The account – the most sustainable personal current account ever brought
to the UK market – will begin with a phased rollout from June this year.

More details here:

https://www.triodos.co.uk/en/about-triodos/news-and-media/media-releases…

Note that Triodos already offer a ‘charity account’ for banking by a
registered charity or community group meeting their ethical criteria.
See here for more details:
https://www.triodos.co.uk/en/business/ethical-current-accounts/charity-a…

The team at Sheffield Supported Lodgings are looking for Sheffield residents who are willing to offer their spare room and support to help young people transform their lives.
Supported Lodgings providers come from all walks of life and offer the use of their spare room for up to 12 months. In addition to accommodation, they also play a key role in supporting young people to develop the practical life skills they will need to live independently in the future.
The Supported Lodgings team offers providers full support, training and guidance throughout from a designated member of staff, as well as a weekly payment of around £150.
The new service is run by national youth homelessness charity Depaul UK (https://uk.depaulcharity.org) in partnership with Sheffield City Council. The charity also provides the hugely successful Nightstop South Yorkshire service in Sheffield, through which local volunteers to provide emergency accommodation for young people in their own homes.
The Depaul Group was formed in 1989 by Cardinal Basil Hulme in response to the growing number of homeless people on the streets of London. He brought together as founders the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and The Passage day centre – all organisations rooted in the life and work of Saint Vincent de Paul.
Though Supported Lodgings in a new service for Sheffield, it runs successfully in many other locations around the UK, including nearby in York.
Nightstop Manager Amy Smith said: “The young people using Supported Lodgings don’t just need a roof over their heads, they also need a stable and secure home environment in which they are supported to mature and develop.
“It’s a chance for members of the local community to make a tangible difference in the life of a young person facing homelessness.”
Anyone interested in becoming a Supported Lodgings provider or finding out about other volunteering opportunities can get in touch via email at sheffieldsupportedlodgings@depaulcharity.org.uk, or by calling 0114 2787152.

Follow this link for guidance from Sheffield City Council (scroll down):

https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/caresupport/health/community-wellbeing-prog…

From one of our friends-

As some of you know, I attend Sheffield Cathedral every now and then for Evensong. Whatever your take on the Anglican church, this service is sublime: one of our city’s most atmospheric buildings, readings from the
St James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer and an excellent choir.

I’ve been saying for years that it’s the best free gig in town.

There’s no need to join in, you can sit at the back and wallow. Sadly however, the 2 evenings I’ve been this week, I’ve been the only person there; there were fifteen in the choir last night, singing just to me –
and now I’m away to Spain for a week and fearful they’ll be singing to the stained glass and the silence.

If you might consider going – it’s 5.45, Tuesday to Friday in term time, lasts half an hour – pick up an order of service in the foyer or just sit at the back in quiet contemplation.

Statement on poverty matters from the Area Church Leaders in Covenant together through Churches Together in South Yorkshire (CTSY)

Jesus said that the poor will always be with us (Matthew 26:11), but he didn’t add – so that’s all right then ! Our responsibility to people in poverty never goes away. We are called to comfort those on the margins and challenge the reasons for poverty.

The use of sanctions in the benefit system undermine human dignity and foundational Christian principles of justice as they impact hardest on those in greatest need. The majority of appeals against sanctions are upheld.

The Government pledged in the 2015 election to make £12 billion of welfare cuts. The Chancellor has announced various welfare cuts since the Election but these fall well short of £12bn.

In the Queen’s speech at the opening of Parliament in May 2016 there was a commitment to new legislation enact “to tackle some of the deepest social problems in society, and improve life chances”, yet the Government Green Paper on Disability (overturned by the Lords in November) would have had a negative impact on many people.

We welcome the Chancellor’s promise in the Nov 2016 Autumn Statement that “The government has no plans to introduce further welfare savings measures in this parliament beyond those already announced” but continue to be very concerned about the impact of those already announced.
We will be working to raise our concerns together to advocate for those communities and people in greatest economic need.

We call upon our local and national government to ensure that any policies designed to cut the deficit and re-order the economy should impact least on people who are already disadvantaged.
We call upon our local churches to pray, reflect and act to combat poverty in the UK, including making themselves more aware of the extent of poverty in their area, joining the End Hunger in the UK campaign.

We will be praying together:
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus, became poor for humanity’s sake,
inspire us by your Holy Spirit
to be aware of the impact our decisions have
on the poorest people in South Yorkshire.
May our actions,
as well as our words,
gladden the hearts of people in poverty in our county,
Amen

Signed: (8 signatories follow)

Rev’d Gill Newton, Chair CTSY, Chair of Sheffield (Methodist) District;
Rt. Rev Peter Burrows, Bishop of Doncaster, (Acting Bishop of Sheffield);
Rt. Revd Ralph Heskett CSSR, Bishop of Hallam;
Pastor Musa Bako, Provincial Pastor, Redeemed Christian Church of God;
Major Richard Borrett, Divisional Commander, Yorkshire South with Humber,
Salvation Army;
Rev. Kevin Watson, Moderator, Yorkshire Synod, United Reformed Church
Rev. Mary Taylor, Regional Minister, Yorkshire Baptist Association;
Kate Napier, Representative of Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Quaker and Jew Sue Beardon, a member of our meeting, has written an opinion piece for Quaker magazine ‘The Friend’, published 9th September.

“I believe as Quakers we should not fall into the easy ‘pro’ and ‘anti’ positions. As Martin Drummond himself says: ‘We were never for you, in that tribal sense. We are for peace, and truth, and justice.’ We have to extend that same attitude to Palestinians, however much we empathise with their plight. Principled impartiality is the stance of EAPPI (Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel) and is very effective.”

See attached for full text.

For more about The Friend, visit https://thefriend.org.
For more about EAPPI, visit: https://www.eappi.org/en
For more by Sue Beardon, visit http://jfjfp.com/?p=69081
Also from Sue, read: On Being a Jew and A Quaker from ‘Quaker Voices’

Many of you may already know that the famous artist, Ruskin, established a museum for the people of Sheffield in Walkley in 1855. You may not know that its first curator, Henry Swann, was a Quaker. Swann was a vegetarian and one of the first people to introduce the bicycle into this country. He also tried (without success) to popularise a new athletic exercise of boomerang throwing.

Swann is just one of a fascinating line of local Quakers about whom most of us know very little. However, we do have extensive Quaker archives – in our own meeting house and in local libraries. One Sheffield Quaker is currently wondering whether any Friends would be interested in setting up a group to research the fascinating story of Quakers in the area.

This might result in a publication and/or a series of exhibitions which would make useful outreach material. Maybe this proposed project could also incorporate some of the research which Friends have recently undertaken into conscientious objection in Sheffield?
It’s not likely that anyone else, other than Quakers, would embark on such a study. If you think you might be interested, do ask for further details at the Meeting House office, eg by email. office@heffieldquakers.org.uk

This project is being advertised in our latest printed newsletter but we never give personal details of individuals, such as names and email addresses on this website.

At Area Meeting we consider reports from Friends who have attended various conferences and events. On Saturday 7th June, at Bamford, we had a summary of a very interesting report on a conference on the subject of moving towards a low-carbon society. Read on here for the start of that report….

Transforming Ourselves: Transforming the System
Creating transition to a Low-Carbon,Sustainable Society – how do we do it?
Gathering at Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire
7th – 9th March 2014

This being the first large Quaker gathering I had attended, I was intrigued to see how it might work. As we
gathered for dinner on the first evening, there was a murmur of polite conversation. Seven of us sat down
together – all strangers to one another. Politeness continued through the soup course. Then, as we tucked into vegetable kievs, the topic of recent documentaries on the First World War arose. One of my companions maintained strongly that Max Hastings’ view was essentially correct – Britain did the right thing in entering the war, there was no real choice. Needless to say, not everyone agreed – and the conversation gained an “edge” to it.

“Ah, good,” I thought – controversy! That’s what we’re going to need this weekend.

So how do we create a transition to a low-carbon, sustainable society? Finding answers to this question is at the heart of the Canterbury Commitment, made at the 2011 Britain Yearly Meeting in Canterbury. What’s been happening since then? Where are we now? Where are we going next? These were the questions posed by Lis Burch, Clerk to the Gathering, before we retired for our cocoa on Friday night. I had the distinct sense that Lis would keep us – over 100 of us – firmly on track over the next two days.

To read the whole report, go to the website for Sheffield and Balby Area Meeting (reports tab) or click here:

http://www.sheffieldandbalbyareaquakers.org.uk/m/bbqu/transforming_ourse…

OUTREACH EVENTS –

Do you know that funds may be available from Quakers in Yorkshire for outreach events?

The Quakers in Yorkshire (QIY) Outreach Projects Committee (OPC) was set up in 2013 to promote outreach, to receive grant applications and to provide funding assistance. Accountable to the QIY Trustees, the OPC comprises one representative nominated by each of the area meetings in Yorkshire and a Clerk/Convenor nominated by the committee in consultation with the QIY Nominations Committee. All these Friends are appointed by Quakers in Yorkshire. The role of the Area Meeting Representative is to make Friends in their area aware of this fund and to advise on the application process.

This guidance is available to any Friend or Attender within the area covered by Quakers in Yorkshire.

The completed Application Form should be sent to: Annabel May Webb who is the Clerk of the Outreach Projects Committee, Quakers in Yorkshire – for her email address please contact Kathleen Wallace, Area Meeting Rep for OPC.