What a pity that the two feathered visitors to the large meeting house
during a session on truth and inclusivity were not doves, giving our
gathering that sense of peace and harmony
we so desired. No such luck. They were common or garden London feral
pigeons who breached the security and got in through an open window.
Eye wasn't in the room at the time but understands the creatures soon
saw that the location was an unpromising food source and beat a hasty
retreat.
Friends might have recalled an earlier ministry at BYM when a Friend
described seeing a woman sitting by the statue of Eros in Piccadilly
Circus, covered in pigeons she was feeding. 'Feed the birds' was the
ministry.

Could this be described as a movement of the spirit? A young Friend
heard a hissing noise in his backpack as he arrived for Yearly
Meeting. He discovered that his coveted can of 'Lynx' deodorant was
discharging itself. (Eye understands that young women swoon at the
merest whiff of this stuff). Rushing to the window he let the can
discharge into the London air BUT to his surprise it blew back into
the room and the whole group had a 'Lynx' experience.

The little Quaker Quest book Twelve Quakers and Evil was something of
a publishing success after its launch at BYM. Not an easy read, but an
unflinching look at evil through the eyes of Friends. Because it is
such an intense subject, its brevity is welcome, but Eye commends it
to readers.

Eye has had the unenviable task of being the editor's minder at BYM.
We had to watch that she didn't refer to Friends milling around FH as
'conference delegates' or use any of those nasty secular journalistic
phrases she is prone to uttering. Our nerves were wrecked by the end
of the cliffhanger session on small trusteeship. ' Just as I got the
message that meeting for business was also worship', we overheard her
say 'the business and the vision thing are being split up.' We fear
we have a long way to go with this editor.

Britain Yearly Meeting has kicked off (as in started) at Friends House in London, with around 1000 British Friends gathering to work out the crucial issues facing the Society.

The Friend is hoping to provide rolling coverage at its special section.

Last night the Salter Lecture was given by Phil Shiner, who described ways that our government is re-interpreting international law for its war on terror.

The Meeting opened at 7pm and has since introduced the Under 19 programme, heard an introduction on the Business Method and about Quaker work from Meeting for Sufferings.

Lunchtime saw Friends disperse to a variety of Special Interest Groups, including a talk on the project to conserve the Swarthmore Manuscripts and a chance to have a look at them in the Library. They also heard from QCEA and FWCC about work going on overseas.

Tonight the Swarthmore Lecture will be given by Roger and Susan Sawtell, 'Reflections on a long marriage'.

David Phillips continues the debate on drug consumption rooms

Drug consumption rooms (DCRs) were implemented for drugs users as a way of bringing and using their illegally obtained drugs, in a controlled, less hazardous environment. Supposedly offering a “unique and promising way” to lessen the number of deaths by overdose as well as number of needles in public areas, the use of DCRs in the UK is being considered by The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Independent Working Group.

Their organisation The Independent Working Group on Drug Consumption Rooms was created solely for the purpose of assessing the necessity, efficiency of this scheme if it was to be trialled in the UK (focussing on the UK solely because its consistently top when it comes to the highest drug related deaths).They have conducted an investigation over a period of 20 months, reviewing the evidence, extensive research in the more vague areas and collected accounts from a number of people affiliated with DCR’s abroad.

The IWG in conclusion decided that DCRs were a sensible addition to the harm reduction policy and their benefits were substantial. Already situated in 8 countries, 65 DCRs are currently in action, despite clear success theses countries, (out of millions of injections of potentially dangerous illicit drugs, there has only been one casualty) the UK is yet to trial any DCRs.

As you can see there are numerous advantages that would make allowing DCRs in the UK an easy decision. Yes, they are proven to reduce deaths, yes there are controlled conditions and the number of syringes left in public places are reduced; despite all this, do you really want there to be promoting the use of drugs? Do you want to promote the buying of illegal drugs?

As a young person I myself have experienced how easily youth of today can be influenced by their peers, the media and passing ‘fads’. By implementing DCRs, it is likely that a lot of young people may take it as a message of “It’s okay to use drugs”. As much as people may think it would help reduce deaths, it would be the start of a more casual outlook on illegal drugs, maybe even developing into the legalization of them.

My opinion, DCRs regardless of the benefits are not ready to be used in the UK, maybe with a bit of tuning and time, they could be used as an effective way of reducing the extent of drugs related deaths.

