Category: London Development

Goodbye London Quakers – Hello – What?

Submitted by Fred Ashmore – Clerk to London Quakers

At the Close of the JLAM meeting of 13th June, London Quakers (LQ) will hold its final AGM after 15 years of serving The Quakers of London and lay itself down. The London Quakers Steering Group hope that Quakers in London will take over everything that London Quakers has been doing. Of course, the recruitment of Josh Selfe as our local Development Worker has been a huge vitaliser for all of us in London and the Being Quaker courses he has created are a great resource, long needed. QiL has decided
to appoint two Friends to look after interfaith and interchurch work, which is another aspect of the LQ work that will otherwise be missed.

At present the Arrangements Committee are looking after the website and issuing The Quill which replaces (rather better) the monthly LQ mailings that shared news, announcements and events. We don’t yet have settled arrangements for handling
the miscellaneous queries that come in through the website and facebook and email of the Clerk of London Quakers (We‘ve had rather surprising requests, and suggestions believe me). In future staff will help with that but they will need to know who to go to for decisions.

The most important thing that LQ Steering Group hopes as it lays itself down is that there will be a group to help create, organise and support community events for Quakers in London. You can’t dump this on Josh Selfe. It’s got to be us, Friends. There have been regular events for the past decade. Supporting older Friends,
Housing Inequality, gender diversity, Refugee matters, Death and Dying, Assisted Dying. Someone made these happen. Who will do that for the next decade? We hope to pull together a thriving community of Quakers in London. We hope to cater
for varied interests and groups. But none of it just happens.

Over to you QiL!

Fred Ashmore

3 June, 2026
Getting to Know: Tim

Name: Tim Heath

Role: Co-Clerk of QiL

Tim worships at Hampstead, but where is he looking?

The role of the QiL clerks was formulated to be more than the servants of the meeting, and to be servant-leaders.

As leaders we are seeking a point on the horizon to which all Quakers might aspire.

One of Tim’s enthusiasms is the London visionary, William Blake who once asked ‘Where shall we take our stand to view the infinite and the unbounded?’ Blake knew it would be in London – ‘a human awful wonder of God’. Tim believes it will be in QiL, where everything that lives is holy.

29 May, 2026
Getting to Know: Chaundra

Name: Chaundra

Role: Member of the Development Group & Governance sub-committee

Local Meeting: Friends House

What parts of your service are you looking forward to?: I feel really blessed to be trusted by Friends to help lay the foundation of the next iteration of our community across London. And I think that’s what most inspires me about this work – thinking and trying to discern what will help Friends thrive to do what we feel truly called to do. To listen to the breadth of experience and to the inner light and to find the openings to be really led.

What’s your favourite quote from QF&P?: Dearly beloved Friends, these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by, but that all, with the measure of light which is pure and holy, may be guided; and so in the light walking and abiding, these may be fulfilled in the Spirit, not from the letter, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.

Anything else to say?: I hope that Friends can find opportunities in the new structure and start to help us in the building of our revitalised community. I really hope over the next year, filling out QiL starts feeling like a “doing it together” endeavour.

29 May, 2026
Decision Making at KWAM

Submitted by Susie Paskins (KWAM Clerk on 17th May) & Carol Griffiths (KWAM Clerk of trustees)

KWAM agreed some time ago in principle to join the single Area Meeting for Quakers in London (QiL). We would like QiL to be a success and would like KWAM to participate fully in its arrangements, but there are still areas where further discernment is needed regarding its scope.

We held a threshing meeting in April 2026, facilitated by Rachael Swancott of Woodbrooke, to address the question ’What do we need in order for KWAM friends to be able to make a decision on joining a unified London Area Meeting in a way that is acceptable to us all?

The threshing prompted follow up discussions among us, and a positive re-engagement with the subject. It also highlighted a number of concerns which remain to be resolved, including finances, membership, outreach and community building, and nominations and appointments.

At our May Area Meeting we reviewed a well-argued paper proposing a way forward. This outlined some areas in which we might like to retain responsibilities for activities within a ‘cluster’ of local meetings (as contemplated by the LDG). This included work on outreach/community building for Quakers in South West London; much has already been done in this area and there is a strong feeling that it should continue and be encouraged and funded. The idea of a cluster was greeted with enthusiasm.

Friends are preparing proposals to help us to discern the precise nature of our cluster, including allowing existing KWAM funds to remain available to support this and other aspects of our current Area Meeting that are important to us.

The final decision on whether or not to join QiL will be taken at our July Area Meeting.

28 May, 2026
A single Area Meeting for London: A Quick Recap

The 7 Area Meetings (AMs) in London have agreed to merge at the end of this year to become a new single AM called Quakers in London (QiL). This followed 8 years of exploration and consultation.

Why?
Several of our Existing AMs can’t find people to serve as clerks, treasurers and trustees. No officers – no AM.

How?
All the AMs will merge into the existing charity, London Quakers Property Trust (LQPT). No need for expensive property transfers. LQPT will change its constitution to become an Area Meeting like any other, controlled by its members (us).

When?
QiL is Planned to start in January 2027.

Who is doing the work?
AMs appointed reps to the London Development Group which works up detailed proposals

Who takes the decisions?
Until QiL is formed the London AMs meet together as a Joint London Area Meeting (JLAM). JLAM takes the decisions (that’s us).

Won’t QiL be too big?
34 local meetings will form QiL. That is the largest AM in the UK. We will all have to work to make it succeed and become a true community. Newsletters like this will keep friends informed. Local meetings can continue to meet each other as friends or in new groups to pursue concerns or interests.

Get involved!

Come to the JLAM meetings. Offer service on a role.

Have a question? Send it in using quill@quakersinlondon.org. You can read an even more detailed history of the project at on the Quakers in London website.

14 May, 2026
London Development Group update March 2026
This group has been working together on the development of the single London Area meeting since March 2024, all the minutes of our meetings can be found on the QiL website. We now have three part-time paid free-lancers supporting our work: Sarah Donaldson focusing on project management and legal matters; Linda Craig working on the financial aspects and Kayla Hemsley appointed to support the administration of QiL and the LDG work.

This short report highlights the main matters we are dealing with at the moment:
- Preparing a listing of the further matters for discernment in 2026 by JLAM.
- Preparation of legal documents for the merger of existing Area Meeting charities and a timetable for required discernment leading to merger.
- Preparation of guidance for friends on how we will assume individual membership within the new QiL charity.
- Preparation of plans for the consolidation of AM funds across London and the management of day to day costs and income generated.
- Planning for further briefing meetings with AM Clerks and AM Trustees.
The LDG consists of Friends from each of the current AMs and LQPT, who are here to answer your questions and pass on any concerns, please reach out to them.
9 April, 2026
Welcome to The Quill

With 35 Local Meetings and hundreds of Quakers scattered across the city, good communication is really important. As well as containing everything you’d hope from a newsletter, The Quill hopes to be more than just updates, papers and events. The hope is that it will also serve to build our worshipping community and deepen our relationships with one another.

So, your input matters.

As well as practical information, The Quill will include articles, resources and stories about what is going on throughout the city. If your Local meeting has tried something out that might inspire others to try the same, The Quill wants to hear it. If you’ve come across a really great resource you’d love to share, send it to The Quill. If there’s a Quaker story you want to tell, The Quill’s the place.

As long as it relates to the Quaker community in London, we want to know.

7 March, 2026