News
Find news about Quakers, our press releases and press contact, as well as our internal publications.
Press contact: Cato Pedder | Tel: 020 7663 1138 | Mob: 07958 009703 | Email: media@quaker.org.uk | @MediaQuaker
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Quaker organisations announce Nobel Prize nominations
18 February 2021
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) have nominated two organisations – Mwatana for Human Rights and Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) – for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. In 1947, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Friends Service Council (the precursor to QPSW) and AFSC on behalf of Quakers worldwide for their work during and after the two world wars to feed starving children and help Europe rebuild itself. The organisations use their nomination to highlight the work of others continuing the vital work of peacebuilding.
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Call for public inquiry over new coal mine
5 February 2021
UPDATE: The county council is to suspend their decision and re-assess the permission it granted for the mine, in the light of concerns over climate change.
As the UK prepares to host a crucial UN climate summit, the government is facing questions over its support for a new coal mine near Whitehaven in Cumbria. Quakers in Britain are among those urging ministers to think again.
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Fossil fuel finance: UK faith groups urge government to keep its word
2 February 2021
Quakers in Britain have joined 16 other representatives of faith bodies to call on the UK government to immediately ban the use of public money to fund fossil fuel projects overseas.
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Quakers lobby Lords on Overseas Operations Bill
20 January 2021
Quakers in Britain and Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture (Q-CAT) have briefed Peers ahead of a debate on the Overseas Operations Bill.
Quakers believe the Bill will have a significant, negative impact on key values of truth, justice and peace – in the UK and abroad.
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Quakers welcome historic Nuclear Ban Treaty
17 December 2020
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) – also known as the Nuclear Ban Treaty − is entering into force as international law on 22 January 2021, having been ratified by Honduras, the 50th state, in October. It comprehensively prohibits participation in any nuclear weapon activities.
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Quakers commit to becoming an anti-racist church
7 December 2020
Quakers were totally immersed in the slave trade. Not just as abolitionists. They were ship owners, captains, merchants and investors, in ports such as London and Bristol.
This hard truth faced Quakers' representative body this week as they met online to discuss, among other matters, action on racism. They had before them a minute from the church's trustees which said, “Racism exists among Quakers in Britain and must be tackled at all levels."