On the 9th to the 11th of October 36 young people and 7 volunteers met at Watford Quaker Meeting house. We were last at Watford in 2013 so we were well due a visit! 

Friday 9th Oct the Young people arrived both directly to the Meeting House and with the group from Friends House, Euston.

Two volunteers arrived early, and with the help of the Meeting House Warden they busied away getting the meeting house ready and loading up the 47 baked potatoes into the oven and cooking the veggie mince topping.

We then ran an introduction session to get to know each other and went over the event boundaries. We then split into our helper groups for the weekend.

Time and energy levels soon ran low, so while the first group was helping tidy and wash up, people hung out, watched Traitors(!) and played games. We went into an epilogue with some music and a few candles to help us center down into the silence. 

Setting up for bed and getting some sleep were the final items left to do after long days, and for some long journeys.

Saturday we woke up nice and late and had a veggie cooked breakfast, cereal, toast and jam. 

After tidying up and some free time we gathered for a theme session on taking action, in this case taking action in conflict situations using NVC – Non Violent Communication . Michael talked about how NVC can help us put our Quaker Peace Testimony into everyday practice by getting out of ‘violent’ communication traps (that we have all learned), and how these lead to conflicts not being resolved. 

We wondered if most conflicts could be reframed in the NVC way as violence being “the tragic expression of an unmet need”.  We split into groups and thought about a few example conflicts to see how we might understand them. [ Shameless plug – Michael runs NVC practice sessions in Welwyn Garden City on Monday evenings and has produced a free quick start guide  ]

Some more free time while “Quaker Subway” was being constructed in the kitchen for our build-a-baguette-sandwich (does that count as fusion cuisine ?) lunch. Some free time and trip out to the local park Tesco metro. Once back we split into 3 different activity groups: newspaper hockey, ‘mafia’ and board games/crafting. 

Dinner was the classic pesto broccoli pasta followed by just about enough time to fit in a film before a lovely epilogue around a firepit in Watford Quaker’s extensive garden. We were fortunate to be serenaded by a guitar based musical contribution from one of the young people.  Sleep time.

Sunday we were up early to get breakfast in and the Quaker Meeting House ready for Quaker Meeting. Those who wanted to, stayed in Quaker Meeting for the whole hour, whilst others either went out to the park or joined a discussion group. Tea, coffee and a lunch of left overs meant we had time for one last game before making our journeys home. 

We came away a little tired, but very much with our friendships nourished, hearts heartened and many happy memories made. 

Michael, Sally, Al, Gwenillian, Annette, Philip, Amy, Tavi, Wasim and all the young people. 

On 29-30 June 2024, 15 young people and adult volunteers headed to the newly renovated Lewes Quaker Meeting for our first London Link Group residential event of the year.

Most of us met at Victoria station at 9am on Saturday and took a train to Lewes, with a few others making their way directly to Lewes Quaker Meeting. There has been a Quaker Meeting in Lewes since 1655 (!) and the meeting house was built in 1784.

We played games to get to know each other, aided by some tennis ball catching practice, and took a look around the meeting house to work out where we were going to be sleeping. Once we had established names we assigned secret friends for the weekend.

After lunch, we went to the Railway Land nature reserve, and played frisbee in the sunshine. There were a few hours to explore Lewes, when some people went charity shopping, and others bought things for their secret friend, or went back to the meeting house to sing songs and play card games.

We had a tasty dinner of takeaway pizzas and salads, and followed this up with a mighty, loosely Quaker-themed quiz! This included a picture round in which we had to identify whether a building was a current Quaker meeting house or not. Another question required each team to list as many facts as they could about an individual on the next team. The hilarious “false or true” round required us to work out what kind of Fox’s party ring biscuit was the favourite of George Fox, who would have been 400 this year. We finished the day with epilogue and hot chocolate/herbal tea before bedding down on the meeting house floor.

On Sunday, we joined Lewes Quakers for their meeting for worship. The children’s meeting made origami tulips. We had a shared lunch of quiche and salads before heading for the train back to London, having had a fun and fulfilling weekend among Friends.

Looking forward to the next residential event at Forest Hill on 12-13 October 2024!

On a not-quite spring 3-5th of March 13 young people and 5 volunteers from across the south gathered in St.Albans Quaker Meeting House.

Although tired out by the week, our energy levels were soon replenished by seeing friends new and old.

For dinner we had a curry of coconut dhal, vegetable curry, pakoras and rice that filled us up. After that meal’s washer-uppers had finished we settled down to watch a film on the projector in main meeting room. We had a short candle lit epilogue and then bed.

At the crack of 8:30am we tided up and joined together to have a veggie cooked breakfast. For one particular participant the morning also marked the dawn of a new age, …age 15. Happy Birthday! In terms of getting up throwing birthday balloons at each other proved very effective.

