Northern Friends Peace Board
Annual Report 2000

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Contents

• Introduction
• Work with and for Friends
• Challenging Militarism
• Culture of peace
• NFPB members during 2000
• Financial statement
  

Introduction

The year 2000 was one of some financial uncertainty for us, as well as one of hope and vision. It was, perhaps, particularly unfortunate that during the UN Year for a Culture of Peace, the National Peace Council had to wind up its operations, for lack of funds. This was an important warning for us and for others, in a context of change and uncertainty amongst Quakers and peace workers generally.

As a small, tightly managed organisation we are particularly susceptible to quite small changes in funding; we recognise this vulnerability to be both a difficulty and a blessing.

Over the year, we have become adept at raising additional funds through applications to charitable trusts. We also affirmed the importance of structuring our work in specific project areas so that our investors and supporters can see real value for money. The Peace Papers represent one such project – a tangible product (and on-going piece of work) that we hope will inspire Friends in the north and beyond.

We recognised that, whilst some Monthly and Preparative Meetings have been extremely generous in their support during the year, others clearly feel less involved in our work. This highlights a possible weakness in communication between NFPB and its constituency. We have spent time reflecting on how we can deepen our relationship with individual meetings, supporting them in exploring and expressing their individual and collective Peace Testimony. We hope that our plans for 2001 will help to address this. We ended a year of anxiety and hope with healthier finances, deeper wisdom, warm appreciation for the generosity of Friends and inspired by the people we have met and worked with during the year as they – and we – pursue our visions for a more peaceful world.

                                                     Jo Valentine, Clerk, Philip Austin, Co-ordinator

Work with and for Friends

During this past year the issue of effective communication, amongst Friends and from Friends to others, was prominent. After the Nato bombing of Kosovo and Serbia in 1999, we were keen to find a way of bringing to the attention of Friends and others the many ways in which individuals and groups can work for peace. The peace testimony has never been simply about waiting for a war to happen and then saying "no". With this in mind, and with generous support and help from a number of charitable trusts, we produced, The Peace Papers. This distinctive publication, in a ring binder for updates and additions over coming years, received much positive comment from many sources. We hope that, with its additional material it will continue, with its additional material, to be a central set of materials for Friends to use in developing individual and collective peace work.

Our Web site and our newsletter (The Peace Board) continued to be a crucial means for sharing news and ideas on peace related issues amongst friends. We have also continued to make valuable contacts with Friends and others through representation at committees and conferences. Throughout the year, the office has been a resource which many have drawn on for information, speakers for meetings, and some of our various materials - from envelope re-use labels to booklets. We issued an appeal for additional funds early in the year and are pleased to see that our operating deficit for 1999 has been significantly reduced during 2000. As an additional fund-raising tool we set up an affinity scheme with The Phone Co-op which we hope to see grow to be a significant extra source of income over the next 12 months.

As the year ended we developed and agreed a set of new working priorities. These include establishing four new groups to work in more depth on our themes of challenging militarism and nurturing a culture of peace, and on the important tasks of fund-raising and communications.

Challenging Militarism

Early in the year we ran a highly successful event in Newcastle upon Tyne. Entitled ‘Disarming Realities’, it was another in our series of ‘Peace is Growing’ days, and brought together David Atwood of the Quaker UN Office in Geneva, Paul Dunne of Middlesex University and Ian Goudie of the Arms Conversion Project and 45 participants. On this occasion we were pleased to have members of other campaigning organisations in the area concerned with issues of arms and disarmament. As well as being a stimulating day in itself we were pleased to hear subsequently of the excellent use that participants had been able to make of the information presented in raising some of the issues in different political settings. We were also encouraged that Northumbria MM Friends plan to follow up the meeting with the range of organisations involved.

We were involved through our members' activities in other disarmament initiatives such as that of the joint European Quaker witness at the Eurosatory arms fair and in Trident Ploughshares activities. We also maintained close links with the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium. through our representative on their committee. Discussions, with Quaker Green Concern and the Quaker Socialist Society in the course of the year laid useful foundations for the preparation of a joint statement on issues of arms conversion and related issues.

During the final half of the year, the United States’ government proposals for a system of National Missile Defence were prominent. Benefiting from close links, through our own membership, with the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (CAAB), we have been kept well informed of the likely implications of NMD for US military activity at Menwith Hill and Fylingdales, both in Yorkshire. We have promoted Meetings for worship at both these places and members of NFPB have been present at them on a regular basis. We have also been present at demonstrations at both these places.

