QWRC 12-14 September 2025

Quaker World Relations Committee (QWRC) met in Hinsley Hall, Leeds, for a residential meeting where they were joined by members of the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network.

What is this committee responsible for?

Quaker World Relations Committee (QWRC) helps Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) keep in contact with other Quaker meetings and groups abroad, understand their witness, communicate ours, and maintain mutual support. QWRC liaises with the worldwide Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), and in particular with its Europe and Middle East Section (EMES).

What did it do at this meeting?

We received a report about the work of the Reparations Working Group. One of our ongoing challenges will be learning and relearning the history of British Quakerism and our role in colonialism, which was, and continues to be, experienced differently by Friends in other parts of the world.

We celebrated the many moments of joy brought about from the visit of the four Young Adult Friends in May 2025. We wondered how any future visits could be arranged both to offer enriching and spiritual opportunities for British Friends, and to help prepare visitors to take the experience back to their own Quaker communities.

Two members of QARN (Quaker Asylum & Refugee Network) joined us on Saturday afternoon. They spoke with deep and joyful passion about their personal involvement and experience with refugees and about the work of QARN.

On Saturday evening we watched the film of the FWCC World Plenary Meeting held in South Africa in August 2024. Some of us had been in South Africa, others had joined online. It led us into a period of deep worship.

On Sunday morning, we agreed what will be our final report to Meeting for Sufferings. We have ended the report with a reminder that the theme of this year's World Quaker Day on 5 October is “Love Your Neighbour". We are asked: In times when conflict, untruths and unfairness seem to dominate, join us in exploring what Love can do.

We finished our meeting with a smile and had Amy Beedle (Video Editor for Quakers in Britain) join us to record interviews on the topic of Quaker committee roles.

How can I find out more?

You can watch the FWCC World Plenary Meeting film.

Please keep an eye on the QWRC page of the Quakers in Britain website.