The first activity of the day was free time in the historic town of St.Albans, with attractions such as the charter market, Roman ruins, a cathedral and the ever popular Tesco Metro and Wilko stores providing places to visit – everyone found something to enjoy.

St.Albans Meeting House is conveniently located close to the town centre, for several hours we opened our exclusive artisan (crisp sandwich anyone?) sandwich shop for participants to drop in. This was also a good opportunity to sing happy birthday and dive into to birthday cake #1.

After letting lunch digest, a few of the participants and 3 of the volunteers went to the leisure centre to try our wits at crossing the inflatable obstacle course. Volunteers struggling with the er…agility, benefited from nice team efforts.

Once everyone was back there was time for some games before starting the main theme session on “What makes you, you? Exploring the world of our own identities”. We talked about about what is an identity and the protected characteristics in law. We went on to try to map out our broader identities with post-its. The meeting house floor was covered with colourful clusters of posits, reflecting the differences and similarities between us.

How can we make the meeting a community in which each person is accepted and nurtured, and strangers are welcome? Seek to know one another in the things which are fundamental, bear the burden of each other’s challenges and uphold one another. As we enter with tender sympathy into the joys and sorrows of each other’s lives, ready to give help and to receive it, our meeting can be a channel for love.

Adapted version of Advice & Queries 18

After consent from the group we wandered around the room looking at what people had chosen to put. A very deep respectful silence was experienced whilst we were doing this, perhaps reflecting the braveness, honesty and vulnerability we were all experiencing. We considered the questions of whether the identities we express change depending on who we’re with or where we are. What parts of our identities change over time and what stays the same. How do we make sure our identities don’t divide us.

It felt like a safe and spiritually connected time.

After some refreshments the volunteers set about making dinner, while the young people organised themselves into playing various games around the meeting house.

A dinner of pasta, pesto, broccoli and tomato was demolished. Cake #2 gently lead us to our open-mic evening, with an eclectic mix of talented and entertaining performances.

Epilogue followed. With a reading:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.

We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us;
It’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

“A Return To Love” by Marianne Williamson.

The next morning we got up and reassembled the Meeting House. A very long running cooked veggie breakfast got our hearts, stomachs and minds prepared for Quaker meeting. Some stayed in Meeting whilst others joined a group making clay models.

A lunch of left overs and sandwiches, a few last games and we were ready to head home.

London Link would like to thank St.Albans Quaker meeting for welcoming us again, shifting around bookings and generally letting us make the house our home for the weekend.

Thank you to all the participants and volunteers for an excellent weekend. – Michael, Philip, Amy, Rob and Margarita

On 7-9 October 2022, 14 London Linkers and 4 adult volunteers travelled to Brighton Quaker Meeting for the first LLG residential event in just over 3 years. THREE YEARS!!! We had totally forgotten how much fun they are. 

We took a Friday evening train from Victoria after wolfing down some pizzas at the rendezvous location, and played a few games on arrival. We were impressed to learn that one of our number had a Quaker heritage dating back to 1655 in their family! After hot chocolate and epilogue we retired to sleep on the floor in comfortable carpeted rooms in the Meeting House. 

On Saturday we visited Brighton Pavilion and were shocked at the royal opulence which clashed with our Quaker simplicity. King George IV (Prince Regent during the time of his father’s madness) had an enormous 54 inch waist! He liked his food, music, the seawater and partying in Brighton apparently. The guide said that he would approve of all the stag and hen parties which visit Brighton now. 

We really enjoyed sitting on the beach in the sunshine and chatting/being buried under pebbles/ paddling in the sea (and in a couple of cases being swept over by the waves and totally soaked). After lunch some of us explored the Lanes, others visited Brighton Table Tennis Club, and we met up on the beach again at the end of the afternoon and some of us swam, deliberately this time. A few brave souls took their chances on daredevil rides on the Palace Pier. 

After a Mexican-style dinner of veggie fajitas and nachos, we played Wink Ministry and an EPIC game of sardines — to which we found Brighton Quaker Meeting House is ideally suited. 

On Sunday morning we joined Brighton Friends in their meeting for worship, and learned from Helen Ledger about the inspiring work the meeting is doing with refugees and asylum seekers who are held in poor conditions in hotels for many months, with only £8.40 per week to live on and no access to cooking facilities. The Sanctuary Group at Brighton Quaker meeting enables people to cook meals from their own culture, paying for supplies and offering friendship and excellent kitchen facilities. 

We had a shared lunch with Brighton Friends and returned on an afternoon train feeling physically tired but socially and spiritually refreshed. 

Thank you Brighton Quaker Meeting and BRING ON 2023 residential weekends!

