There was a shared moment of quiet concern when we walked into the crowded lecture hall and saw the slide promising a discussion of the challenges facing the National Trust in the 21st Century. We quickly assured ourselves that we were seeing an advertisement for March’s distinguished lecture and settled down to be introduced to listen to Alan Milburn explain the problem of social mobility and some the solutions proposed by Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. Alan’s lecture was global in scope, attempting to distil lessons on increasing social mobility from many different experiences.

He owned the actions of those who have governed the country and reflected on his generation’s comparative economic fortune. At the same time, his lecture was clearly speaking to that same generation and that same ruling class. A thorough and well thought out talk was brought to earth by the answer to the last question of the session, “What can I do to improve social mobility?” Alan reminded us that whilst large changes might be needed to change society, only small changes are needed to change lives, he encouraged us to take small improving actions and to remember that all change starts with an argument.

After this we took a short stroll down to The Peacock where we had a lovely meal (it looks like the sharing platter is value for money!), talked through the lecture and caught up on our lives. This was a good chance for me, new to Nottingham Young Quakers, to get to know everyone a bit better. The evening ended with a round of letter signing, as Jaz and George had written a bundle of letters to various MPs on behalf of the group expressing our concern over the premature cancelation of the “Dubs Amendment” resulting in hundreds of unaccompanied minors in Calais being refused entry into the UK. It is our hope that these letters might play a part in affecting a small change which would see a significant positive change in the lives of those children.

Ben Boo

We were blessed with beautiful blue skies on Sunday, February 19th for another thoughtful and enjoyable Nottingham Young Quakers meetup. We started the day off with a hearty breakfast at Annie’s Burger Shack, which caters to the group’s varied dietary requirements and serves suitably huge ‘American’ portions of delicious breakfast foods. It was lovely during breakfast to go around the table and hear about everyone’s highlights of the week, which ranged from profound to humorous!

After breakfast, we all walked the short distance over to the Broadway Cinema to attend a free screening of Pay It No Mind, organized by the University of Nottingham’s People and Culture Team as part of LGBT History Month. Pay It No Mind is a short biographical documentary following the life of Marsha P Johnson (1945 – 1992), a revolutionary trans activist, drag queen, and sex worker who was a central figure in the 1969 Stonewall Riots and subsequent gay liberation movement in New York City. This important piece of documentary film, which at times had us howling with laughter and at times moved us to tears, beautifully portrayed a vital figure in LGBT history who is often forgotten by mainstream accounts of the gay rights movement.

An aspect of the film which many of us were particularly struck by was Marsha’s comments on her own spirituality, which she spoke of as a huge solace for her in what was, all told, a very tough life. She describes Jesus, for her, as “like a spirit to follow me around and to help me out in my hour of need, and listens to all of my problems and never laughs at me.” From making sure to always greet each person she passed in the street with a friendly ‘hello’, to co-founding STAR — a charity which provided shelter for homeless LGBT youth — Marsha also spent her life practicing faith in action. One friend describes her as like “Jesus with that loaf of bread and that fish, Marsha always had something to share. Not only her good will and thoughts. A bag of potato chips. She would just hand to a group of kids.”

After the screening, we all headed over to the Friends Meeting House, stopping briefly at Cow (a vintage clothes shop) in town to drop off donations of sanitary products for The Monthly Gift Notts, a campaign hoping to increase the quantity of sanitary products available at food banks etc. for homeless people and others with limited access to them.

Once back at the meeting house, we used our collective creative skills to put together a handmade ‘get well soon’ card for a member who is currently struggling with ill health. Having missed the main group meeting for worship earlier in the morning, we then held a short but much appreciated meeting for worship of our own; this was a thoughtful close to the event and a helpful space in which to contemplate the spiritual significance of the morning’s activities.

Joe

As usual, Nottingham Young Quakers have been meeting up to have fun and take part in cultural events in the city. Sunday 19th February saw us having brunch at Annie’s Burger Shack before going to see Pay It No Mind, a film screening at Broadway Cinema as part of LGBT history month hosted by the University of Nottingham. As a first timer to Annie’s I was impressed by their ability to make anything vegan, even bacon!

The film was about the life story of Marsha P. Johnson, a drag queen and revolutionary trans-activist living in New York from the 1960s to the 1990s. It was an incredibly inspirational and moving film, so I’m really glad we were able to watch it together.

We then supported the local Monthly Gift campaign, which provides sanitary items for homeless and disadvantaged women across the city. We donated sanitary products to the pink box inside the vintage clothes shop Cow in Hockley. If you would also like to donate products here’s a link for more information: https://www.leftlion.co.uk/read/2017/february/a-monthly-gift-notts

Having missed Sunday morning Meeting for Worship, we then headed back to the meeting house for a shorter 15 minute Meeting, allowing for reflection in response to our thought provoking morning. Whilst at the meeting house we also make a feel better card for a poorly Friend. A fun packed morning indeed!

Emily