Keith Wilson

I am saddened to hear that, very soon, I will have to say farewell to an old friend: the Woodbrooke Centre. Saddened, but not surprised. I have visited Woodbrooke several times recently and each visit has strengthened my feeling of an acceptance that the place had no long-term future. Maybe this was inevitable. As the trustees pointed out in their announcement, much has changed of late, and putting Woodbrooke on a sound financial footing was becoming increasingly difficult…

 

Nevertheless, I think that with the closure of Woodbrooke, the Quaker community – and I include Quakers outside the UK – is losing something unique, precious, and irreplaceable. But I must declare an interest. Over the years I have found Woodbrooke to be an invaluable resource. It was a place where I could work quietly and comfortably, with library resources, food, accommodation, and spiritual sustenance readily to hand.  Am I simply being selfish in mourning the demise of the Woodbrooke Centre?

I think not. I am surely not the only one troubled by the loss of the only dedicated centre for Quaker learning in the UK. We are reassured that Woodbrooke Learning will continue, delivering courses online and via the Woodbrooke Where You Are programme. There must, however, be concerns about the future when those who develop and present the courses will no longer have a physical base from which to work. As many discovered during COVID times, home working is rarely an ideal permanent solution.

Also homeless is the Centre for Research in Quaker Studies which looks after postgraduate research. Perhaps that doesn’t matter – after all, there are only around 15 students. I have the privilege of being one, and I hate the thought that I could be part of the last group of postgraduate Quaker students in the UK.

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