Blogs

Presentation to the 81st AGM of IofC UK

23rd February 2022

A statement made by Gerald Pillay, President of Initiatives of Change International, to members of the Oxford Group at the 81st AGM.

Qualities and Strategies of Peacemakers Live with Dr Alan Channer

11th February 2022

Catalysing Change through Film and Communications

Refugees as Re-builders™: Meet the Alumni, Khaled Kabash

28th January 2022

I am Khaled Kabash, 37 years old, a Syrian, a father to four children, an agriculture engineer, and currently a settled refugee in Turkey since early 2013. I finished high school in 2008, graduating from the Faculty of Agriculture in Aleppo, Syria. My career started in 2009 when I joined…

Peacemakers in the Making: Learning to be a Peacemaker 2021

8th September 2021

‘I am super happy to have been part of the Learning to be a Peacemaker course – we learned the true colours of Islam!’ wrote 18-year-old high-school graduate Nma Dahir, from Erbil, capital of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. ‘After attending it, I am totally immersed in this field, and want…

Initiatives of Change’s Contribution to Peacemaking

6th September 2021

by Dr Karen Abi-Ezzi, Lecturer in Peace Studies at the Bradford University’s Department of Peace Studies and International Development. I first learnt of Initiatives of Change in 2000. I was preparing to travel to Lebanon for a research project looking at what was being done after the civil war that…

Uncovering Your Calling

19th August 2021

The following piece is by Gemma Perkins who is in the School for Changemakers alumni. Here, she shares her thinking around transformation and what exciting things can come from being inspired by a moment of personal change. One of the things that I enjoy the most about the School for…

Malta in the 1970's; Ken Noble Reflects on his Volunteer Work

19th July 2021

The following piece is by Ken Noble, who has worked and volunteered with MRA/Initiatives of Change in various capacities for 50 years. Here he shares his memories of how he started volunteering, his early days in Malta, and what this experience taught him… I finished my university exams in early…

How Accompaniment Brings Change

16th February 2021

Thursday’s I love Thursday mornings! Why? From 10 to 11 the IofC UK staff get together to share how we are doing, what we are doing, and take time to reflect. Stories of accompaniment, pastoral care, and other works of service pour out – that is a blessing to us…

Building Trust in a Digital World

9th February 2021

Social media has increasingly played a major role in the development of many modern-day movements, whose aims range from combatting sexual assault (#MeToo) and equal rights (#BlackLivesMatter), to conspiracy theories involving child sex-trafficking (#pizzagate) and vaccination safety (#vaccinescauseautism and #antivax). Now, we see and experience the the rise of polarization…

The Recent Decision on UKAID Reduction

1st December 2020

Is the UK losing its moral stance by not keeping up with its overseas aid contribution?