Introduction
The war against Iraq
inevitably dominated our work in
2003. We did change the balance of our
activities to reflect events in the world, but were also able to
integrate our
responses with ongoing work under the headings of ‘Challenging
Militarism’,
‘Culture of Peace’ and ‘Communications’.
We have been very aware that
the year has been a testing one
for Friends, moving from some degree of optimism following the massive
demonstrations of public opposition to the proposed war in the spring,
to
feelings of distress at the apparent single-minded pursuit of the
military
option by our own government. Friends
were keen participants in anti-war groups of different shapes and sizes
and
were visible to varying degrees in acts of public witness.
We were pleased to have been able to provide
resources that have supported a particular Quaker contribution to these
efforts.
The start of 2003 also saw
us, fortunately, taking on an
extra staff member – Steven Waling – as an office assistant for one day
per
week. This has given us the extra
capacity to cope with the particular demands that have arisen during
the
year. We have been pleased to continue
the appointment into 2004. The
appointment has been possible partly as a result of generous funding
from the
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, but also of the solid financial
support that
we have received from Friends and their Meetings.
Our meetings together and
with others have been rich and
important points during the year.
Rarely has it felt more important to exchange views, feelings
and
information about the nature of Quaker peace witness and action. We have been helped in this process by the
resources of our own membership and also of a wider network of
concerned and
engaged people’.
As the year drew to a close,
so too did our first three
years of organising our work under the categories mentioned at the
beginning of
this section of the report. Our final
meeting, at Derby Friends Meeting House, was an opportunity for taking
stock of
the work that the relevant working groups have achieved and for looking
ahead
to the future.
It has become clear in this
process of evaluation that even
the tidiest of plans is only a framework.
Outside events affect us both organisationally and individually
and the
resulting shape of the work is not as neat as we might hope from the
outset. That the world is a messy and
only too human place has, however, rarely been clearer than during this
past
year. Our work comes from faith and we
act and go forward in faith. Thank you
to all those who have supported us for showing your faith that another
way is
possible and in which we can all play a part.
Jo Valentine
Clerk
Events
Board
meetings
As has been the case
throughout the Board’s history, our
Board meetings are key components in the framework of our life and
activities. Bringing together members –
representatives from Monthly Meetings and co-opted Friends – they are
the
occasions where we meet to hear about and shape the work being
undertaken on
behalf of the Board and to learn from invited speakers and facilitators. Friends and attenders from the locality of
our meeting venues are also welcomed as visitors to our meetings. We
have, as
always, been greatly supported by the hospitality provided by Friends,
both in
their homes and in the Meeting Houses, in the different towns and
cities in
which we have met.
At our first meeting, at
Preston Friends Meeting House, we
gave ourselves time to reflect on the looming international crisis and
on our
own roles in witnessing for ways forward other than war.
Coming just one week after massive
demonstrations of public opposition to war, Friends at this point dared
to be
hopeful, even though it was apparent that the government was already
set on the
military course. We minuted, in part:
| We have been inspired and moved by
our recent shared witness for peace in Iraq. It has been
disconcerting to find ourselves in the majority in our witness and we
have celebrated the experience of unity with large numbers of
people
from a wide range of backgrounds across the UK. We have
acknowledged
the challenges this brings, especially where we are part of coalitions
where we find it difficult to unite with all of the views expressed, or
all of the actions planned and taken. We have reminded ourselves of the spiritual source of our witness, and of the significance of upholding in prayer all those involved. We recognise the importance of our holding faith that love can make a difference, and believe that public opinion has already influenced the delay in starting hostilities, and the language being used by our leaders about the nature and length of the proposed war. We have recognised the importance of making our witness visible in our communities, coalitions, press and governments. We can make a particular contribution in upholding those who are working for peace, supporting the growing yearning for peace that we are seeing across the world; and in promoting and sharing information about peaceful alternatives as widely as possible. We believe we are called at this time to hold all people in the light and to seek to find what love can do. |
At that meeting we also
continued our consideration, with
assistance from Steve Whiting of QPSW’s Turning
the Tide programme, of the various ways in which Friends and
attenders
might support the nonviolent witness of Trident Ploughshares.
At our June meeting, held in
Middlesbrough, we were
privileged to have two invited visitors.
