encourages to the activists who, More importantly, it is speech often correlated followers to respond according to their lawyer, a temporary reprieve as with spikes in hate crimes to xenophobia used by experienced ‘great anxiety the [Crown Prosecution against migrants in the real politicians on the social and distress’ when they Service are] continuing the world. He said: ‘With the media site. One tweet said: received letters from case and want it hanging European elections coming ‘Anti-migrant hate speech Colchester magistrates over our clients like the up, we realised there is all too common – even court ordering them to sword of Damocles – can also be a correlation among Europe’s politicians’. appear on 15 April for this is not in the public between hate speech online It urges social media users a hearing relating to a interest.’ and how people vote. We to ‘work together to get separate charge The Stansted Fifteen, talked to many social informed’, and includes The protestors received which includes Quaker suspended sentences Lyndsay Burtonshaw, words or community orders an attender at Brighton in February after being Meeting, described the convicted of terror-related letters as ‘devastating’. charges for endangering A spokeswoman for Right-wing anti-refugee the safety of an aerodrome the group said: ‘This when they blocked a kind of legal threat and sentiment on Facebook deportation flight at drawn-out prosecution Stansted Airport in 2017. stretching over years is predicts violent crimes A spokesman for HM a small window into the Courts and Tribunal horrendous process people against refugees. Service (HMCTS) said: seeking leave to remain ‘This case was incorrectly with their families and Karsten Müller and Carlo Schwarz listed and letters sent in communities face at the error. We apologise for hands – and the mistaken in their 2018 study ‘Fanning the Flames of any inconvenience this letters – of the Home Hate: Social Media and Hate Crime’. may have caused and the Office every single day.’

3 4 the Friend 8 March 2019 the Friend, 11 January 2019 Anti-BP protest on or not BP, which organised numbers anniversary of UK’s the protest, said in The peace rally against the Guardian on 16 February: Iraq war ‘There are memos from Sixteen years on since meetings just before the millions of people marched war where the Foreign 25% Office was very clear that against the prospect of of children in Kenya’s tea and coffee-growing regions are a war in Iraq, BP wanted access to Iraq’s oil, and indeed once the malnourished, leading to stunted growth, according to joined hundreds of the Fairtrade Association. activists at the British war was over BP was the Museum to protest against first foreign company into its sponsorship by BP. Iraq.’ Quakers at Church and Manchester Friend’s The 350-strong A statement from the Peace gathering ‘biscuit challenge’ British Museum said: demonstration on 16 Quakers from around A Quaker intends to ‘The objects from… February was prompted by Britain made up about half launch a ‘Quaker biscuit [the] collection in [the] the multinational’s impact of the participants who challenge’ in response to “I am Ashurbanipal” on climate change and gathered in Birmingham discussions at the Spring exhibition were collected allegations that it lobbied on 23 February for the Gathering on Sustainability and excavated with the the British government third annual Church and organised by Manchester full knowledge and before the Iraq war in an Peace (C&P) gathering and Warrington Area permission of the Ottoman attempt to gain access to (see photo, left). The topic, Meeting last month. government, who gave the country’s oil reserves. ‘Peace is not a fairy-tale – Around fifty Friends permission for the objects The protest marked the we have to work to make it met at Central Manchester to be exported.’ anniversary of what is happen’, had been devised Meeting House on 16 regarded as the UK’s by C&P in conjunction February to debate climate biggest peace rally when Quaker author gives with the Fellowship of change and what steps they around 1.5 million people workshop on creativity Reconciliation. could take to fulfil their gathered in London on 15 Twelve Friends attended Barbara Forbes, member Canterbury Commitment February 2003. Winchmore Hill Meeting of Central Area on Sustainability (see Elizabeth Cave, member House on 24 February for Meeting and also the photo, below). During an of Ealing Meeting, told the a workshop with Quaker board member of C&P for afternoon ‘Open Space’ Friend that she protested author Stephen Cox. The Britain and Ireland, told event, which had no pre- at the British Museum debut novelist of Our Child the Friend: ‘An inspiring determined agenda, the because ‘the world has of the Stars talked about and thought-provoking ethical complexities of to give up fossil fuels. BP the link between Quaker talk by Al Barrett, a local eating biscuits at Meetings promote itself as a benign silence and creativity. vicar, set the scene for was raised, as well as other actor through these high He told the Friend: our discussions... which sustainability actions. profile sponsorships when ‘I’m trying to reflect interpreted peace in the Thanos Konstantinidis, it actually does enormous on the links between widest possible sense, who was on the organising damage in Nigeria and the creativity and the Spirit. ranging from interfaith committee for the event, Middle East.’ Is the inspiration we feel action on climate change told the Friend: ‘We all love There were also in Meeting the same to supporting Churches of biscuits but, ethically it is accusations that the inspiration we feel in Sanctuary.’ difficult as most biscuits museum’s current writing a poem?’ There were also use palm oil.’ He added: ‘A exhibition ‘I am He is interested in what discussions on Brexit and persistent theme during Ashurbanipal’ included prompts the discipline workshops about ‘everyday the day was how negative artefacts ‘stolen’ from involved in working on civil courage’, led by Oliver feelings and despair about modern day Iraq during a long-term goal, such as Robertson, BYM’s new head the disturbing reality can the Ottoman era. Helen writing a book: ‘It’s almost of witness and worship. act as driver for action Glynn, from the group BP like taking on a concern.’ Barbara Forbes added with resilience and creative that next year’s event is power. ‘already under discussion ‘The need for three and there are plans to strategy groups was agreed. make the European Another emerging theme network of Church and was the need to discuss Peace more visible in this potentially controversial country and to consider matters, for example, the how we can… work use of the car park spaces together across borders’. in meeting houses.’ Konstantinidis Athanasios