Young Quakers from LLG attend climate strike earlier in the day

On the 20th – 22nd September London Linkers Gathered in Epping. We had one of our most ambitious and “logistically heavy timetable” – Michael Wood events planned, and we’re happy to say we succeeded, with the assistance of 7 brilliant volunteers, in showing 14 “Linkers” not 1, not 2 but 3 centuries worth of delight in Essex in a weekend that utilised 5 trains, 3 buses, and 1 (not so) secret nuclear bunker!

Epping Meeting (established in the 1700’s) offered to host London Link in their beautiful Meeting House situated in the Market Town of Epping. The fun started on the Friday night with a tasty pasta dish (with roasted broccoli proving an unexpected hit with the young folk), games and a peaceful Epilogue.

Metropolitan number 1

An solid (veggie) cooked breakfast gave everyone the energy they needed to make the early start on Saturday – with a huge stack of sandwiches being constructed around the tidying up. We made it to the bus stop on time and all (just about) piled on to the vintage (Routemaster) 339 bus with a group of

Morris Dancers(!) for the pretty journey to our destination – the historic Epping and Ongar Railway where we spent a happy 20 minutes at the North Weald Station admiring the trains, architecture, Morris Dancing and the gift and tuck shops (we won’t let on to parents and carers quite how many snacks were purchased but it is was all for a good cause).  An 1800’s steam engine (Met 1) (perhaps appreciated more by the older members of the group) conveyed us to Ongar Station where a mad dash got us back on the 339 for a trip to the 1950’s and a product of the Cold War…..

Kelvedon (not so) Secret nuclear bunker

Picnic at a nuclear bunker

But before starting our tour of Kelvedon’s (once) Secret Nuclear Bunker it was agreed that feeding stomachs took precedence over feeding minds and we had our picnic sitting next to a stack of military equipment (and a replica missile) – not a usual location for Quakers.. Once in, we spent several hours exploring the 3 floors of the bunker which started life as an RAF ROTOR Station, then had a brief period as a civil defence centre, then becoming a Regional Government HQ before being decommissioned in 1992. It was designed for up to 600 military and civilian personnel, possibly even the Prime Minister (there were several dummies meant to be representing Margaret Thatcher in different locations which were properly scary), in order to organise the survival of the population should there be a nuclear war. The communications, medical, working and sleeping spaces were fascinating but also quite spooky – though nowhere near as scary as the government information films and adverts telling people what to do in the event of a nuclear war. The official commentary was very dark and confirmed my reasoning that survival might not in our best interests…..

Vintage Routemaster bus

A sit in the sun to absorb both the horror, and a piece of flapjack, preceded another bus ride on the bouncy bus back to Epping for a cup of tea, sit in the garden, and for groups of Linkers a wander around the shops. After a full day, Saturday evening was chilled with board games, music and a gorgeous potato and spinach curry.

On Sunday morning we joined Meeting for Worship and many of us then spent a happy Children’s Meeting making cards to thank Michael for his 10 years as Clerk of London Link!

Thank you to Epping Meeting for hosting us!

Next committee meeting we will be planning our programme for late 2019/2020, watch this space! Helping set up the Quaker Homeless Action Christmas Shelter and Winterval at Westminster in the New Year are likely to be the next two events. Sign up to our mailing list to get notification.

We look forward to seeing you all again soon,
Rebecca

Alan, Amy, Eli, Margarita, Michael, Philip (and we can reassure everyone that Michael hopes to volunteer in future events – phew).

p.s. Note for parents/guardians – Unfortunately this time there were some issues with respect for Meeting House property in the library/female sleeping area – despite being asked to leave the contents of a cupboard belonging to a hirer alone, after the event we found this not to have been respected, leading to the loss of chocolate and sweets belonging to an Alzheimer’s group who were understandably upset. Please remind young people that they agree to adhere to the boundaries at our events and that we do rely on the goodwill of Quaker groups to host us, which part of this is respecting the building and contents! Thanks

A group of 8 young people and 5 volunteers from London Link Group (LLG), aka ‘Linkers’ (nickname pending), spent the weekend at Hampstead Meeting House from 26^th to 28^th July 2019.

The small group meant the weekend was quite casual this time around with lots of chilled sessions and discussions with the obligatory Friday night getting to know you games and use of the many nooks of the Meeting House for a few rounds of the classic Sardines.

After a well-deserved lie-in on Saturday, we started our sessions. The weekend’s main conversations, focused on looking at the upcoming Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair Expo and the mobilisation of people resisting the Expo. We looked at the promotional material that DSEI used, which noticeably omitted the actual use and consequence of arms. We also partook in an exercise where we had to guess the cost of the armed forces and military equipment which was quite the eye-opener. This session opened up lengthy discussions on the high number of recruitment ads that target young people, centring around the supposed attractive perks of choosing a career in the armed forces.