Shaun Gregory – current head of the Department of Peace Studies
at the
University of Bradford – introduced a rich discussion about the current
challenges facing us in terms of militarism and security, stressing the
importance of promoting global interdependence as a cornerstone of
security. Also in Middlesbrough, Clare
Rose of Darlington Monthly Meeting’s Conflict
Response in Schools Project led us through a series of exercises as
a way
of introducing us to the nature of the work that the project is
undertaking in
primary schools in the region.
Our final meeting of the
year, in Derby, was largely devoted
to initiating a review of our recent years’ work and activities. But before we began our detailed discussions
to this end, we heard from Gwen Schaffer of her work with Friends and
others
for peace. We were particularly
interested to hear of the Meeting’s approach of linking peace witness
with
outreach. Gwen’s observations and
account of her experiences of peace work provided a very useful
backdrop for
our review discussions.
In addition to our Board
meetings, our working groups have
continued to meet in the course of the year and we have been involved
in a
number of other events.
We were invited to contribute
to two General Meetings,
Westmorland and Lancashire & Cheshire.
Staff and Board members spoke at these meetings about the work
of NFPB
and about particular areas of work and concern and facilitated
discussion. The Co-ordinator also spoke to
an ecumenical
group in West Yorkshire (along with one other Board member) and to a
peace
group in West Lancashire.
In addition to our existing Culture of Peace workshop, we offered two new workshops:
on Witnessing For Peace At A Time Of War
and on Peace Begins with Me. The
latter was facilitated by Jenny
Wistreich as part of a weekend for Darlington Monthly Meeting Friends. We also put on a third workshop on Dialogue
with Decision-makers,
facilitated once more by Janet Bloomfield.
This event, held in York, took as its particular focus the US
missile
defence programme.
In the area of campaigning,
we helped to host a meeting in
Bolton with Chris Cole, then a staff member of Campaign Against Arms
Trade, as
part of his year of visiting locations around the UK with BAE Systems
plants. The Co-ordinator
contributed
a workshop on communicating our peace concerns to a Peace and
Disarmament
Gathering held in Manchester, organised by CAAT, Pax Christi, the UNA
and
Quaker Peace & Social Witness. NFPB
staff and members participated throughout the year in a range of acts
of public
witness, sometimes linking in with other NFPB events and at other times
simply
alongside other Friends, Attenders and concerned citizens.
These ranged from the massive February
demonstrations in London and elsewhere, to small town-centre silent
vigils and
witness at Menwith Hill.
Resources & Communications
In addition to its members
and events, the work of the Board
is visible through its publications and resources of different shapes
and sizes. 2003 saw a far higher demand
than usual for
the range of materials. These are
listed below, with a short explanation:
-
Signpost
leaflets: These give brief
descriptions and context of particular aspects of militarism in the
north of
Britain and point to actions that individuals might take in relation to
them. Leaflets added to this series in
2003 have covered
- the European Missile
conglomerate, MBDA, with its base in
Bolton
- Menwith Hill, the ‘RAF’ base
in Yorkshire and its particular
anticipated role in relation to US missile defence.
- ‘Fire and Forget’ – the
terminology used in the military
sector for the type of guided-missile produced by MBDA and other such
companies.
-
Electronic
resources: Use of our web site
(www.nfpb.gn.apc.org) reached an unprecedented level during the year,
with a
special page relating to information and action concerned with Iraq
drawing
visits from around the world. A calendar and page giving links to
related web
resources were both also heavily used. We began hosting the pages for
the
interfaith Week of Prayer for World Peace
and became one of their sponsors. We
set up an email discussion list for British Friends.
Called ‘PeaceTest’ its
aim is to be a forum for discussion and exploration of peace-testimony
related
concerns. It attracted a good number of
subscribers although was still not being heavily used by the end of the
year
-
Leaflets, mini-stickers and
posters: Other well-used resources during the year
were a range of materials that we can produce on demand rather than
keeping
large quantities in stock. We expanded
our range of ‘mini-stickers’ to include a wider spectrum of anti-war
messages
and made all of these available in printed form or as a downloadable
file from
our web site. Likewise with our simple
A4 posters. Leaflets were drafted for
local anti-war vigils in Bolton and the text of one of these – on the
day of
the start of the war – was subsequently widely circulated and adapted
for use
on leaflets by Friends and others throughout the country, including for
the
open-air meeting for worship during Britain Yearly Meeting in London in
May.
-
Banner kits: Produced
in packs by Caroline Westgate,
Northumbria MM, with all materials necessary apart from the pole.
