June 2009 Letter to QPSW Correspondents
Dear QPSW Correspondent,
Here is your second mailing.
I hope that you found the first mailing helpful and that the booklet answered some of the questions many of you have about the role of correspondents. If you have not received a copy of this booklet or would like extra copies please let me know and I will forward them to you.
It was good to meet some of you at the QPSW Spring Conference this year and I hope to meet some more of you at Yearly Meeting Gathering in July.
Yearly Meeting Gathering
We will be holding a workshop for any QPSW correspondents attending Yearly Meeting Gathering on Monday morning from 9.30 – 11.45 am.
Those correspondents who we know are attending have been sent an email asking them which issues they would like the workshop to cover.
If you are attending Yearly Meeting Gathering and would like to attend the workshop but have not received the email, please let me know and I will send you the details.
In addition, we will hold a one hour session at lunchtime on Tuesday for anyone who is not a correspondent but would like to know more about the role.
Contact: Anne Wilkinson 0207 663 1062 annew@quaker.org.uk
Climate Change
QPSW is currently undertaking a range of interconnected work in relation to climate change – there are three parts to this:-
Joint work with Woodbrooke - A Zero Growth Economy - What would it mean for us all.
One Day Conference – Saturday 26th September, London
Weekend Seminar – Friday 30th October – Sunday 1st November, Woodbrooke
The enclosed letter and flyer [PDF: 394KB - new window] were sent to local and area meetings in February this year and again in May. As you can see from the letter, study materials/briefing notes are to be sent to you and the first of these, "The Dilemma of Growth" is enclosed.
Your meeting may have appointed someone to lead discussions on this issue. If not I hope you will feel able to use the worksheet in the briefing to stimulate discussions in your meeting.
If you would like additional copies of the briefing you can either download it from our website or let me know how many you would like and I will send them to you.
The conference on Saturday 26th September is open to all – Friends and others. Please highlight this opportunity in your meeting and ask your meeting to publicise it through your local networks e.g. local transition towns, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth etc as well as through local churches together groups.
We anticipate that the next briefing will be sent to you in late July, and the final briefing will be sent in September/October.
Contact: Anne Wilkinson 0207 663 1062 annew@quaker.org.uk
Responding to Climate Change
This is a pack of six briefing papers that covers the basic science of climate change, its impact on poverty and conflict and includes points for reflection and discussion.
The pack has been circulated to Meeting for Sufferings representatives but has not been sent to local meetings until now. The briefings are also available on our website.
More paper copies are available from QPSW. Please don’t hesitate to ask for more, we appreciate that they can be difficult to print out.
Contact: Sunniva Taylor 0207 663 1047 sunnivat@quaker.org.uk.
Campaigning on climate change in the run up to Copenhagen
All Meetings have been invited to engage with their MPs in advance of the UN Climate Change Summit to be held in Copenhagen at the end of this year.
QPSW has published some resources to help you to do this.
- ‘Engaging with Decision Makers’ contains some helpful tips on how to best communicate with your MP/MEP.
- ‘What climate change means to me…..’ QPSW is working in partnership with a Bangladeshi organisation, GUP, to provide Meetings with first hand, informal evidence of the impact climate change has on the lives of poor people in Bangladesh.
Contact: Alison Prout, 0207 663 1035 alisonp@quaker.org.uk
2010 Conferences
Annual Spring Conference 2010
Next year’s conference will be held from 26th – 28th March at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick in Derbyshire.
Your area meeting will be sent information about the conference later this year. As usual, the conference will be particularly aimed at new Friends or attenders or those new to the work of QPSW.
Contact: Anne Wilkinson 0207 663 1062 annew@quaker.org.uk
All Age Conference – August 2010
We will be holding an all age conference from 3rd – 6th August 2010 entitled “What do we mean by peace?” I hope that further information will be available before the end of the year.
Many of you responded to my request for information about why your meeting did not nominate anyone to attend our last all age event and it seems that the main reason was lack of knowledge about the event. This is therefore advance warning.
The usual calling notice will be sent out at the beginning of January 2010 but it would be helpful if you could start publicising this conference in your meeting now. We hope that this will be something families can do together but it will equally be relevant for individuals.
Contact: Anne Wilkinson 0207 663 1062 annew@quaker.org.uk
Supporting Each Other
We will shortly have an online discussion group available for you to use to talk about your experiences as correspondents, to share ideas and best practice and any other topic you may fancy.
The group will be reached via the quaker.org.uk website and the discussion will be visible to all. However, you will have to log-in to contribute to any discussion. Log-in’s will be available from us once the group is set up.
More details will follow when we have them, but in the meantime, do let us know if you are interested in signing up.
Contact: Miranda Girdlestone 0207 663 1158 mirandag@quaker.org.uk.
Finally, you may receive this mailing having already told me that you are no longer the correspondent for your meeting. Please be assured that the relevant alterations have been made to our database but owing to a technical glitch, some addresses continue to be printed. If you would feel happier contacting me to confirm that the changes have been made please do, otherwise we will continue to try and rectify the problem.
In friendship,
Anne Wilkinson
QPSW
0207 663 1062
annew@quaker.org.uk
