Interfaith Peace Award for Ann Farr

Ann Farr

Sunday, 12 October, marked the start of the World Week of Prayer for Peace, originally a Christian event started in 1974 and now open to all faith traditions. Resources are produced each year to help communities come together and pray and reflect on making peace, in the spirit of its original Chair Dr Edward Carpenter, former Dean of Westminster Abbey: 'The peace of the world must be prayed for by the faiths of the world.'

The opening on-line event, attended by more than 50 people, included the awarding of the Wilson/Hinks Peace Award, in memory of two former Chairs of WPWP, The Revd Gordon Wilson and The Revd Sidney Hinkes. The award recognises significant contributions by individuals, organisations or projects in furthering peace, justice and reconciliation.

This year the award was given to two women, Ann Farr from the UK and Francoise Nwabuto from Cameroon for her work on women's health care and education.

Ann has a life-long commitment to peace and peace education in particular and gives wonderful witness to the phrase: making the local global and the global local!

As a teacher in Coventry, Ann worked with the local authorities to produce resource materials for schools for, among other things, on the war history of Coventry and Dresden and how this led to Coventry becoming a City of Peace. She also worked in an advisory role with schools, supporting teachers and nurturing peace and justice education. Ann has been a firm and constant presence in the Chapel of Unity in Coventry Cathedral, being part of their committee and organising, for many, many years, annual events for Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Coventry Peace Month.

She has served on the Birmingham Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission and is a member of the Coventry Peace and Justice Group in its work. In recent years this group has focused on Local Authority Pension Investment in arms companies. This has included advocacy and campaigning work as well as nonviolent direct action to draw attention to the issue.

In 2004 Ann was part of a Pax Christi England and Wales delegation to the West Bank, and Bethlehem in particular. This exposure has led to many more solidarity visits to the West Bank, developing strong friendship links. In 2010 Ann became an Ecumenical Accompanier in Palestine and Israel and was based in in a village near Nablus which experienced constant harassment from Israeli Settlers. Ann has returned several times, 'filling in' when others were unavailable and bringing her calm, strong presence to difficult and sometimes tense situations. She has also co-organised exposure visits to Palestine with Pax Christi E&W and with Pax Christi International. Between 2020 - 2024 Ann was Chair of Pax Christi England and Wales.

In her response Ann said: "We are sent out to be peacemakers, and we do that by working for justice, where we see it is missing. We are privileged to be alongside and to accompany others at different times and in different places. We listen to them, speak out with them and take whatever action is possible for us at the time. And we do all this together.

"I give thanks for the privileges I have had in visiting so many significant places and people on this journey, for all those I have worked alongside and for all those family, friends, colleagues and fellow members of peace group, who have prayed, encouraged and supported in so many different ways, to make the work possible."

LINKS

Week of Prayer for World Peace: https://weekofprayerforworldpeace.co.uk/peace-prize/

Pax Christi: www.paxchristi.org.uk