2025 Award
Nominations for the 2025 Quaker Truth & Integrity Award have been open since 1 January.
The Award will be made to either an individual or an organisation in recognition of an exceptional contribution towards the enhancement of standards of truth and integrity in public life in Britain. Nominations may be made by individual Friends or any Quaker body and should be submitted to quakertruth@gmail.com. The closing date is 30 April.
Peter Taylor receiving the 2024 Quaker Truth & Integrity Award from the QTIG co-clerk Gerald Hewitson and inspecting the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to American and British Quakers in 1947.
Second Quaker Truth & Integrity Award
The second Quaker Truth & Integrity Award has been awarded to the journalist Peter Taylor:
The Award was conferred at Friends House, London, on Friday 8 November.
The citation reads:
The 2024 Quaker Truth & Integrity Award is being conferred on the BBC journalist Peter Taylor. The award is made in recognition of his outstanding work over the years, especially in relation to the Troubles in Northern Ireland and his interaction with Jihadist groups from Al Qaeda in the wake of 9/11 and the so-called Islamic State. Peter’s painstaking and brilliant reporting has been based on seeking to bridge differences and understand those from extreme traditions. In doing so, he courageously and often at personal risk made a material contribution towards preparing the way for the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement, crucially involving the IRA. He has also investigated the power of Big Tobacco and is recognised to have made a substantial contribution to the progress that has been made over many years in the field of smoking and health. He is the author of ten books, the most recent being Operation Chiffon. The Secret Story of MI5 and MI6 and the Road to Peace in Ireland. In his 50 year career he has made many award-winning landmark documentaries for both the BBC and ITV and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both BAFTA and the Royal Television Society.
Peter’s work has, we feel, implicitly been conducted in sympathy with the objectives of the Quaker Truth & Integrity Group as set out in its 2022 Declaration (https://quakertruth.org/).
We live in an age in which journalists are under relentless pressure. Peter Taylor’s journalism is of the kind that is so badly needed for society to operate on the basis of truth and integrity. Instead, journalists often find themselves working against a background of intimidation, misinformation and reluctance or refusal to engage and listen with others. The methods of terrorism may be despicable, but that does not exempt us from seeking to understand underlying motivations of political violence. The resolution of the extreme difficulties in Northern Ireland has shown what is possible, illuminated by his recent scoop interview with the MI5 officer who played a crucial part in encouraging the IRA to end its ‘armed struggle’ and embrace peace. We applaud Peter Taylor’s work in this regard and are honoured to dedicate the second QTIG Award to him.
Gerald Hewitson
Co-Clerk, Quaker Truth & Integrity Group
28 October 2024
First Quaker Truth & Integrity Award
The first Quaker Truth & Integrity Award has been announced (see https://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/investigative-journalist-carole-cadwalladr-receives-first-quaker-truth-award).
The following is the citation:
Truth and integrity have been at the heart of Quakerism since the mid-17th century.
Out of a deep concern over the decline in standards of truth and integrity in public life, the Quaker Truth & Integrity Group (QTIG) has instituted an annual award recognising an exceptional contribution by a British individual/organisation towards the enhancement of standards of truth and integrity in public life.
QTIG is honoured to announce that the recipient of its first such award is Carole Cadwalladr. As an investigative journalist and author, Carole has with great courage exposed serious instances of malpractice and threats to democracy. In doing so, she has made a major contribution towards the enhancement of truth and integrity in public affairs.
In seeking to promote democracy and the rule of law over and above personal interests, Carole is an exceptionally worthy recipient of the first Quaker Truth & Integrity Award.
Gerald Hewitson
Clerk, Quaker Truth & Integrity Group
22 June 2023
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Quaker Truth & Integrity Award Terms of Reference
https://quakertruth.org/files/revised_t_i_award_terms_of_reference_14_9_23.docx