the Friend 8 March 2019 5 about the way things are going. the Friend Letters We agree with their analysis. We 173 Euston Road accept that dealing with climate London, NW1 2BJ change, and the threat it poses to 020 7663 1010 life on our planet, represents the www.thefriend.org greatest challenge to us all – to The Friend welcomes your views, those in leadership positions and to [email protected]. Please Subscriptions to ordinary people. keep letters short. We particularly UK £88 per year by all payment We are impressed by how welcome contributions from types including annual direct articulately the young people children, written or illustrated. debit; monthly payment by express themselves and we direct debit £7.40; online only Please include your full postal admire the wit and creativity of £71 per year. Contact Penny address, even when sending the placards they carry, which Dunn: 020 7663 1178 emails, along with your Meeting sum up the crisis so neatly. [email protected] name or other Quaker affiliation. Our own movement (Quakers In essentials unity, in Britain) has made its Advertising in non-essentials liberty, own commitment to taking Contact George Penaluna: in all things charity. responsibility, individually and 01535 630230 collectively, for reducing our [email protected] carbon footprint. Getting real The young people are pointing Editorial I felt so moved by Judy Clinton’s us in the right direction. They Articles, images, correspondence article (1 February) that I want to are an example to us all. The should be emailed to tell you how much it spoke to my government and the people of [email protected] condition. I am very grateful to this country must wake up to the or sent to the address above. have read it and am astonished to dangers and act now. note how much her words apply Pete Thompson, Editor to my own difficulties, not with On behalf of Bridgend Meeting, Joseph Jones Fibromyalgia, but with old age. South Wales Journalist One is self-blaming, one feels like Rebecca Hardy a wimp, good for nothing after Passionate discomfort Production and office manager such an active life. To my mind I attended the recent Elinor Smallman Quakers are inclined to blame Woodbrooke gathering about Sub-editor themselves for whatever goes ‘Answering that of God in George Osgerby wrong, and it takes us long to everyone’ and found it moving, realise that we are also good even disturbing and challenging. There Arts correspondent were signals during the course Rowena Loverance without actively performing the many ‘good deeds’ we are wont that some Friends find these Environment correspondent to do. To ‘get real’ we must allow discussions evoke passionate Laurie Michaelis reality to guide us and learn to feelings and discomfort, but Clerk of trustees face it by whatever means that any wake-up call will do that. Paul Jeorrett suits us individually. We all have Woodbrooke plans further to find our way, so thank you meetings, conferences and courses ISSN: 0016-1268 Judy Clinton for showing us in this area, and I am trying to how to start by being honest and decide how much I can do. The Friend Publications Limited courageous. Almost immediately after the is a registered charity, Rosemarie Cawson conference, I read Nim Njuguna’s number 211649 Torbay Meeting, devon article in the Friends Quarterly about Becoming a Diversity and Printed by Climate strikes Inclusion Ally. I do recommend Warners Bridgend Quaker Meeting reading this thoughtful, helpful Midlands Plc, wholeheartedly supports the article, holding in mind our The Maltings, recent strikes, marches and expressed collective desire to Manor Lane, demonstrations by school make progress in these areas. Bourne, children in favour of action to Fred Ashmore Lincolnshire combat climate change. Kingston and Wandsworth Area PE10 9PH We share their deep concern Meeting

5 6 the Friend 8 March 2019 the Friend, 11 January 2019 Intentions and naivety bullets, who are implicated in We need to do more reading – Ron Barden (8 February) suggests serious abuses of the Papuan try Israeli Committee Against Quakers were being ‘naive’ in native population. Where are House Demolitions (ICAHD) making a public statement about the calls to divest from BP? The UK for an excellent booklist, their decision not to invest in Chinese government recently and details of their study tours, companies profiting from the tried to entice Liverpool Football when Israeli peace groups are met occupation of Palestine. He also Club into buying mineral water with. Here, we can be in touch says that we seek reconciliation. filched from occupied Tibet. After with groups like Jews for Justice Yes we do, but we also seek a world a sustained campaign of protest for Palestinians and our own transformed, based on principles in England directed at the club, ecumenical accompaniers. of social justice and human they decided to pull out of the One hears Friends ask: rights. Quakers have never been deal – no thanks to Britain Yearly ‘Why, having suffered, does afraid to speak out, even if not Meeting, which remained silent the government of Israel inflict everyone likes what we say. Any throughout. similar “punishment” on the criticism of Israel will antagonise It is a sad day when Quakers in Palestinians?’ some, but not all, representatives Britain are doing less to defend In 2009 Tate Britain showed of the Jewish community. We the rights of oppressed peoples a surprising video, ‘The Plover’s have a special reason to speak than a football club! Wing’, demonstrating how a out on this issue because of Peter Bolwell victim can hold on to victimhood, our in-depth knowledge of the 19 Priory Close, Hastings, East allowing it any kind of aggressive situation based on the Ecumenical Sussex TN34 1UJ behaviour as ‘justified’. The video Accompaniment Programme deals with young teenagers’ in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) Recently several Friends have aggression in a small Israeli town, programme. This was not a ‘token queried why we are so much but the inference is clear. gesture’ but an important act of concerned about the Israeli/ A UK/Jordanian Palestinian principle, carefully discerned, Palestine situation and yet says his number one priority which other churches may follow. don’t seem to urge action in is ‘respect’. Quakers have a Gerald Conyngham other parts of the world where remarkable capacity to hold two Devon Area Meeting human rights are abused. In my conflicting points of view. We opinion it is because the Israel/ need to respect and hold both All about land Palestine situation is of past Palestinians and Israelis in love. In response to Jennifer Bell (15 British governments’ making. Janet Sturge February), yes by all means do During world war one, we made Maidstone Meeting, Kent criticise the Israeli government contradictory promises to both for their brutal occupation of Arabs in the then Ottoman No ‘God’ other people’s land and their Empire and to Jews. We asked I recently saw the ‘What do policy of encouraging their own the Arabs to revolt and so help Quakers say?’ card published by people to move in and expropriate us against their Turkish rulers BYM. Any mention of God has the previous inhabitants. What and we promised them an now been removed. I suspect that remains a mystery to some of us independent state. At the same the theism/nontheism arguments however is why this sort of thing time we promised a Jewish will soon disappear too, along with only seems to attract the attention homeland in the Palestine all the God-loving Quakers who of Britain (BYM) if part of the Ottoman Empire. will quit the Society wondering it is done by Israel, whereas when Therefore we should have a guilty why Friends House continue to the same appalling conduct is conscience about this more than, deny their true colours. carried out by other states – such say, the oppression in Tibet and This insidious de-spiritualising as China in Tibet, Morocco in elsewhere. This is not to minimise of and its Western Sahara, and Indonesia in those other human rights abuses Divine baseline is saddening to West Papua – it elicits not a peep but the Middle East conflict is our many, especially me. from our governing body. particular baby. Why do some Quakers appear According to some reports, in Eric Walker to be ashamed of God, and why West Papua, the BP corporation Ipswich Meeting. Suffolk does Friends House deny this operates a gas field at Tangguh overwhelming personality change? under the auspices of the Jennifer Bell sees a land grab We are a Religious Society not a Indonesian government and as the primary cause of Israel/ quasi-political bunch of activists. employs private security forces, Palestine conflict. I believe Stephen Feltham armed with stun guns and rubber Friends can go deeper than this. Bournemouth Coastal Area Meeting

the Friend 8 March 2019 7 s Young Friends General Meeting (YFGM), we have been aware of, and sometimes Young Friends General troubled by, the growing conversation in Quakerism about trans and non-binary Meeting has been identities. Relative to cis people (whose gender matches the sex they were assigned working on gender at birth), trans and non-binary people face unique challenges, ranging from obtaining adequate medical and inclusion. Here, care to navigating social spaces that do not accommodate Adeviation from traditional views of gender. Too often, these challenges continue in our Meetings, where – generally driven its trustees explain. more by a lack of information and understanding than a desire to hurt – Friends don’t always succeed in being inclusive. Last year several Meetings hosted events by ‘gender critical’ groups, which use the position that gender is solely a social ‘We are committed construct to argue for the exclusion of trans people, particularly women, all too often through fear and misinformation. to fostering a spirit of But questions of when Meetings should take bookings are secondary to asking what our testimony to equality means in the context of trans rights. loving unity within Last May, YFGM affirmed the right of everyone to self- identify their gender, recognising all genders as valid and real. Quakerism.’ Young Friends’ powerful and emotive ministry made it clear we still had work to do. This February, YFGM adopted the values statement below. We offer it to the Society with excitement and hope, noting our joy as a community to affirm our love and inclusion of all Friends of diverse genders. This is not YFGM’s last word on the subject. We are committed to fostering a spirit of loving unity within Quakerism. We want to support all Friends in learning about gender diversity, build intergenerational conversations, and make the events we run inclusive of everyone, trans or cis, binary or non-binary. n We believe that each person has the right to determine for themselves what gender identities and expressions are most comfortable and authentic for them. We recognise that each member of our community has a unique and deeply personal experience of gender, and that the expression of this is a form of living truthfully and of witness. As Friends – both trans and cis, binary and non-binary – we affirm that there is no conflict between trans inclusion, feminism, and liberation from gender roles and stereotypes. We do not support the use of meeting houses to host events which claim otherwise, and we hope that Meetings will decide not to host these events in future. The Society of Friends should be welcoming and affirming of trans and non-binary people. We commit to fostering change to this effect and to bringing YFGM and the Society of Friends closer to this ideal. We encourage Friends engaging in this conversation going forwards to consider the message of Advices & queries 22: ‘Respect the wide diversity among us in our lives and relationships. Refrain from making prejudiced judgments about the life journeys of others. Do you foster the spirit of mutual understanding and forgiveness which our discipleship asks of us? Remember that each one of us is unique, precious, a child of God.’

Alexandra Boliver-Brown, Jane Booth, Samuel Cooper, James Davies, Cáit Gould, Jaz Higgs, Rici Marshall Cross, Grace

Photo: Cyrus Gomez / Unsplash Photo: Cyrus Roberts and Tim Rouse.

8 the Friend 8 March 2019 s it my imagination or did we once have a Testimony to Community? We need to Thought for the week: rediscover it, or think about fostering one. This will not be an easy task, as there are cultural, Terry Hobday on real social and psychological roadblocks in our way. I am indebted to previous generations of community Friends for their insight and understanding. They, of course, had a common language, a baseline from which to begin. We do not, so we have a choice: we could Irecover the original language, which means re-learning, or we could develop a new one – or maybe do as the first ‘Previous generations of generation of Friends did and combine the two. Re-learning would involve some work but might also Friends had a common give us a deeper appreciation of the discoveries made by those first Friends. Inventing a new language presents language, a baseline from a greater challenge because we would need communal assent. And there’s the rub. We live in an age of extreme which to begin. We do not, individualism. This age makes people frightened, angry, anxious and depressed. The secular world prescribes so we have a choice...’ better mental health treatment and support, and heaven knows we need that, but the best remedy for this existential pain is the availability of a third way, which is to neither flee from, nor succumb to, the ‘spirit of the age’. To be ‘in the world but not of it’. A community that could offer this kind of space would be attractive to many people. It would be a message of hope based in reality. They may be further convinced if there were a galvanising message at the heart of that community. I would also look for solidarity and a strong commitment to one other. This community would look something like the one Jesus envisages in his lament over Jerusalem. (‘How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.’) Or perhaps the one described by Francis Howgill in Quaker faith & practice (19.08): ‘The Kingdom of Heaven did gather us and catch us all, as in a net, and his heavenly power at one time drew many hundreds to land. We came to know a place to stand in and what to wait in; and the Lord appeared daily to us, to our astonishment, amazement and great admiration, insomuch that we often said one unto another with great joy of heart: “What, is the Kingdom of God come to be with [people]?”’ That generation was prepared to suffer for its commitment to God and to each other (I believe they saw the two as inseparable). They knew that they were part of something much greater than self. Christianity is totally dependent upon the power and energy that comes to it, and though it, via the Holy Spirit. It is this dynamism that creates the bonds and commitments that make up community. ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much ; apart from me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5, NIV). ‘You can do nothing’: what a sobering thought and a challenge. But ‘If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you’. In a broken world that is famished for real bonds, can we model what ‘community’ really means? I hope so. n

Photo: Raw Pixel / Unsplash Pixel Photo: Raw Terry is from Worcester & Shropshire Area Meeting

the Friend 8 March 2019 9 Last year Benjamin Lay was ‘undisowned’ by Quakers. Simon Webb looks at the life of the anti- pioneer. ‘It is tempting to think of Benjamin Lay as an anachronism.’

ome time around the year 1731, a Quaker called Sarah Lay went to visit her neighbour on . Sarah was shown into her neighbour’s kitchen, and couldn’t help noticing something hanging from a beam in the ceiling. It was not a side of ham or a brace of conies, but a man: a slave, strung up and standing in a pool of his own blood – he had been whipped. Naturally, Sarah asked what the man was doing there. She was told that he was a slave who had been caught trying to escape. SSarah would have had to crane her neck to see the man’s face. She was a dwarf and a hunchback, as was her husband Benjamin. We know about this horrifying event because Benjamin wrote it down in the one book he ever published: All Slave-Keepers that Keep the Innocent in Bondage, Apostates. This was published in in 1737, by Lay’s friend . Benjamin Lay was born in 1681 near Colchester in Essex. He was a birthright Quaker, raised by Quaker parents. It must have become evident to those parents fairly early on that their son would not grow up to look like the average man. This is how his biographer Roberts

9

Image: Benjamin Lay painted by William Williams in 1790 Vaux described him in later life: ‘He was only four feet compassion for me, but you do not feel for the poor seven inches in height; his head was large in proportion slaves in your fields, who go all winter half-clad.’ to his body; the features of his face were remarkable, At Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 1738, he dressed up and boldly delineated, and his countenance was grave in a military uniform, strapped on a sword, and carried and benignant. He was hunch-backed, with a projecting in a large book. He then delivered a loud harangue chest, below which his body became much contracted. against slavery, and concluded by stabbing the book, His legs were so slender as to appear almost unequal to which appeared to bleed copiously. In fact he had the purpose of supporting him . . . hollowed out the middle of the book, and concealed in ‘A habit he had contracted, of standing in a twisted the cavity a bladder filled with pokeberry juice. position, with one hand resting upon his left hip, added The eccentricity of Lay’s protests began to shade into to the effect produced by a large white beard, that for something more serious when he kidnapped the six- many years had not been shaved, contributed to render year-old son of a local white couple. The frantic parents his figure perfectly unique.’ hunted all over the place for the boy, eventually getting Despite his size and shape, as a young man Lay worked round to asking Benjamin if he had seen him. ‘Your as a shepherd and then a sailor. On Barbados, Sarah and child is safe in my house,’ he said, ‘and you may now Benjamin ran a kind of general store. conceive of the sorrow you inflict upon the parents of The horrors of slavery that the pair witnessed on the Negro girl you hold in slavery, for she was torn from Barbados can all be laid at the door of the British: them by avarice.’ we controlled the island from 1627 right up to Lay himself never owned a slave, either in Barbados or independence in 1966. In All Slave-Keepers, Lay told . He also avoided buying or using anything the stories of slaves who were starved, exhausted and made by slaves, and would not sit down to dinner with a crippled because of their treatment, and related the family that employed one. tragic tale of a slave who hanged himself one Sunday Lay’s activism against those involved in the slave night rather than face another whipping from his master trade was just one part of a principled life. He was a (a man called Parrot who whipped all his slaves every pioneering vegetarian, and if he hadn’t been in the habit Monday morning ‘to keep them in awe’). of drinking cow’s milk he would have been close to Eventually, the Lays . Although he was a wealthy merchant, he took ‘Lay’s activism resolved to leave Barbados, to making his own clothes from linen made from flax he partly because Sarah was had grown himself, because shop-bought linen or cotton against those becoming worried that she clothes might have been made by slaves; and wool, involved in the would soon be seduced leather, suede and sheepskin were products derived from into the easy way of life the exploitation of animals. slave trade was of the white slave-owners. In retrospect, Lay’s achievement seems admirable, just one part of a As Benjamin wrote: ‘Here but his impact was far from decisive: slavery was not principled life.’ friends you may see and abolished in the United States until 1865, over a century understand the powerful after Lay’s death in 1759. On his death bed, though, influence long custom, conveniency, intimacy and profit Benjamin was informed that the Philadelphia Quakers at has to insinuate itself into our affections; for I have often least had started to turn their backs on slavery. heard my dear wife say in her life-time, and express the It is tempting to think of Benjamin Lay as an danger she was in when living in Barbados, of being anachronism: a modern man with twenty-first century leavened into the very nature of the inhabitants, pride ideas, condemned to live most of his life in the and oppression: so that dear creature, she seeing the evil eighteenth century. From the point of view of Quaker and the danger, she was willing and desirous to leave the history, he sometimes seems more like the Quakers of island, and indeed so was I.’ the seventeenth century – radical and challenging – than Benjamin described slave-owners in uncompromising the more sedate, bourgeois Friends of his own time. terms: ‘proud, lazy, dainty, tyrannical, gluttonous, drunken, He was formally expelled from two congregations in debauched... the scum of the infernal pit, a little worse England. In Philadelphia, a constabulary was created to than the same that comes off their sugar when it is boiling, keep him out of meetings. As the Smithsonian noted, he which is composed of grease, dirt, dung, and other was ‘buried as a stranger to the faith he loved’. filthiness, as, it may be limbs, bowels and excrements of More recently, as reported in the Friend last December, the poor slaves, and beasts, and other matter...’ the four meetings that originally disowned him now When the Lays arrived in Pennsylvania, Benjamin expressed unity with him. A new headstone was laid at quickly set about trying everything he could think Abington in Pennsylvania, to mark of to set the white Pennsylvanians, or at least the his and Sarah’s graves. We may regret history. But, much Pennsylvanian Quakers, against the African slave trade. more importantly, we should all be working out what Once, he stood at the entrance to a Quaker meeting that ‘unity’ might mean today. n house as Friends were filing in for a meeting, with one bare foot, although the snow was thick on the ground. Simon is from Northumbria Area Meeting. This is The Quakers protested that he would catch his death if an amended version of a talk he gave to the Durham he carried on doing that, but he replied, ‘Ah thou pretend University Students with Disabilities Association.

the Friend 8 March 2019 11 Founded at the height of apartheid, the Peace Centre in Cape Town has undergone some difficult times of late. But Carole Rakodi and Carol Bower report on the benefits of a change in direction. ‘It is the only local organisation offering these services.’

he Peace Centre in Cape Town the Committee which had raised funds for the Centre was founded by members of the since 2010. In 2017, the Centre experienced a crisis, Cape Western Monthly Meeting culminating in its staff being made redundant and (CWMM) in the 1980s. This was ongoing projects ceasing. when conflict between South Over the last year or so, however, it has developed a Africans and the apartheid new vision and started new work. government was at its height. From the outset, Friends in Britain New name and direction and Ireland – and elsewhere – After many years of allowing the Centre to use ‘Quaker’ provided financial support. In 2008, the Centre became in its name, Southern Africa Yearly Meeting (SAYM) an independent, registered NGO, with its own board. asked it to stop doing so, as of August 2018, mostly But close links with Friends in Southern Africa and because the Meeting felt that the Centre’s use of the Tbeyond were maintained. Quaker name presupposed a formal accountability South Africa has found it difficult to overcome the relationship which does not in fact exist. But links legacies of apartheid, despite achieving majority rule with CWMM and SAYM remain close and mutually in 1994. Today it is still a highly unequal, divided, supportive. conflicted society, with an overstretched education The Centre continues to honour and be bound by system and high levels of unemployment, especially the Quaker values of , tolerance, respect for among young people. This makes them vulnerable to diversity, speaking truth to power and following Quaker drug dealers and gangs, in turn fuelling high crime principles in its decision making. Several members of rates, xenophobia and violence. the board are Quakers. For many years, the work of the Peace Centre was In 2017/18, two strategic planning meetings charted concentrated in schools, where it worked with pupils a way forward. The Centre is now focusing its local and teachers to combat bullying, provide alternative work on engaging with and supporting communities ways of resolving conflict, promote positive approaches in Cape Town, and its national work on advocacy for to discipline and empower young women. Building legislative change – to increase protection for children, relationships with the provincial government, it to promote integrity in government and to hold the developed a good reputation for this work, but resource corrupt accountable. restrictions meant that other aspects of its work took a back seat. Information and support hub, Khayelitsha Although the Centre raised funds for its projects from Khayelitsha, a large low-income township near the a variety of sources, increasingly Friends expressed their city, has very high levels of poverty, unemployment, concern about its over-dependence on funds raised crime and violence. The Peace Centre Hub there seeks from individual Friends, Local Meetings and trusts to link people who are experiencing problems, or who with Quaker connections in Britain and Ireland. At the need access to information and services, with sources end of 2016, Central England Area Meeting laid down of support. By providing access to the internet for job

12 the Friend 8 March 2019 All images courtesy of Cape Town Peace Centre

searches and support for writing job applications – Several projects have followed. A recent partnership linking those needing skills with training providers and with StellieTech – an IT training company – gives supporting networks of community groups – the Centre Hub users access to accredited training at a fraction of seeks to build the capacity and resilience of individuals the normal cost. A series of documentary screenings and communities, to enable them to find constructive was followed by facilitated discussion on a range of routes out of poverty and despair. It is the only local topical issues, including land redistribution and climate organisation offering these services. change. A community dialogue programme has also The Hub also links parents to information and been launched, with a debate on the issue of corporal support on nonviolent parenting. It facilitates access to punishment in the home, and a stakeholder consultation accredited skills training, and connects school pupils with local civic, religious and cultural organisations. with students from a local university, for tutoring in The Hub has also been consulting in a matter before maths, science and English. One of its key aims is to the Constitutional Court, on the constitutionality of build individual capacity to solve conflict without the ‘reasonable chastisement’ defence for parents who violence (partly through providing access to Alternatives assault their children – a decision is expected soon. to Violence Project training). Other legal action has involved proceedings to recoup At the local level, the Centre assists in addressing money lost to corruption, including the cancellation of community challenges, such as poor service delivery. It the BAE component of the 1999 arms deal. helps build the community’s capacity to solve conflict Other projects are planned for later in the year: a series without violence, and facilitates community dialogues of constitutional literacy workshops for first-time voters on issues such as land reform, and women’s and will start in March, ahead of the elections on 8 May. children’s rights Teachers use the Centre to find information and Funding support on making schools safer (building on the The strategic planning process and establishment of the Centre’s earlier work and using Alternatives to Violence Hub used the Centre’s remaining funds. Central England Project training). There is advocacy for stronger child Area Meeting trustees have continued to provide support protection and for holding government to account for during the difficult transition period, making the final wasteful and corrupt expenditure. transfer of funds raised in the UK in January 2019. This will fund ongoing work until March, enabling the Centre Recent highlights to submit applications for new funding. n The Hub was formally launched on 8 February. At the launch event several speakers, including a local For more information, visit the Centre’s website councillor and the vice-chair of the Khayelitsha (www.peacecentre.org.za), where you can register for its Development Forum, spoke enthusiastically about electronic newsletter. Carole Rakodi was the convenor what the Centre is doing. The event culminated in the of the Cape Town Quaker Peace Centre Committee election of a six-member Community Advisory Panel, 2010–2016. Carol Bower is the interim director of the one of whom will have a seat on the Peace Centre board. Peace Centre.

the Friend 8 March 2019 13 veryone does theology. Each of us has an understanding of what God is or is Telling the Truth About not, and for Quakers that begins with our experience. We value our meetings God by Rhiannon Grant and the experiences we have there, which we might call ‘spiritual’. This is a direct experience, without a priest, and traditions may guide but not bind us. It is shared in Review by Abigail Maxwell community, and we make decisions as a community. EBalancing the individual and community is complex. Considering that we may be mistaken, sometimes revising our words, we find it easier to say what we do not believe – neither one extreme where the Bible is the literal word of God, nor the other where it is worthless and outdated. First there is silence, and direct experience, but when we talk afterwards we might use words others find difficult. Words can get in the way, reminding a Friend of past hurt, perhaps. But after this, discussion becomes deeper, with the sharing of what a particular word can mean to a particular person. Knowing the different reasons why someone might value or reject the word ‘Christ’, say, can bring us closer together. We give lists of alternatives, where we hope one word will be acceptable to all, showing our unity and our diversity. The Quaker Women’s Group changed our view of masculine terms for God, but I might use the word ‘Father’ praying with other groups; I can recognise its meaning for them, even as I see the harm it does others. We are rooted in Christianity and open to new light. Can this unite those hurt by abusive churches with those hurt by the rejection of tradition? Can we unite those who see Jesus as a human teacher with those who see Creator God? ‘Unity’ in our meetings has meaning; we are led by more than ego. Our process follows a Guide, whatever that guide is. This is difficult. Words approach experience but cannot encompass it. We all say ‘That of God’ is in each person; some say God is external too. This is a summary of Rhiannon Grant’s book, moulded by my experience and understanding. I find it winsome, showing a beauty and possibility in Quakerism that I want to share. It is passionately inclusive. It recognises the hurt of those who feel excluded, and the richness we gain if we open ourselves to each other. It shows a Quakerly caution, approaching mystery in careful words, recognising the difficulties and gaps. There is an enthusiasm for the process. The book continues the work of God, words and us. It shows how the spaces between us leave room for growth. Agree to disagree, its author tells us, living with uncertainty and struggle – living in love, seeing others as separate, complex human beings. We need to have those difficult conversations, and face the pain of them. They offer a chance to heal that pain, in mutual love. We go in a spiral, ever deeper, naming the mystery of spiritual experience, seeing new aspects of ourselves and each other, connecting, gaining answers and more questions. This short book shows how it is worthwhile for us to do theology. It ends with a question: ‘How are you telling the truth about God?’ n Abigail is from Northamptonshire Area Meeting.

