Outreach Projects
The Outreach Projects Committee (OPC) was set up in 2013 to support and encourage all forms of outreach and inreach, receive grant applications and provide funding for projects from any Quaker Meeting in Yorkshire not funded locally. Outreach, in Quaker terms, may be defined as:
‘helping people to find us and, when they do, to offer them welcome, encouragement and friendship. It can involve holding events and activities, putting up posters and being more visible; it can also involve working as meetings to deepen and enrich our life together so that we can be a place where seekers might find a spiritual home’. (www.quaker.org)
It has often been commented that it is not just the outreach work itself but also the preparation and working together involved with outreach that can be spiritually enriching for both individuals and Meetings. In many ways sharing what it means to live our lives as Quakers first demands that we look inwards and examine ourselves.
Examples of projects funded by the OPC recently have included:
- stalls at a local Peace Fair and library,
- displays,
- museum exhibitions,
- publicity for a public talk about Quakers.
However, funding is not limited to a particular form of outreach, and we would like to encourage a wide range of projects. So if you (as a Friend or Attender) and/or your Local/Area Meeting are considering a suitable project, please apply. The terms of the OPC were recently modified to also include funding for Kindlers workshops at Meetings in the Yorkshire area.
Each Area Meeting has a representative on the OPC who would be happy to facilitate any applications. They can be contacted with enquiries or applications using the email outreach@quakersinyorkshire.org.uk
Further information and application form
See these documents:
Procedure for considering applications
The Outreach Projects Committeee normally meets quarterly in January, April, July and October. Applications received by the 1st of the relevant month will be considered by the Committee at that month’s meeting and a decision will follow shortly after.