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Memorial to Quaker Service
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The Memorial is now (mid March 2013) almost complete.
The Inauguration of the Memorial will take place at
the National Memorial Arboretum on 20th April 2013.
We are hoping to see many FAU and FRS members and their families there on the day
The Quaker Service Memorial Trust now has its own website:
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Proposed Memorial to Quaker Service
at the National Memorial Arboretum
A reminder of our testimonies to Peace, Simplicity, Truth,
and Equality will be offered at the base of the four seats.
Further detail are given the Feb 2013, Oct 2012 & June 2011
editions of the Staffordshire Quaker
ABOUT THE MEMORIAL
The immediate purpose of the memorial will be remembrance of the service by Friends Ambulance Unit and Friends Relief Service during World War II. For the Society today it will also be an opportunity for outreach. Some 300,000 people visit the National Memorial Arboretum, at Alrewas near Lichfield, each year. A memorial which is explicit in its statement of Friends' witness and commitment to peace may well find resonance, provided its message draws on our common humanity.
There will be six texts, four carved on the backs of the stone seats and two on the front. The wording will need to be succinct. The proposed wording on the backs of seats is:
1: FRIENDS AMBULANCE SERVICE - The Unit enabled conscientious objectors to serve in theatres of war. They cared for civilian and military casualties of any nation in both World Wars. Seventeen members were killed in World War II.
2: FRIENDS RELIEF SERVICE - The Service was set up in 1939 to relieve civilian distress in practical ways. It worked in a spirit of peace at a time of war in the UK, Europe and further afield.
3: NOBEL PEACE PRIZE - "It is the silent help from the nameless to the nameless which is the Quakers' contribution to the promotion of brotherhood between nations" Citation from the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Quakers in 1947.
On the front
"Let your life speak, answering that of God in everyone"
George Fox, 1624 - 1691, founder of Quakerism.
4: RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS): The Society emerged after the civil war of the 1640's with a commitment to live by the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars". Quakers continue to work worldwide for peace and reconciliation.
On the front
Quaker meetings for worship are often held in a circle, a symbol of unity and equality.
Wording adapted from Meeting for Suffering agenda, 2 April 2011.
QUAKER SERVICE MEMORIAL TRUST
The memorial has received the approval of Meeting for Sufferings and the Arboretum Trustees. The work is being progressed by the Quaker Service Memorial Trust, a registered charity (Charity number 1142335; Clerk: Anthony Wilson, 10, Beacon Mews, Lichfield, Staffs WS13 7AH. Tel..01543 258016 or E-mail Anthony Wilson). The trusts website is: www. qsmt.org.uk .
Progress and Funding
With a great deal of help from a variety of sources; we have managed to raise the funding to cover the cost of construction. There are, however, ongoing annual costs.
We are also involved in continuing work, which includes interviewing as
many FAU, and FRS people who served during the war as possible,
and educational work with Arboretum staff and Jennie Carson from
Manchester University
There is also the cost of exhibition material which we are trying to
spread far and wide.
Contributions should be made payable to the Quaker Service Memorial
Trust, and forwarded to Anthony Wilson (at the above address). A
leaflet is available in hard copy, but you may also download it and
print your own copy using the following .pdf files:
Quaker Service Memorial Appeal Leaflet (inside)
Quaker Service Memorial Appeal Leaflet (outside)
An exhibition about the work of the Friends Ambulance Unit and the Friends Relief Service will be held at the National Memorial Arboretum from 17th to 27th April 2013 to coincide with the Inauguration. This will give the public an opportunity to find out about Quaker Service and all Friends are welcome. The exhibition can be loaned and sets are being distributed in strategic places for easy transport.
Further details from
Anthony Wilson, 01543 258016 or Paula Knight 01283
791214
Further information and images of the memorial are given in the February 2013, February 2012, October 2012 and June 2011 editions of the Staffordshire Quaker.