Blogs

Denis Nowlan - New Executive Director, IofC UK

8th May 2024

Denis Nowlan, New Executive Director of IofC UK, speaks about his first few weeks in his new role. “I’m just two months into this job and it gets more fun and more fascinating each day. There are so many things going on, so much to learn about personalities, projects and…

Join me in the Franciscan Prayer for Peace

26th April 2024

May I ask you to join me in the Franciscan prayer for peace? On 22nd April 2024, The Oxford Group held the 83rd Annual General Meeting. Newly appointed Executive Director, Denis Nowlan, closed the meeting with the personal reflection below. St Francis Reflection We began today’s meeting with a prayer…

'It Shouldn’t Happen to a Methodist Minister': Mary Lean Reviews Leslie Marsh’s Memoir of an Adventurous Life

25th April 2024

‘It Shouldn’t Happen to a Methodist minister’: Mary Lean reviews Leslie Marsh’s memoir of an adventurous life When Leslie Marsh qualified as a church minister in the early 1950s, he did not expect to find himself treading the boards as the leading lady in a pantomime. His life – as…

Julie Welch Reflects on Facilitating our Most Recent Online Peace Circle

25th April 2024

After finishing our most recent online Peace Circle, one of our volunteer facilitators, Julie Welch reflects on her experience. I recently co-facilitated on an online Peace Circle that ran over 8 weeks and had participants from UK, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Colombia and Egypt. As a Peace Circle facilitator, I…

The Refugees as Rebuilders™ Gala Fundraiser

27th March 2024

On Wednesday 19th June 2024, we will be holding a very special event at our offices in London. The Refugees As Rebuilders™ Gala Fundraiser promises an evening of entertainment, a delicious meal, and engaging guest speakers, including esteemed alumni leading inspiring roles in their communities. Additionally, there will be live…

What do the Soviet Nobel Prize winner, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling have in common?

22nd March 2024

TV quiz shows are understandably popular. Watching someone win – or fail to win – a large sum of money can give vicarious pleasure and pain. Here is a question that I couldn’t have answered until recently…. What do the Soviet Nobel Prize winner, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, and Harry Potter creator…

Lotty Wolvekamp Reflects on the Theme for International Women's Day 2024

4th March 2024

Inclusion; IofC Netherlands Lotty Wolvekamp Reflects on the Theme for International Women’s Day 2024 Inclusion is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day. Strangely enough it made me think immediately of its opposite: exclusion. Throughout my life there have been numerous occasions where I felt excluded, both in my…

Peace is not a word but a behaviour...

27th February 2024

Peace is not a word but a behaviour...the first line of a poem written by , Alhamis Dicko, a young Malian refugee in Mauritania and current Refugees as Re-Builders™ participant. Wanting to know more about what prompted him to write these words, we sat down with him to learn more.

2023 Global Refugee Forum; Reflections from the IofC Delegation

26th February 2024

2023 Global Refugee Forum; Reflections from the IofC Delegation In 2023, The Global Refugee Forum (GRF) took place from the 13th – 15th December in Geneva, Switzerland. Every four years, UNHCR holds this Forum, bringing together diverse stakeholders to delve into practical strategies to not only mitigate the immediate challenges,…

New Year Honour for Dr Teame Mebrahtu

25th January 2024

Dr Teame Mebrahtu, an international advocate for the peaceful integration of refugees and a respected academic - who also became one of Bristol`s first black magistrates in the 1980s - has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours.