Membership Spotlight highlights the work of our member organisations and outline how other individuals and NGOs can support them. Below we shine the light on Quakers.

Who are we?

Quakers are a faith group committed to working for equality and peace. We challenge the promotion of war and violence and instead encourage education rooted in peace and justice. In Scotland and across Britain, we work with politicians, charities, and other partners to ensure children are allowed to thrive in a peaceful environment where everyone’s rights are respected.

Recent work

In recent years, we have worked as part of Together particularly in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill, in order to help realise our shared vision of ensuring all children and young people growing up in Scotland have their human rights respected, protected, and fulfilled. In responding to this Bill, we worked with young Quakers to help communicate their thoughts and feelings on it to politicians.

Promotion of Peace Education

As part of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, we know that children are to be ‘brought up in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity’.

To help promote this commitment, last year, Quakers in Britain produced a report Peace at the Heart: A relational approach to education in British schools. In this report, we discussed the positive impact on young people when they can explore issues related to peace and climate justice and develop creative ways to share their understanding within their community. A motion in the Scottish Parliament recommending the report and its approach gained cross-party support from MSPs, and we were offered space in Parliament for a travelling exhibition, ‘Peace at the Heart of Scottish Schools’, designed to gather different views of how we build peace in our schools and communities.

In conjunction with the report and exhibition, children in Primary 6 from Oakgrove Primary School in Glasgow, in partnership with undergraduate music students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, have created a musical performance “Wangari’s Trees of Peace”, performed in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 21 September (International Day of Peace) 2023. The original inspiration for the performance came from Jeanette Winter’s children’s book, Wangari’s Trees of Peace, which tells the story of Wangari Maathai’s response to deforestation in her homeland of Kenya and her work with women to establish Green Belt Movement Kenya. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her Green Belt Movement’s contribution to world peace.

The performance aims to help communities and parliamentarians to recognise the key role and value of peace education in our schools. It shows the power of story and music to help children understand world events, the joy of living adventurously, and the potential impact of acts of courage carried out together to achieve lasting peace and climate justice.

Following this event, the Peace at the Heart travelling exhibition will be shown in the Scottish Parliament Members’ Lobby on 26-28 September 2023, and then at various locations throughout Scotland.

Our aims from the event and exhibition are that we want to see an explicit duty to educate for peace in line with international commitments, and for teachers to be trained in peace education. This would build on the Scottish Government’s current guidance on prioritising relationship-based approaches in schools, and include topics such as coaching circles, and restorative practices such as peer mediation.

Getting involved

If you are interested in peace education or any aspects of it, please contact Ellis Brooks on EllisB@quaker.org.uk. We have plenty of case studies and resources for schools and local authorities looking to find ways of embedding peace education which we are happy to share.

Closing question: What animal would you be?

Quakers are too varied to be characterised by one animal. However, it is often said by those trying to clerk our business meetings, where we all have an equal voice (and like to use it!), that it can be like trying to herd cats!

Get Involved with Together

• We’ve created new resources for children and young people to respond to The Scottish Government’s consultation on a new Human Rights Bill for Scotland, click here to view.
• Are you a Together organisational member and would like to collaborate for a Membership Spotlight? Email: caitlin@togetherscotland.org.uk
• Would you like to find out further information about joining Together’s Membership? Find out further information by opening this hyperlink.
• Donate to our Kiltwalk and Skyline Fundraising Activities. We have Sponsorship packages available for organisations. To donate visit our JustGiving Page