Housing: Responding to social inequality and
injustice
At Yearly Meeting
2015 we were reminded that the housing problem in Britain is not insoluble –
although, as with the abolition of slavery, it may take some time (Qf&p
23.23).
As a continuation
of the session at Yearly Meeting, a threshing meeting was held at Woodbrooke in
September 2015 with the aim of helping Quakers in Britain strengthen individual
action and to suggest how we can be more effective collectively in this area of
social inequality and injustice.
The meeting began
to identify alternative models and different strands which Friends might wish
to work on. These are seen not as isolated issues, but as interconnected
and with many existing and potential links to activity already within BYM.
Eight specific ideas are captured in the minute made by the group at the end of
our weekend together.
Thank you to all those
who responded to our recent action alert about the Welfare Reform and Work
Bill. The Bill is currently at its 2nd reading in the House of Lords.
We are working with
other faith groups to urge Peers/Members to support amendments that would
remove or reduce the impact of clauses 11 and 12, which limit the support
provided to families through tax credits and Universal Credit to the first two
children.
When the Bill returns
to the House of Commons there may be further opportunities to lobby your MP.
Many Friends may have been disappointed by the initial response of their MP but
please do not lose heart. This is a slow process but there is movement and
raising your concerns is having an impact.
More information about
what Quakers in Britain is doing about the Bill, as well as the joint briefing
to the House of Lords, is available at http://old.quaker.org.uk/wrwb or from Ellie Roberts;
ellier@quaker.org.uk / 020 7663 1056.
also of note 38 Degrees campaign is seeking funds to put posters up in Conservative MPs constituencies about tax credits link here
Climate
justice through Paris
If you are wondering what
you can do to uphold climate justice during the climate negotiations in Paris
in December then visit http://old.quaker.org.uk/climate-justice for ideas and
links to more detailed briefings, or contact Ellie Roberts;
ellier@quaker.org.uk / 020 7663 1056.
You might want to:
Join the People’s March for Climate, Justice and Jobs, on 29
November in London (and 28 Nov in Cardiff and Edinburgh). Sign up for the march to let
us know you are coming and to join a Quaker meet up point.
Tell the UK government to stop financing fossil fuels
abroad. We have joined with Christian Aid, as part of their ‘Big Shift’
campaign, to tell Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation
and Skills, to make a public commitment to ending the government’s support for
coal projects through export credit guarantees.
Come to Friends House on 14 December to hear Eileen
Flanagan, US Quaker climate activist speak about the journey that led her to
handcuff herself to the White House fence. More details about the talk on
the event page.
To stay in touch with
future climate justice activity, and what QPSW is doing on economic inequality
too, make sure you sign up to the Earth and Economy mailing list. We email
updates once a month, and circulate a full newsletter twice a year, with the
latest edition just out!
***Freddie from Milford Haven/Haverfordwest intends going
there for the last day.***
War and
conscience
2016 marks the
centenary of the introduction of conscription and the recognition of the right
to conscientious objection in law. Speakers on ‘Objections to war: A Quaker
approach’ are now available for meetings to book. To request a speaker for your
meeting, please contact Helen Bradford; helenb@quaker.org.uk /
020 7663 1071.
www.quaker.org.uk/WWI
Friends have long
argued that it is the conscription of our money rather than our bodies which
makes war possible today (Qf&p 24.19). We are continuing to support
Conscience: taxes for peace not war in their work to introduce a ‘Taxes for
Peace’ Bill into Parliament. More information is available at www.conscienceonline.org.uk
Be the
change
QPSW has teamed up
with Quaker Life to develop a new resource to support young Quakers to take
action on Friends’ concerns. It’s called Be the Change.
To begin with, we have
chosen three themes – ‘tackle inequality’, ‘create climate justice’ and ‘no
nukes’ – each of which will be the focus of much Quaker activism in the coming
year.
There are postcards
for young Quaker activists to get started on the three campaigns and a webpage
for each so that they can collaborate online – planning, sharing and
publicising their activism together.
To request postcards
for young people in your meeting email Cat Waithaka at catw@quaker.org.uk or 020
7663 2011. To get started, young Quakers should go to www.yqspace.org.uk/bethechange and create a ‘Causes’
account, which will allow them to share their activism online.
Peace
education
The new Fly Kites Not
Drones peace education pack is now available. Inspired by the internationally
successful project from Afghan Peace Volunteers, it introduces children and
young people to creative nonviolence in action.
In or out of school,
the pack offers activities to learn about the impact of drones on human rights
and on children in particular, inviting young people to come to their own
critical understanding of the issue.
Conflict
resolution led by young people
Quakers were at the
forefront of developing peer mediation in Britain. Recently, Quakers from
Hammersmith Local Meeting supported a local school to train its first peer
mediators. A team of Year 6 pupils are now on hand to help fellow pupils find
win-win solutions to the conflicts that inevitably arise in school, just as
they do in any part of life.
We are hoping to
support more Quakers with a passion for peace education to take steps to
support schools in their area to develop peer mediation. Contact Ellis Brooks; ellisb@quaker.org.uk /
020 7663 1009 if someone in your meeting would be interested in joining other
Quakers in a ‘train the trainer’ workshop to develop their skills as a peer
mediation facilitator.
QPSW
peaceworkers
Each year QPSW
recruits peaceworkers to support the work of peace organisations at local,
national and international levels. This year our UK peaceworkers are Rhianna
Louise, Zara Rizvi and Holly Wallis. Look out for their journal letters on our
website in early December.
Rhianna Louise is placed
with Medact in London, working on issues around revitalising the health for
peace movement and the recruitment of children (under 18s) into the British
armed forces.
www.medact.org
Zara Rizvi is placed
with Omega Research Foundation in Manchester. Her project is on the use of
military, security and police equipment in committing human rights violations.
www.omegaresearchfoundation.org
Holly Wallis is placed
with Conscience: taxes for peace not war, to play a key role in their work to
promote a Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation (COMT) Bill.
www.conscienceonline.org.uk