14 the Friend 8 March 2019 n developing a post-Christian and post- theist perception of what is of value in faith Seen and Unseen: Ways and practice, Peter Jarman has produced a challenging study that embraces an investigation of being along Quaker of the meaning of God, prayer and spiritual experience. His reflections focus on his and Buddhist paths by experience as a Quaker, on Buddhist belief, and on expressions of faith from the Sea of Faith movement Peter Jarman as he reflects on those things of value and the stories and Imyths that embrace them. He explores perceptions of God that repeatedly oppose the existence of an external and objective being with an internalised deity, while juxtaposing the two aspects Review by Roger Iredale of reality, the seen and the unseen. He then adds, in a second essay, an intriguingly detailed picture of a mystical and overwhelmingly complex universe. This is both intrinsically interesting as an encapsulation of physical facts and for what it tells us about the existence – or otherwise – of an objective superpower or God. It also provides us with an insight into how a trained and experienced scientist views the wonders of creation from the sense of curiosity, speculation and experiment integral to scientific investigation. Not surprisingly, Peter does not arrive at a definitive resolution of his problem. In the second, scientific, section he makes some interesting and novel points. For example, he says that with billions of billions of intelligent beings on planets in the universe, the doctrine of incarnation – in which God chose just this planet Earth to give birth to the Messiah, Jesus Christ – is untenable. Further, with some ninety-five percent of the matter/energy in the universe undetected and unknown, we need to face the inescapable fact that human ingenuity will not ultimately make the unknowns known. Behind all this, however, there is ‘an inner Guide within every person. Friends say it is that of God’. Many of these, and related, issues are encapsulated in informal questions appended to the end of each short chapter, providing the reader with a simple guide to resolving some of the issues raised. This informality of approach is strengthened by the regular insertion into the text of Peter’s personal past experiences of ethical/moral challenges during his service in Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, with side references to the recent destruction of Syria and its impact on former inhabitants, combined with frequent references to and quotations from the writings of Buddhists, Quakers, other Christians and mystics. Having glimpsed the unseen verities of Quaker and Buddhist faiths, and sensed some of the awe and wonder of what is seen by science, we are still, as it were, in humility stooping through a tiny west door of Ely cathedral to enter its gothic numinous interior. Ultimately, poetry has a inner magic that is akin to religious insight where ‘God is poetry created by conscious awakenings and the prompting of the universal unconscious.’ n

Roger is from Mid Somerset Area Meeting. Seen and

Photo: Detlev Klockow / Unsplash Klockow Photo: Detlev Unseen is available now from The Kindlers.

the Friend 8 March 2019 15 The poet, the prophet and the pilgrim

Lesley Morris spirit guides their feet as they dance in a daze, in a haze waving their nets above untamed hair beach side, sea side poet and prophet tellers of visions, no divisions, lurching into anarchy – or freedom weavers of words – birds of a feather, never mind the weather pilgrim trudges over the hill embodies the will they seek the holy space, soul space waiting for the wave, or grave, to take them – up to the mountain where – a fountain of something like joy awaits – together they’ll sit, a good fit, their little trinity seeking infinity, poised and perfect counting rowdy angels making a din on the head of a pin

Lesley is from Witney Local Meeting Photo: Levi Guzman / Unsplash

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Friends&Meetings Changes to meetings Diary London Quakers WINCHESTER MEETING From BECOMING FULLY HUMAN Eldership and Sundays 10 March - 26 May we will Launch of Michael Langford's new hold our 10.30am Meeting for book, a compilation of writings on Oversight Worship in the St Lawrence Church Quakers and Christian thought. Hall next to the Meeting House. Woodbrooke, 3.30pm Saturday The 9am Meeting for Worship will 9 March, as part of the Quaker continue in the Meeting House. Committee for Christian and We will continue to have Meeting Interfaith Relations conference. Saturday 30 March for Worship in the Church Hall at Details: http://bit.ly/LangfordBFH Friends House 10.30am on the first Sunday each month. We welcome visitors to all MINDFULNESS AND YOGA AT 10.30-4.30 our meetings. Enquiries: GLENTHORNE: a Midsummer [email protected] Retreat 20–24 June 2019. Experience silence, guided meditation, lakeland WYMONDHAM MEETING walking, gentle yoga, excellent food, (Norfolk & Waveney AM) From time to reconnect. £595 (five days, Sunday 7 April Meeting for Worship four nights) £50 discount for A day of learning led will be held from 10.30-11.30am in Earlybird bookings. Call Helen by Rhiannon Grant and the Frank Bunn Room, Town Green Stephenson 07548 366601 or go to Val Jenner. Centre, Town Green, Wymondham MindfulnessMK.com NR18 0LB. Visitors always welcome. AWoodbrooke-on-the-Road Enquiries 01953 600168. QUAKER COMMUNITY event. Cost £40, tea, coffee BAMFORD Join us in the beautiful and lunch provided. New baby in the family? Peak District for a weekend Please book via Eventbrite: Exploring Community 15-17 March, http://bit.ly/LQEandO Let everyone know... cost £50-£80 and/or Gardening in ...put all your family notices in Spring 13-19 May, cost £185-£300. www.londonquakers.org.uk the Friend! See www.quakercommunity.org.uk for details and booking forms.

