Find out about QCOP's activities here.
Members' evenings are held every two or three months by zoom. There is either an invited speaker or a discussion among members on a topic of interest. Upcoming events are advertised to members and on the Events page of this website. Here are some of our more recent events; for recent past events see also the Notices page of the QCOP section of quaker.app.
March 2024. An Evening with Alistair Currie, Head of Campaigns and Communication at Population Matters.
January 2024. ‘Family planning and birth control must not be discussed under any circumstances.’ Sue Cariss told us about her experiences working as a volunteer with the Anglican Church in Tanzania. Sue told us about the womens' perspective on the ground. At the time she was there, 45% of the population was under 15. Some people, woman and children in particular, were living in truly destitute circumstances. We heard about some of the difficulties involved in setting up any sort of discussions addressing womens’ health concerns, and attitudes to having many children.
July 2023. Considerations in Strengthening Family Planning Programs. Talk by Marc Okunnu, former director of the Africa region of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Marc worked for more than 43 years in the field, focusing on reproductive health and family planning programmes particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
As a Quaker recognised body, QCOP gets an automatic invitation to hold Special Interest Meetings and to run a table at the Groups Fair at Yearly Meetings.
QCOP has an annual general meeting usually held by zoom in June. Besides formal business of reporting on accounts, membership and activities, the AGM usually involves a discussion, talk or other activity for members.
Recently, QCOP members have been invited to join with American Friends from Quaker Earthcare Witness, who kindly time their `journal club' meetings to be evenings in the UK. Their are some professional demographers in their group who take us through an academic paper on a topic of relevance. Here are some examples:
October 2023. A discussion based on the paper An Analysis of Three Decades of Increasing Carbon Emissions: The Weight of the P Factor which goes to the heart of the population and sustainability issue.
From time to time, QCOP makes presentations to Quaker Meetings and other groups, either online or in person. If your Meeting or group might like to hear from us, please do get in touch. Here are some examples.
In 2021, Nick Chetwood made presentations to Warwick Local Meeting and Newbury Meetings. David Tinsley and other members of the QCOP Steering Group made a zoom presentation to the sixth form at Ackworth School by David Tinsley and other members of the QCOP Steering Group.(zoom)
In 2023, Jonathan Riddell and Caroline Series made a zoom presentation to Hampshire and Islands AM and in 2024 gave a similar presentation to the East Midlands Climate Justice Group.
In 2022, QCOP commissioned a play ‘Breeding Grounds’ from Journeymen Theatre, a Human Rights theatre company supported by Quaker Meetings. It is a play exploring the dilemmas that face us as we try to live more sustainably during the climate crisis and rising world population. The launch took place in Stroud in June 2022. Journeymen Theatre estimate that during their 33 performances, over the 12 months of the play, they reached at least 800 people. Even in meeting houses, the audiences were drawn from beyond the Quaker community. Lynn Morris writes “We are so grateful to QCOP for leading us into this particular work. We think it has impacted upon people who may not like what Breeding Grounds has to say but hopefully will find it hard to ignore what they’ve witnessed.”
Audiences donated a total of £1,293 for CHASE Africa, supporting organisations that enable access to family planning, healthcare and rights, while protecting the environment and building resilience to climate change. A big thank-you to everyone who made a donation.