QPSW Annual Conference 2010

QPSW Annual Conference 2010
Quakers Networking for Peace: Exploring the Work of QPSW
26 to 28th of March 2010
Hayes conference centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire.

Outline of the Agenda
At registration we were informed to which base groups we had been assigned, each group bearing the name of a different fruit. The members of each group ate together on the Friday evening and met for two discussion sessions over the course of the weekend.
After the evening meal on Friday night, the first session was an introduction to QPSW staff by Helen Drury. This was where the 10 staff present at the conference introduced themselves to the attendees and gave a very brief description of their work.

Saturday's itinerary comprised a keynote speech by Val Ferguson on the long tradition of Quaker Social Witness and work for peace with personal observations on organising Quaker activities by this long established friend. A Base Group session and lunch was followed by the first workshop and later an opportunity to meet the staff and discuss in more detail their work. The evening was available as free time or to attend an entertainments session organised amongst attendees.

Sunday morning contained the second workshop session and the final meeting of the base groups. After lunch and Meeting for Worship people departed around three o'clock.

Personal observations by Gareth Rees
The Friday evening session was very useful. As a complete newcomer to Quaker Peace and Social Witness this was a fascinating overview of the wide variety of work carried out in our name.

Val Ferguson's speech on Saturday morning was entertaining and inspiring in equal measures and demonstrated what a life devoted to service can achieve.

The first Base Group session involved the usual sharing of name, experience and what we hoped to get out of the conference. During this it became apparent that most people were new to the work of QPSW and indeed many were new to Friends having been nominated by their area meeting to attend. The group then went on to explore what was our personal relationship with peace in our own lives and in our community.

My first workshop with Debbie Taylor provided information on how Quaker values can be promoted through grant giving. QPSW Grants fall into two areas firstly higher education and helping people into work and secondly relief grants throughout the world for unforeseen natural disasters. This was an admirably concise and articulate presentation full of useful information and even finished before the allotted time.

The afternoon's meet the Staff session provided some fascinating detail about the different areas of QPSW’s activities. Of particular note was the contribution made by Rachel Brett who is the Quaker United Nations organisation representative for human rights and refugees. She demonstrated the dedication required to do a taxing and time-consuming job where the benefits of lobbying and advising may not be seen for over a decade and always several years after the start of any initiative.

On Sunday the second workshop led by Stuart Martin described Quaker support in networking for peace in South Asia. Again, despite having lost his notes, the speaker gave a highly informative talk with plenty of practical advice for anyone trying to facilitate networking whether at home or abroad. This advice was based firmly on experience and gave one the feeling that you too could make something happen.

The second base group session discussed our experiences and impressions of the conference. Although most people had found it enjoyable and worthwhile many people said they felt it challenging and somewhat stressful. We were reassured that we could all do our bit to help regardless of whether that bit was large or small, whether talking to nations or talking to the window cleaner (that was an actual example that came up).

After the meeting for worship I think that most people came away tired but with a great deal of positive and useful information to think about.