Friends & Meetings QUAKER UNIVERSALIST GROUP Sewell House Personal entries (births, mar- CONFERENCE ON FORGIVENESS Sidcot Friends Housing Society Ltd riages, deaths, anniversaries, 10-12 May 2019 at Woodbrooke Independent changes of address, etc.) Quaker Study Centre, Birmingham. charged at £35 incl. vat for up The annual QUG conference is Retirement Living to 35 words and includes a entitled Forgiveness – Why forgive? In North Somerset copy of the magazine. Full-time residential cost £234. Meeting and charity notices, Details and an application form are (Changes of clerk, new war- on our website https://qug.org.uk or dens, new Members, changes write Tony Philpott, 2 Willow Rise, to meeting, Diary, etc.) £29 Haddenham, Aylesbury, HP17 8JR. zero rated for vat. Max. 35 From now on Woodbrooke may words. Three entries £70 (£58 reallocate unused rooms, so please if zero rated); six entries £100 apply asap. Open Afternoon (£83.33 zero rated). Deadline Thursday 14 March usually Monday morning. 2-5pm. Everybody welcome Entries accepted at the editor’s Sample the new Studio and one-bedroomed discretion in a standard house flats in small community setting now available. style. A gentle discipline will be look Friend! Enjoy a daily 3-course lunch exerted to maintain a simplicity together. Quaker Meetings in house of style and wording that Why not take an eight- and locally. Landscaped gardens. excludes terms of endearment Independence AND Support and words of tribute. week trial subscription on hand when you need it. Guidelines on request. for just £5? Belmont Rd, Winscombe BS25 1LQ The Friend, 54a Main Street, www.sewellhouse.org.uk Cononley, Keighley BD20 8LL See the inside front cover e: [email protected] Tel. 01535 630230 for further details. 01934 843746 Email: [email protected] We are a not-for-profit organisation

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Classified advertisements George Penaluna, Ad Manager, The Friend, 54a Main Street, Cononley, Keighley BD20 8LL T: 01535 630230 E: [email protected] jobs wanted Subscribe to the the Friends MATURE COUPLE SEEK MEETING HOUSE residential wardenship. Please call new look Friend! Quarterly 07505 908230. See the inside front Issue one 2019 where to stay cover for full details. The Eva Koch COTTAGES & SELF-CATERING Scholarship SWALEDALE, YORKSHIRE. Superb FRENCH HOLIDAYS & RETREATS selection of gorgeous cottages amid • A brief history of the Eva stunning scenery. Details, photos, virtual Koch Scholarship tours. www.catholecottages.com CREATIVE EVENTS AT 01748 886366. CONGENIES QUAKER CENTRE • The jigsaw of writing an IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE historical Quaker novel: THE DELL HOUSE, MALVERN. Cottage and apartments. Extensive gardens. Dogs WRITING RETREAT Elizabeth Fletcher, 1639-1658 welcome. Suit couples, families and groups Saturday 8 - Sunday 16 June • Becoming a Quaker diversity of up to twenty. www.thedellhouse.co.uk Writing (or thinking of writing) a novel, 01684 564448. script, poetry, non-fiction or memoir? and inclusion ally Escape to the sun for 5 - 8 days and be inspired to write! • Philosophy for Communities– TORRIDON, HIGHLANDS, WESTER ROSS €475 shared occupancy (€595 private thinking aloud together Spectacular views, comfortable house, sleeps 7: 01770 700 825. room) includes 5 nights accommodation, all meals and guidance from Kim Hope. Free to new subscribers at http://www.stronvar.wordpress.com [email protected] £20pa UK; £22pa overseas. MUSIC WEEK £4 discount for subscribers Saturday 12 - Sunday 20 October Lift your spirits with 5 - 8 days of musical to the Friend (please call for sale & to let adventure. Experience or talent not neces- 020 7663 1178 to claim) sary - just a willingness to sing, play, learn QUAKER HOUSE LEEDS, over 60’s flat for or listen. Single copy £5 + £1 UK or sale. Contact Una Parker 0113 244 5454. €475 shared occupancy (€595 private £2 overseas postage. room) includes 5 nights accommodation, all meals and musical fun with Jeff Dershin. accommodation TWO ARTIST RETREATS WANTED Friday 10 - Monday 20 May and Friends Quarterly Friday 20 - Monday 30 September order form LONG TERM RURAL LET REQUIRED We invite artists (professional or Semi-retired quiet-living couple seek amateur) for 6-10 days of creativity and Issue one 2019 secluded, cosy cottage, bungalow or camaraderie in the south of France. annex, etc. with off-road parking. €695 (€575 shared occupancy) includes 6 CALL 020 7663 1178 Please email: [email protected] nights accommodation, most meals, local TO PAY BY CARD. transport and guidance/encouragement from Kath Humphreys (May) or Kate Hale I am a new subscriber please send SEEKING ACCOMMODATION IN LONDON (September). preferably Islington/Hackney. From end me my free copy. I enclose my March/beginning April for about 1 year. Come a day early and stay a few days cheque payable to The Friend Flat/house-share or lodging. Female longer - to complete projects, Friend working in City. Contact: 07515 for sightseeing, or just relax. for £...... (£20 UK, £22 o/seas) 024545 or [email protected] Additional days €92 (€68 shared) per day Or send me a single copy at £5 including breakfast, dinner and transport to local sights, eg market day in medieval (+ £1 UK or £2 overseas postage) personal Sommieres. Cheque for £...... enclosed. Or take off independently, visiting the Pont du Gard, the walled city of Aigues- Mortes, or Provencal attractions. Name...... HEAR YOUR LIFE SPEAK Or enjoy local walking and cycling or sim- Address...... Connective Issue Coaching ply enjoy the sun in our garden. to discover, recover, reclaim Details and bookings: ...... Make contact with www.maison-quaker-congenies.org [email protected] [email protected] Postcode...... 07739 195009 +33 (0)4 66 71 46 41 Please return to: www.undoing.me Penny Dunn, The Friend All inquiries warmly welcomed. FRENCH GITE, POITOU–CHARENTE 173 Euston Rd, London NW1 2BJ Peace and Quiet, for the Quiet and the Expires 30 June 2019. Peaceful. Google “Le Petit Cormy” for details. [email protected]