Today the Joseph Rowntree Foundation released a report recommending safe drug houses for users. We asked our two work experience students to respond to the proposals. Tu Desomer-Chu starts the debate


"Heroin galleries will save lives"

The headline from the Metro newspaper this morning (23rd May). I for one can not make up my mind whether or not such galleries are a good idea, I mean users will be able to inject and smoke all sorts of drugs in "hygienic" and safe conditions accompanied by guards for supervision. This is promoting and advertising Class A and B drugs to young children, when surely we should be aiming to stop drugs completely. Even the Director of National Drug Prevention Alliance Peter Stocker said it was not a good idea and that we should be giving drug users a "pat on the back" for smoking drugs.

On the other hand, I can see the light about this, the government has been trying so "hard" to cut down on drug users in England but cant seem to do it, so creating these galleries would mean the users themselves will be staying in the rooms with other drug users, meaning that the citizens roaming the streets or walking around in their estate will not be sniffing the scent of weed or being cautious about stepping on a syringes. Also surveys shows that three quarters of people thought drugs were a problem in the area.

This idea is not exactly new, with about 65 projects running all around Europe including countries like Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Spain, Norway and Luxembourg. There are more projects in countries like Australia and Canada and is known to be saving lives in the countries.

What are your views?

Are you going to Yearly Meeting? Could you help with the Under 19 programme? Help is needed to support the core team who plan and run the Under 19 Programme. This is good fun and a chance to be with the Under 19 programme at Yearly Meeting. If you are able to volunteer for a morning or afternoon, or for a lunchtime slot at any point during Yearly Meeting please complete the enclosed form or contact Simon Best, Recording Clerk's Office, Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ. Email simonb @ quaker.org.uk

Two new books you may find inspiring: an anthology from the Quaker
poet Alice Beer and a biography of Theodore Rigg, a Quaker scientist.
Rigg, who died in 1972, was a New Zealand (but born in West Yorkshire)
soil scientist. In ww1 Rigg served with the Friends War Relief
Committee in France, Albania and Montenegro, and in Russia during the
revolution.
After pioneering work on Maori soils he retired and wrote on Quaker
history in Nelson, NZ.
His story is told through family letters and scientific papers by his
daughter Helen, also a Quaker and a scientist, and clerk of Wellington
Monthly Meeting.
Alice Beer is still very much alive and writing. She studied
psychology in her native Vienna before settling permanently in
England. After her husband died, poetry and the Quaker world
beckoned. She is an Elder at her meeting in Leicester. She has
published mainly in small poetry magazines and her second anthology
Talking of Pots, People and Points of View has just been published.
The editor, who has just experienced yet another birthday, alighted on
this verse from Alice's collection.


On Growing Old

Like mice in the night
the years that pass are gnawing
at our life ahead.

Bit by bit the paths
our life takes seem narrower,
steeper and more rugged.

The ruts get deeper,
the woods more dense, the bright star
before us brighter.

*
A Quaker Scientist (The Life of Theodore Rigg) published for New Zealand YM by
Beechtree Press Roturua, available from Penelope A. Dunkley, P.O. Box
6005, Rotorua 3215 NZ. £9 inc.p&p.
Alice Beer's book is available from editor@poetrypf.co.uk or call
07850 537489 at £4.50

I am now on Work Experience, I never thought I would actually work but, here I am, at The Friend magazine. It's been alright I guess, been learning lots of new things about journalism and editorial work I have been helping out, well I don't know about helping about but I have been there. Nice people here making me feel welcomed. The lunch here is good as well, not only does it taste nice but its also FREE!! wooo!. The travel is the only down part though, waking up pretty early and taking a bus, can be a pain with everyone going to work but hey I get free food so who cares. Will update later.....

Contribution from a reader of The Times' Body and Soul column, referring to an article on bumper-to-bumper traffic jams and the calming effects of mantras: "I can recommend being a Quaker as there are many times when 'Be still and know that I am God' is just the ticket, particularly in traffic snarl-ups."
Now that’s really taking outreach to the people where they are.

Judy was collared in Friends House today to be pointed towards the Eastbourne Quakers website, here. As her representative on the world wide web, I was charged to have a look.

The site is simple enough not to scare the horses and has a good eye on the local needs of potential visitors (as well as its Google prominence) by including links to relevant services. It treads the difficult line between keeping Quaker practice simple and not generalising. However, where it excels is in a rather high tech feature: video interviews with Friends of different ages on such questions as 'Do you have to be a pacifist' and 'Where does evil come from?'.