-
Media
work: We responded
to a number of enquiries from regional radio stations and put them in
touch
with Friends in their areas. The
Co-ordinator also featured in a front-page feature in The
Independent on 15th February.
-
Newsletters: We
produced several issues of The Peace Board, our newsletter for and about Friends’ peace
witness in the north, as well as an additional Bulletin, focussing
on particular news and comment relating to the
global crisis. Our Culture of Peace
working group produced a series of Reflection
Sheets which were also circulated with the newsletter.
-
Collaborative efforts: We worked with
other members of the Missile Defence
Working Group in producing a shorter briefing leaflet on US missile
defence
plans and with Quaker Peace & Social Witness on production of a new
leaflet
on the peace testimony.
| Quaker
Vigil for Peace at a time of War We grieve,
We are committed,
|
Networking
One of our key roles is that
of facilitating peace-related
support and communication within and between the Society of Friends and
other
groups and individuals.
We have played an active role
as members of the Missile Defence Working Group, a
coalition of bodies working on the issue of US missile defence from a
range of
backgrounds. With this group we have
supported the publication of a short general information leaflet,
participated
in meetings with civil servants from the Foreign Office and Ministry of
Defence
and monitored news and information sources on the subject and
circulated
material to other group members. We
have also supported in particular the meetings of the group that have
taken
place in Leeds rather than its previously typical venue of London.
We are members of the Network
for Peace, the Network for Christian
Peace Organisations and of the International
Peace Bureau although we were less active in these bodies during
the year.
Amongst Friends we have
responded to a wide range of
requests for information and have promoted these through our
communications
channels. We have carried out three
particular consultations of Friends and Attenders: firstly, on the
subject of
violence in entertainment; secondly on racism in our communities; and
finally
as part of our general review of our work.
These exercises have brought to light some very useful and
interesting
insights that will be helpful in the longer-term in shaping our work. We had small display of materials at
Britain Yearly Meeting in May and appointed a representative to attend
on our
behalf the annual meeting of the European Quaker and Service
Consultation.
Report
of the Executive
The executive
submit their report and the accounts for the year ended 31st December
2003. The
executive confirm that the accounts comply with current statutory
requirements
and the charity's constitution.
PRINCIPAL
ACTIVITIES
The principal
activity of the board is the advancement within its areas of operation
of the
religious principles of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
through the
education and training of members of the public in matters of justice,
peace
and the integrity of creation with special reference to that against
the
occasion of all wars through the provision of organised courses and
programmes.
ORGANISATION
AND ACTIVITIES
The Board
shall maintain a Scottish postal address, and its constitution shall be
governed by the Law of Scotland. Procedures of the Board and its
committees
shall follow the general counsel on church affairs set out in the Book
of
discipline of the Society.
The area of
operation covered by the Board shall be primarily that covered by the
General
and Monthly Meetings of Britain Yearly Meeting in Scotland, North Wales
and
Northern England.
The board
employs a co-ordinator, and a part time administrative assistant. There
were no
changes in activities in the year.
REVIEW
OF PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Our work
continued to be based around our three key working groups , established
at the
end of 2000. These were on the areas of 'Challenging Militarism',
'Culture of
Peace' and on 'Communication'. All members were encouraged to become
involved
in the work of at least one of these groups, which met throughout the
year. The
working groups' activities continued to be shaped to a considerable
degree by
world events in the course of the year, with the constantly-changing
situation
arising from the UK and the US response to threat of terrorism and
subsequent
preparations for and undertaking of military action against Iraq. The bulk of the work continued to be
conducted from our office at the Victoria Hall in Bolton.
Four Board
meetings took place during the year, with speakers on a range of issues
of
interest to our members and of relevance to our work of seeking to
support
Quakers and others in acting for peace in all its height and breadth.
The
Executive Meeting, comprising our Trustees, also met four times during
the
year.
During the
period covered, Joanna Valentine has served as Clerk to the Board, Nova
Brockbank as Assistant Clerk, Clare Whitehead as Clerk to the
Executive, and
Tim Carlisle as Treasurer. Tony and Jane
Robinson were appointed to serve as joint Administrative Treasurers in
2002 and
continued throughout 2003 in undertaking the bulk of the routine
book-keeping
and payments in and out of our accounts.
Other key
activities to note during the year have included
· A workshop for Friends with Janet Bloomfield of Oxford Research Group on 'Dialogue with Decision Makers'
· A workshop for Friends on "Building a culture of Peace', and the development of a new workshop on Quaker peace witness in the context of the war on terrorism.
