Warwick Quakers celebrate sustainability

And the Warwick-based Quakers have demonstrated this by hosting a sustainability forum at the Dormer Conference Centre in Leamington to mark Quaker Week, which was earlier this month.

The four speakers at the event were chosen because they represent organisations which have environmental aims: Roger Matthews from Community Energy Warwickshire, which helps people to invest in local renewable energy projects; Gareth Davies from Community Supported Agriculture, who helped establish Canalside Community Food in Radford Semele; John Wharam from the Campaign to Protect Rural England; and John Armstrong, chairman of the Leamington-based sustainability charity Action 21.

Ali Jeffery, one of the organisers of the event, said: “Many Quakers try to ‘live lightly’ and minimise their impact on the environment by making careful choices about the organisations they support and where they spend their money.

“They do this because they believe that a simpler lifestyle is richer in other ways, and that this way of living promotes equality through fairer trade and fairer access to resources, whilst also avoiding contributing to conflict that can arise over access to scarce resources in some parts of the world.

“We wanted to share with others the work of some of the local organisations that help to enable this lifestyle approach.”

The group also sourced the food for the event as sustainably as possible. Almost all the food came from Leamington-based independent shops: Gaia wholefood coop shop in Regent Place, Aubrey Allen butchers in Warwick Street and Bread & Co in Regent Street.

There was also an opportunity for discussion after the talks.

Warwick Quakers meet for an hour of worship at the Quaker Centre in Jury Street, Warwick, on Sundays at 10.30am and at the Dormer Place Conference Centre in Leamington on Wednesdays at 12.30pm. To find out more about the group, visit www.warwickquakers.org.uk

For general information about the Quakers, who have roots in Christianity but are influenced by other faiths and teachings, visit www.quaker.org.uk