There is a struggle which Meetings are facing as well as other organisations and media outlets. Just because the technology is there, does that mean we all need to jump on the latest podblog bandwagon? There are often techy types forging ahead with the latest big thing (or a simple online calender), only for it to fall flat when nobody else can maintain the technology or work out how to use it (I know this feeling well). However, this seems like a very well targeted project. Friends willing to speak didn't need to know about the technology, they could just be filmed and then somebody puts the videos up in a well rounded package.

Sad to say, I couldn't quite get the videos working on our Office Macs (probably because I'm resisting downloading Media Player, but a bit of tinkering may have done it), but if Eastbourne could go one step further and turn the films into podcasts that could be viewed on iTunes, you'd have the makings of a very accessible medium, especially for young people seeking answers to difficult questions.

Another improvement, of course, would be a link to our website. As they say in cyberspace, :)

Speaking truth to power is not a favourite saying for that great intellectual Noam Chomsky. Here's what he said about it (sent to us by Maria Brown): 'This is a reference to perhaps the only thing on which I find I disagree with my Quaker friends. On every practical activity I usually agree with them, but I do disagree with them about their slogan of speaking truth to power. First of all, power already knows the truth. They don’t need to hear it from us. Secondly, it’s a waste of time. Furthermore, it's the wrong audience. You have to speak truth to the people who will dismantle and overthrow and constrain power... I'm not interested in telling the people around Bush what they already know.'

‘Non-s. veg. ecologically-aware Quaker WLTM Q with GSoH for special Friendship and sharing.’
The days of the dating agency, marriage bureaux or the old-fashioned matchmaker may be coming to an end and in their place is stepping the rather impersonal (but possibly more efficient) sales advertisement. The philosophy is simple, Friends. You wish to make new friends or meet a partner, so advertise. This is a blossoming business which has obviously been very successful for a lot of people. For a modest outlay, you can reach a wide and tailored audience. And a lot of time which might have been wasted on quite unsuitable suitors could be saved.
We can hear mutterings of ‘where’s the romance?!’ Well, romance has a poor track record when it comes to the serious business of forming long term liaisons. A bit more market research is needed and what better place to conduct this than in classified or on-line personal ads. Maybe if more people took this commonsense approach there may be less divorce.
Yes, we are coming to the point! Bearing this in mind, The Friend is considering a special Personal Ad section in our classified pages. Of course, we are consulting readers first. The magazine has indeed run personal ads already in a rather dignified and low-key manner ( for which our advert pages are renowned). Eye is not suggesting anything uncouth but our new section would be clearly signposted as a network for personal relationships. So do tell us how you feel about this (and maybe think up a title). Just a postcard or email will do.

Roger Sanderson asks if any Meetings have had experience of a heat recovery unit in their ventilation system?
'Our architect is very environmentally minded and has come up with the proposal to install a heat exchanger in the new roof, to transfer the warmth from outgoing air to incoming fresh air,' says Roger.

The Friends are cautious however, not wishing to repeat the apostle’s experience. Eye reminds you - 'And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.'
To avoid this acoustical disaster, Roger went along to the Interbuild 2006 exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham, to check out heat recovery units and find a quiet Quakerly one. He thinks, however, the best test would be to visit a Meeting house where one is operating.

He appears to have found what he wanted. He asked the salesman to switch the model on so that he could hear how much noise it emitted. 'It is on' was the reply.

We're glad his Meeting will be properly ventilated from now on. During all this consumer research Roger has become quite knowledgeable about fresh air in meetings. Since new building regulations in force last month mean that houses will be airtight, Roger worries that we will all be starved of oxygen and breathing in too much carbon dioxide. In Meetings we tend only to open windows on very hot days.

A little paranoia is creeping into Roger's voice: 'A medical symptom of high carbon dioxide content in the air is anxiety – even panic,' he tells us. 'Would these symptoms affect behaviour and decisions towards the end of business Meetings?' Possibly. Our ancestors of course braved draughts of gale-like intensity and had the opposite problem. Their answer was long johns.

A cheeky reader, who shall remain anonymous, asks Eye if 'the awkward squad' is a new special interest group within Friends. The reader saw this mentioned in a report from MfS and wondered when the squad might be set up. 'I suspect I may already be a member and it would be good to have contact with others of like mind.' But, our reader hastens to add – 'it is quite scary having views that I feel are disapproved of by the mainstream (safe pair of hands) Quakers.'