· Continued networking amongst Friends in the north on the issue of racism in our communities and gathering materials on violence in entertainment.
· Production of additional materials - on paper and on our web pages - to support people in their witness and other responses to world events, and some limited work with news media.
· Production of the four further signpost leaflets on issues relating to militarism in the north of Britain;
· Participation in a range of conferences and other events, including speaking at Quaker and non-Quaker meetings.
· Collaboration with other members of the UK's Missile Defence Working Group in undertaking dialogue with UK government officials and in monitoring developments regarding UK involvement with the US Missile Defence plans.
At the end of
the year we began the process of evaluating the past three years’
activities of
the three working groups, including initiating a process of
consultation with
Friends and Attenders in the north of Britain.
RESPONSIBILITIES
OF THE EXECUTIVE
The law
requires the executive to prepare financial statements for each
financial year
which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity
and of
the incoming resources of the year and the application of resources of
the
charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the
executive
are required to:
·
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them
consistently,
·
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and
prudent,
·
state whether applicable accounting standards have been
followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in
the
financial statements,
·
prepare the financial statements on the going concern
basis
unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in
business.
The executive
are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose
with
reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity
and to
enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with
applicable
accounting standards. They are also responsible for safeguarding the
assets of
the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention
and
detection of fraud and other irregularities.
COMMENTARY
ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Giving from
Friends and their Meetings has remained at a similar level to that of
2002.
Revenue from Charitable Trusts has remained steady, whilst some of this
restricted for particular purposes remained unspent at the end of the
year. The
projects concerned are ongoing and it is fully expected that the
existing
restricted funds will be spent by the middle of 2004. We received
further, but
a significantly smaller amount of, income from legacies this year and a
regular
commission payment from the Phone Co-op in relation to our affinity
scheme with
them.
RISK
STATEMENT
In order to
avoid running at a deficit we continued to exercise caution in our
spending
during the year. This has meant that our reserves remain at a good
level,
giving security and confidence for the future. A higher proportion of
our
assets were in the form of cash rather than stock at the end of the
year,
putting us in a stronger operational position.
RESERVES
POLICY
In March 2001
Trustees agreed that we should endeavour to hold in our reserves the
equivalent
of four month's running costs, based on the period of notice required
for the
termination of our Co-ordinator's employment and any winding up costs
associated with that. Our current reserves exceed this margin, largely
as a
result of the unexpected receipt in the course of the previous year of
three
legacies. We have budgeted to continue to use some of these reserves
during
2004 on archiving work and anticipate that there may be other
unexpected uses to
which these funds might be put in the course of the year. Restricted
funds
received in earlier years and still held should be spent by the middle
of 2004.
By Order of
The Executive
Clare Whitehead, Clerk
NORTHERN
FRIENDS PEACE BOARD
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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES AND
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT
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For
the year ended 31st December 2003 |
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Unrestricted |
Restricted |
2003 |
2002 |
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£ |
£ |
£ |
£ |
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INCOMING
RESOURCES |
|
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|
|
|
|
|
Donations
- Individuals |
|
|
7671 |
|
7671 |
6971 |
|
-
Legacies |
|
|
2070 |
|
2070 |
20590 |
|
-
Meetings |
|
|
23316 |
|
23316 |
25407 |
|
-
Trust Funds |
|
|
4313 |
8000 |
12313 |
13561 |
|
Investment
Income |
|
|
1181 |
|
1181 |
640 |
|
Workshop
Fees and Sales |
|
|
2519 |
|
2519 |
1368 |
|
Other
Sundry Income |
|
|
751 |
|
751 |
621 |
Total Incoming
resources
|
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|
41821 |
8000 |
49821 |
69158 |
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|
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RESOURCES EXPENDED |
|
|
|
|
|
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Salaries |
|
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22064 |
5583 |
27647 |
25368 |
|
Rent,
Heat and Light |
|
|
954 |
238 |
1192 |
1192 |
|
Staff
and Committee Development |
|
|
90 |
|
90 |
44 |
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Stationery,
Postage and Telephone |
|
|
1793 |
362 |
2155 |
1310 |
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Communications
and Events |
|
|
561 |
|
561 |
759 |
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Representatives
Travel |
|
|
245 |
|
245 |
370 |
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Insurance |
|
|
168 |
42 |
210 |
210 |
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Depredation |
|
|
299 |
|
299 |
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