From the alternative perspective, we looked at promotional materials by the network of groups from within Stop the Arms Fair, including Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). From this, we explored how Quakers engage in the activities through living their beliefs and putting their faith into action. We specifically looked at the activities that Roots of Resistance (RoR) will be doing within the days leading up to DSEI. It’s likely that some of the LLG may end up attending RoR with their Local Meetings.

Mother Nature decided Saturday needed rain, which scrapped our plans to go over to Hampstead Heath for a picnic lunch and a dip in the swimming ponds. Instead, when the rain settled, everyone had free time to roam around Hampstead. The evening was another chilled affair with more classic LLG games and board games.

As always, it was a pleasure to attend Meeting for Worship with Hampstead on Sunday, ending the weekend in the late afternoon. Over the whole weekend, suggestions for future LLG were collated. Who knows, we could have Kayaking added to the activities and maybe raisins will be added to the shopping list?

Thank you Hampstead Meeting for having us and thank you to the volunteers and the young people for a wholesome weekend.

Until next time!

Sally, Amy, Tas, Nick, Sue

On the 15-17th March 2019, 21 young people and 5 volunteers met for London Link Group Brighton 2019!

This event coincided with the international climate strike that was organised on the Friday 15th. We were all impressed to hear stories of this march and glad that members of London Link Group could help bring young Quakers together for it. We headed off to catch a train, a few snacks-to-boost-our-energy-levels later we arrived in Brighton Meeting House to the welcome of local Brighton Young Quakers, the meeting house and dinner.

Our theme for the weekend was ‘Welcome’, so this not being lost on us… we welcomed everyone to the event! it was great to have a number of new faces with us. We didn’t have long left of the day so we had an Epilogue (a short reflective evening Quaker meeting) and then a bit of free time and bed.

Saturday Breakfast filled us with veggie sausages, scrambled tofu, potato waffles, toast and beans!  We then ran a marathon workshop, based on a resource from Becoming Friends Together . We considered ‘what makes a good welcome’. From exchanging smiles, reaching out to people, asking how they are, to making sure there is always a space for someone to join a group (e.g. sitting in croissants not doughnuts!  O ⇒ C ).

After this we ventured out into a very windy Brighton and in groups went to explore. The young people having exhausted Brighton of it’s cultural, arts, architectural and historical sights (or was it Tescos? I forget..) and the volunteers having drunk all the teas and eaten all the cakes, gathered back at the meeting house for lunch, that being a wrap we had a little more free time until gathering again to hear from two young people who came to the UK as refugees.

Supported by the The Humming bird project they spoke movingly about their journey to the UK from Syria, the incredible danger of their journeys, such as hiding in lorries headed for the UK and the treatment they had in Calais by police. We were shocked that even in a welcoming (to us) place like Brighton they struggle against racist behaviour and islamaphobia on a daily basis, keeping themselves only just afloat with the money they are given to survive on compounded by the difficulty to get any work because of different qualifications or outright discrimination.  At least an hour past where you could have heard a pin drop.

Their stories were that of immense hardship and difficulties, but incredibly they still had enough hope and determination to try to live their hopes and dreams. They explained that part of what keeps them going was being able to share their stories with people like us, countering the increasingly hostile environment and being a part of the humming bird project to try and make sure that future refugees don’t suffer as they did. Truly inspirational.

After a break to digest this session the young people organised some games, quieter games like bannagrams, cards and mafia broke way to several rounds of everyone’s favourite game: sardines. Before dinner we practised a song that we were invited to sing in ‘all age worship’  (like regular Quaker meeting but a bit more programmed to help involve all ages) on Sunday. You can hear our second practice of the song in the video below .

A curry dinner gave us the energy for a fantastic ‘open-mic’ session. We had 10 or so brave and excellent performers, including our very own Eli Carjaval performing his own song “about finding those places and people that help you express your whole self, without fear.” A clip of him singing to us also below . Thank you to everyone who contributed and the audience who listened and encouraged so well.

What a day!

A very gathered and still epilogue. Some hot chocolate then bed.

Sunday sun shone in to the Meeting House. A breakfast of cereal and toast took us to joining all age worship which was coordinated to also be on the theme of ‘welcome’.  After this some participants and members of the meeting joined a workshop run by Ben Pink Dandelion about making our meetings accessible and focusing on things that are important.

Lunch time all too quickly lead to saying goodbyes as we left to journey home.

As one participant said “One of the best trips ever, Will enjoy channelling my new found inner Quaker whenever in need, thank you so much”.

Thank you to everyone who was involved and made it such a great weekend.

You’re more than welcome here.

In Friendship,

Michael, Kathy, Amy, Philip H, Alex and Eli

London Link Singing Citizens Shanty by Boff Whalley (after Roll the Old Chariot Along)

(@elisongs)