Emma Roberts

My article in The Friend about Quaker Chaplaincy is showing that we need to do more explanation for ⁦@BritishQuakers⁩ Links in the Video. A Call to Chaplaincy- are British Quakers ready to show up? (Can we cool off on the protest and PR?) youtu.be/YFLomrLr_P0

I was delighted to speak to Andy Gallie @gallieandy1 about Gambling Addiction and what supports recovery both in the prison service and the armed forces. Today Andy works for Beacon Counselling Trust @BCTNorthWest and is a great advocate for awareness of gambling as a primary addiction. Thanks Andy, your story and reflections are a powerful tool in empowering others to make meaningful changes to how gambling recovery can work. I’m pleased to share this interview on Remembrance Sunday in honour and f your service and support to veterans. #RemembranceSunday Andy Gallie’s gambling addiction and prison time gives unique insight into peer support and recovery youtu.be/gTv6MU8wNSQ

LGB Christians Responds to Amnesty 'Anti-Rights' Report: 'A Growing Threat' - LGB Christians lgbchristians.org.uk/2026/10…

Yesterday my choir sang at a memorial service for the disaster at Aberfan in 1966 which killed 116 children and 28 adults. Swansea Minster, St Mary’s Church, is dominated by a rotating, glowing globe as their latest art installation makes a dramatic impact on the performance. The musical performances were interspersed with narrators telling the awful story of the No 7 spoil tip mixed with heavy rain forming a slurry that deluged the primary school. The brass band from Gwaun Cae Gurwen and my choir Cor Ty Tawe and other soloists and singers created a moving evening. The whole evening was conducted in Welsh and English. As usual for Welsh language events the evening closed with the Welsh national anthem Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau- The Land of My Fathers. Here is a clip of the chorus Gwlad Gwlad! Always stirring.

October 7th is a sombre and heartbreaking date etched in our hearts now. Today I am thinking of all the Jewish people mourning loved ones, communities and the entire region that has been afflicted by those atrocities and the aftermath. The Quaker prayer today is to Hold all in the Light who are affected by this tragedy. Sending you Love and Light.

As a person new to Varifocals I predict that @RoryStewartUK will reveal his contact lenses mean that he lurches forward to focus. But you really need to sort that out Rory- what on earth did Alibhe Rea make of it! Very weird. I saw him do a similar but different tactic of scrunching up his cheekbones on the interview with @michaelgove Get back to the opticians like I’ve just done.

I’m so pleased to have spoken to @TinaBeattie on Quakerology. Long form interviews exploring culture and politics from a faith perspective. As usual Tina is brilliant in setting out the importance of nuance in Catholic Moral Teaching and how it relates to social and cultural issues today. It’s fascinating to me , as a liberal Quaker, how much we can agree upon. Tina Beattie, Catholic feminist, banned by Vatican, supports Same-Sex Marriage and Women's Rights youtu.be/0uglWUvjnOA

My work as academic and chaplain puts me in a unique position to comment on today’s news. I’ve seen university culture change over three decades so that critical thinking and robust feedback has diminished when paying students call the shots. The unwillingness to give and take robust criticism has been shocking to witness and catastrophic on the culture and resilience of individuals. Each day I am insisting on standards in an evermore gently gently culture. It’s not healthy. As a chaplain, I speak with the suicidal every week. Suicide kills. It is never a good idea to talk about the “they” and “the system” and the “isms” and “phobias” that would make the suicidal believe that such things have a power over their own actions. “If I kill myself then that will teach them” but No actually it won’t because your actions are your own responsibility and we want to keep you safe as you pass this period of crisis. Jason Arday, like all those facing suicide ideation today, deserved better help and protection but I expect his family are distraught that nothing they could do or say prevented this. What I know is that there are fundamental cultural issues at play in our universities which also set up this man to fail. I’m sure the public pressure recently has been awful for him and it is still not the case that one single event causes a suicide. Samaritans guidance is very clear on this. Please be careful about how you speak about suicide if you have no experience around it. Building resilience is the key here. In schools, universities and wider society. Keep it real. Take responsibility, listen closely to your detractors and examine your own conscience and ego. Also be humble enough to seek and accept help and support. You do not need to be perfect. We are all flawed human beings. As I share daily with despairing men in prison- God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Rest in peace Jason Arday.