18 the Friend 8 March 2019 8 Mar 4/3/19 16:18 Page 9

Quaker United 31 Marsham Lane Nations Office Gerrards Cross Geneva Bucks SL9 8HB THREE PROGRAMME ASSISTANTS Swarthmore Care Home is set in beautiful landscaped gardens in the • Human Rights and Refugees village of Gerrards Cross, where • Peace and Disarmament there are many opportunities for • Human Impacts of Climate residents to enjoy a variety of Change cultural and leisure pursuits. SFr. 1,460pm with housing provided. 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020. We offer high quality care within Open to Friends or those in close a homely atmosphere, promoting sympathy. Must be legally eligible for independence and dignity. There is a busy and varied activities programme employment in Switzerland or the and opportunities for residents to maintain their hobbies and interests. European Union. Swarthmore also offers 4 self-contained flats for the active elderly who Opportunities for young professionals to learn about/contribute to Quaker wish to remain independent, bit with the reassurance of knowing help is work at the UN in our unique, inte- available when required. We offer a permanent home to 36 residents and grated, friendly small team. While can also offer respite on occasion. much of the work will build on your professional skills, willingness to For further details please call our home on 01753 885663 or assist with general office, catering email: [email protected] and domestic duties is essential. web: www.swarthmorecarehome.org.uk Full job descriptions and application Swarthmore Housing Society Ltd is managed under Quaker auspices and forms at www.quno.org has charitable status. Closing date: 3 April 2019.

IMPORTANT Advertisement Trustee Copy dates vacancies Due to staff holidays the advertisement pages for Bernhard Baron Cottage Homes (BBCH), established in 1945 our 22 and 29 March to provide care and support to older people, is a vibrant issues are being prepared residential community. We offer independent-living cottages in advance. and deliver residential care services in our main building in Polegate, near Eastbourne. Please note advertisement We employ 67 staff and about 20 volunteers and hold charity copy dates for these forth- status. BBCH is run by a board of up to 12 Trustees, all of coming issues: whom are Quakers. Our Quaker faith influences all of our Issue date Copy date decision-making and, although our staff are not Quakers, our Quaker ethos permeates all aspects of life at the Homes. 15 March 9am 11 Mar. 22 March 9am 12 Mar. We are seeking additional Trustees to support BBCH in our 29 March 9am 13 Mar. strategic direction and our aim to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating with the Care Quality Commission. You will need to 5 April 9am 1 April be available for 4 Trustee meetings a year plus one strategy The [email protected] email day and any committee work you might be interested in. address will be monitored Please email Sue Hallett: [email protected] for more throughout the period but information or if you would like to visit the Homes. Our no letters or telephone calls website is at: www.bbch.co.uk and you are welcome to will be dealt with.

come to our Spring Fayre at 10am, Wednesday 13 March. egistered charity no. 1070891 R

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Stay with Friends... at one of these Quaker centres! Charney Manor Charney Bassett, Wantage, Oxfordshire OX12 0EJ. T: 01235 868206 E: [email protected] W: www.charneymanor.com Beautifully located in the countryside, parts of the Manor date back to the 13th century. Charney Manor has a unique atmosphere of peace and tran- quillity which makes it ideal for relaxation and renewal. With 23 comfortable ensuite bedrooms, tea & coffee facilities, Wi-Fi, disabled access and local walks it is perfect for a short break. £75 per couple or £55 for individuals for B&B, which can be booked directly on our website. Fully catered individual retreats also available. CLARIDGE HOUSE Dormans Road, Lingfield, Surrey RH7 6QH. T: 01342 832150 E: [email protected] W: www.claridgehousequaker.org.uk A comfortable Victorian House in beautiful gardens. Open for healing, rest, renewal and personal retreats; situated in rural Surrey countryside, ideal for walking, near 17 National Trust properties. En-suite B&B from £65 single, £80 couples. See our website for discounts and details of courses with a spiritual and healing focus. Glenthorne Quaker Centre and Guest House Easedale Road, Grasmere, Ambleside LA22 9QH. T: 015394 35389 E: [email protected] W: www.glenthorne.org Glenthorne is an idyllic base for walking, touring or just relaxing. Beautiful, peaceful Lakeland setting also ideal for rest and convalescence. Comfortable rooms and excellent food at a reasonable price. Single, twin and double rooms, most ensuite. February, March and November Budget Breaks, 4 nights full board from £275. Special interest holidays and courses – ask for details and special offers! - ‘the cradle of Quakerism’ Swarthmoor Hall Lane, Ulverston, Cumbria LA12 0JQ. T: 01229 583204 E: [email protected] W: www.swarthmoorhall.co.uk Experience a warm welcome at peaceful and historic Swarthmoor Hall. Stay in delightfully refurbished rooms, tour the old hall, attend meeting for worship, stroll in beautiful gardens, or relax in the Barn Café. Explore neighbouring Quaker sites and meeting houses and the Lake District National Park. Good rail links; 45 minutes to the M6. En-suite singles, twins and doubles, some with disability access. THE PENN CLUB 21 Bedford Place, London WC1B 5JJ. T: 020 7636 4718 E: [email protected] W: www.pennclub.co.uk Comfortable friendly central London B&B. Within easy reach of Friends House, British Museum, British Library and the West End. Quiet, safe and secure, ideal for those travelling alone. Tea/coffee available all day and free wi-fi. Good transport links to airports and rail stations. 10 minutes walk from Euston and 4 minutes walk to the nearest Underground. Breakfast included. WOODBROOKE 1046 Bristol Road, Birmingham B29 6LJ. T: 0121 472 5171 E: [email protected] W: www.woodbrooke.org.uk Set within 10 acres of beautiful, organically managed gardens and woodland and located a short distance from Birmingham city centre Woodbrooke is the perfect place to stay. Experience our warm, welcoming atmosphere, enjoy excellent home-cooked food, relax in our tranquil grounds and explore our Quaker library. We have a range of rooms available. Ensuite from £65 single, £72 double. We also offer courses and fully catered individual retreats..