In November our final ‘Peace is Growing’ day was on the theme of NMD, having as its speakers Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies for the University of Bradford, Anni Rainbow of CAAB and David Gee of Quaker Peace & Social Witness. Taking place in Harrogate, this event brought together academic, political and religious perspectives in a way that promises to provide a very useful foundation for future work on these issues. We were pleased to hear news of the Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference’s modest progress in April, having Earlier we had circulated information about the conference to Friends and we had expressed our hope to the UK government that they would make a positive contribution to this event. We encouraged Friends to follow up the conference with further calls on our government to take the process forward in a positive and creative way.

Culture of Peace

We are often reminded by Friends that peace is not just a negative proposition. The concept of a culture of peace embodies a positive affirmation.

The year 2000 was adopted by the United Nations as a year for the culture of peace, and the Manifesto 2000 document was circulated widely in the course of the year. We were keen to encourage people to move beyond simply signing the Manifesto, and to this end we have developed a workshop to support Friends and others in translating good intentions into practical action.

Our Board meetings gave us time to increase our own learning on issues relating to a culture of peace. In Edinburgh Robert Mackay shared his insights from his long involvement of working in the field of restorative justice, pointing out similarities between its philosophy with that of Quaker peace and mediation work.

In Darlington we were given an inspiring account of the work of that Monthly Meeting's project promoting conflict resolution in schools in the region. And in Chesterfield, Roy Sturgess helped us to a much deeper understanding of the nature of the conflict in Israel - Palestine, highlighting the deep underlying roots of the conflict that need to be addressed.

National Peace Council - before its demise - developed proposals for the use of the 11th November as a day for remembrance and for reconciliation. Hardshaw East Monthly Meeting hosted a Northern Friends Peace Board day on the theme in November. Our speakers Janet Quilley, Alan Jones and Tom Burt led discussion and reflection from the perspectives of Northern Ireland, Kosovo and the experiences of conscientious objection during the Second World War. Fuller reports of this and other Peace is Growing days are available on our website and from our office.

As the year drew to a close, the Board enthusiastically endorsed a proposal to try to arrange for a peace- related event or activity to take place in every northern Quaker Meeting. We have produced a list of suggestions for ways in which this idea might be taken up in the course of 2001.

Board Members during 2000

Monthly Meeting Representative/s

Balby Jill Burt, Frances Morgan (dep)
Brighouse Anne Marshall
Carlisle and Holme Elaine Marney, Hilary Barker (dep)
Cheshire Tim Carlisle, Richard Bass (dep)
Darlington Kathleen Rodham (until Autumn), Doreen Hammond
East Scotland Barbara Davey, Peter Cheer (dep)
Guisborough Raymond Chadwick, Martyn Gaudie (dep)
Hardshaw East River Hardshaw West John Hamilton
Kendal & Sedbergh Kevin McKenna, Peter Leeming (dep)
Lancaster Harry Warner, Jenny Foot (dep)
Leeds Anni Rainbow
Lincolnshire Wendy Gwatkin
Marsden Julia Hoyle
Northumbria Nova Brockbank (Assistant Clerk)
North of Scotland Barbara Potter
North Wales Pen Waugh, Siw Wood (dep)
Notts and Derby Gillian Smith (Clerk), Jean Miles (dep)
Pardshaw (vacant)
Pickering and Hull Arthur Taylor (until Spring), Kathleen Rodham (from Autumn) Pontefract Una Parker
Preston Bill Kneller, Keith Hargreaves (dep)
Wensleydale & Swaledale Dennis Prosser
Settle Hilary Fenten, David Pemberton (dep)
South East Scotland Geoffrey & Elisabeth Seale Carnall
Swarthmore David Harris, Josephine Wyatt (dep)
Wirral and Chester Shirley Johnson, Roger Turner (dep)
York Jenny Wistreich

Co-opted members
Maria Brown, Ellen Moxley, Brenda Rigby, Helen Steven, Jo Valentine, Caroline Westgate, Clare Whitehead (Executive Committee Clerk)

Young Friends General Meeting Representatives
Helen Close, Bethan Hillas

Quaker Peace & Social Witness
Steve Whiting

Honorary Members
Jessie Baston, Mary Bradbury, Wilfred Dally

Board Treasurer Peter Kennedy, Tim Carlisle (assistant)

Board Co-ordinator Philip Austin

Admin Assistant Sarah Burn