Page 25 - Edition Summer 22 News and Views revised 31.05.pub (Read-Only)

We want to share information, and we encourage one another to do so.
There would be value in having posters, focussed upon refugees and their needs, for Meeting
House notice boards. Enquiries will be made.

We agreed to meet again on Monday 20th June at 2.30pm, by Zoom

Sharen Green will share a new venture. She has been an attender at Poole and Wimborne
Local Meetings and went out to Palestine as an ecumenical accompanier in a program managed
by Quaker Peace and Social Witness. She is a prime mover in Wessex Safe Haven group. The
new venture of this organisation is to rent two houses - one for an Afghanistan family and
another for a Ukrainian family. Those contributing to this scheme would pledge to pay a regular
amount towards the rent of the properties for a period of one year.
You may know that the Safe Haven group bought a house, for a family of Syrian refugees in
Charminster which has been successful in meeting their needs..

Watch out for the report in the Autumn/Winter Edition of News and Views

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Some reflections on the Regional Gathering – April 23 2022. Len Wigg

I am sorry so few Friends in this part of the Region attended. It was entitled ‘The Quakers in
Britain in a time of Covid and a conflicted World. Parallels with early Quakers’ led by Ben Pink
Dandelion. I know some Friends have attended courses at Woodbrooke, or participated via
zoom in courses he has led, and so perhaps chose not to join.

However I found it illuminating and stimulating, not least for a brief comment he made about the
change that zoom has made to Quakers and how a large number of young people have made
contact with Friends during the time of the pandemic. This has tended to be about COP26 and
climate change, the political disconnect and now war and refugees. The wish for change and
idealism, that many adolescents have, clearly resonates with Quaker testimonies.

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Then on Saturday May 6 I was part of a small group of local elders who inevitably discussed
this as well, and added insights from our own ‘Way Forward’ group. Our Area Meeting
membership is predominantly elderly, and many wish to resume gatherings in Meeting Houses.
That is NOT where the young meet, but via social media.

However I believe our zoom meeting must continue because it has allowed us to remain
connected. I found it invaluable having moved house to Poole in summer 2020 and not knowing
very many Friends at that Meeting. We have been glad to welcome Friends who are now house-
bound, become home carers, or latterly been on holiday. Let us embrace this diversity that
technology now provides.

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