In concentrating on women, our 2025 annual conference aimed to give a voice to a group who has been under-represented as speakers in recent QUG conferences. Furthermore, one could argue that women are under-represented in leadership roles in religions throughout the world. Our conference was largely planned by women and all the speakers were women.

In two major talks Rhiannon Grant spoke about women, the divine and spirituality, and women and Quakers. She was followed by five women telling their personal stories: Beryl Pankhurst, Rosemary Brown, Andrea Freeman, Dora Bek and Stephanie Grant.

The second part of the conference is written up in Pamphlet 49 – there are contributions from Janet Monahan, Frances Martin, Susan Norris and Georgina Wright.

The contributors:

Rhiannon Grant is a well-known Quaker who teaches and has written extensively about Quaker matters, is a content creator for Quakers in Britain, and is active on various forms of media.

Beryl Pankhurst is a Quaker who lives in London. She has had a varied life and career, with a love of science, especially related to health and the environment.

Rosemary Brown is a Quaker who lives in Bournemouth in 1951. She was brought up in the Church of England and later encountered Universal Sufism. She plays an active role in Quaker life, including leading workshops for the Kindlers.

Andrea Freeman is a live / performance artist (Pink and grAy), psychogeographer, and researcher into communication in dementia. She has been a Quaker for 25 years.

Dora Bek is a solution-focused therapist and Reiki practitioner. Her universalist spiritual quest includes asking what Fox’s faith and philosophy have in common with other ideas of transcendence, conscience, reason, truth and reality.

Stephanie Grant has been a member of Watford LQM since 1982 and held various roles. She is very interested in learning from other faiths and reading scripture from different viewpoints.

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