By Car:– From the north, leave the M6 at Junction 32. Follow the A6 to Preston. Turn left at the 5th set of lights, into St George's Road. The Meeting House is on the left. From the south, leave the M6 at Junction 31 and follow signs for Preston North End football stadium. Turn left at the traffic lights near the stadium, then turn right at the next set of traffic lights into St. George's Road. The Meeting House is on the right in 200 yards.
By Bus:– From Preston Bus Station service 6 and service 19 run along Deepdale Road. Alight at St Georges Road, turn left and walk 200 yds to the Meeting House. Service 14 passes the Meeting House but does not run on Sundays.
Our statement on Gaza is at the bottom of this page.
You can find us at:
189 St. George\'s Road, Preston, PR1 6NQ
We meet:
Every Sunday at 10:30am
Also via Zoom: please contact Notices for the link.
Accessibility:
On-street parking in main road or adjacent side streets.
We have a small library. For the catalogue click here
Preston Quaker Meeting statement on Gaza: 12 June 2025
We are sitting in silence, sending our concern, love and hope
To the people of Gaza – men, women, children, to the hostages in Gaza,
And to the many people suffering in the many troubled places in our world.
We believe that genocide and mass displacement are underway in the actions of the Israeli government and its military towards the population of Gaza.
Radical peacemaking requires us to engage with and to acknowledge truth in all its discomfort, complexity and cruelty. Quakers historically have spoken truth to power. We need to heed the promptings of love and truth in our hearts and speak up now, following decades of direct Quaker witness and peace work in Palestine[1] and Israel.
We have watched with horror as the Israeli government has deepened its collective punishment of Palestinians for the heinous crimes of Hamas on 7 October 2023.
Actions by the IDF in Gaza, on the orders of the Netanyahu government, over the past 20 months have reduced the area to rubble, destroyed hospitals, schools and other community resources, and have killed or injured many thousands of children, women and men. The inhabitants have been displaced many times and are starved of food and medical supplies. Many medical professionals, aid workers and press reporters have been killed.
There has been deliberate mass starvation and dismantling of almost all life-sustaining systems within Gaza and a stated intention to expel Palestinians from Gaza. We have heard language and witnessed actions that cannot be justified and strike at the core of our common humanity.
In a world where we are seeing cases in many countries of outrageous inhumanity, dehumanisation and the cruel actions that follow from denying the worth and dignity of all, what is being done in Gaza is no less terrible for not being unique. Our long history of witness and peace work in Palestine and Israel gives us particular experience from which to speak on this issue. The fact that we are speaking about Gaza does not absolve us of our responsibility to learn about and respond to other atrocities around the world.
Central for Quakers is the experience that there is that of God in everyone. From this belief – that all people are unique, precious, children of God – all others follow. We therefore abhor racism, including antisemitism, in all its forms.
We see and uphold those in Jewish communities and in Israel working for peace and justice for Palestinian people. And so, we cannot say clearly enough: it is this current Israeli government that we are led to say we believe is committing genocide. Jewish people are not committing genocide. The Israeli people are not committing genocide. We abhor, and will challenge, any attempt to exploit our words to incite, fuel, or commit anti-Jewish and antisemitic hatred or violence. We abhor, and will challenge, any attempt to use our words to question Israeli people's right to live in peace and security.
For Quakers it is also a tenet that violence can never be the answer. The means are just as important as the ends. This is our peace testimony that has led us for 370 years to eschew all war and all violence at all times. We cry out for the violence in Gaza to stop – for an end to the killing of Palestinians and for the Israeli hostages to be returned home. We cry out for Palestinians and Israelis to be safe and to live thriving, joyous lives in their homelands. Everyone deserves a place to live where they don't feel scared. Our long work for peace tells us that security for some bought with the insecurity of others tears at our collective humanity and is only ever temporary. Peace can never be brought about by the systematic oppression of others.
We therefore use the word 'genocide' after deep discernment and with the aim of opening eyes, minds and hearts. We use this word in the deep hope that the actions it describes will stop. [2]
We call for a ceasefire as the first step towards just and enduring peace in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Sudan, and in the many troubled places in our world. Only then can conflicts be reduced and peaceful relationships develop between neighbouring peoples.
[1] Founded in 1869, Ramallah Friends School has 150+ years of Quaker-rooted educational excellence.
[2] Condensed from Quakers first British church to state belief that genocide underway in Gaza | Quakers in Britain