PEBBLE Minutes - 29 March 2008

The Public Bodies Liaison Committee for British Paganism

PEBBLE Minutes - 29 March 2008

Date: Saturday March 2008
Location: London
Time: 2.00pm

Present:

Rhiannon Biddulph Williams (PA)
Dan Carpenter (TDN)
Lee Davies (PM)
Jacq Dobson (DP)
Dragon (HFP)
Angela Grant (TDN)
Shaun Hayes (OBOD)
Gwen Hopkinson (DP)
Fred Letch (TR)
Mario Malo (observer)
Lyn O’Callaghan (PM)
Jon Randall (PN)
Emma Restall Orr (TDN)
Steve Smyth (TR)
Thorskegga Thorn (HFP)
Martin Williams (PA)
Steve Wilson (CoBDO; PEBBLE)

Further Abbreviations Used Throughout:

CoBDO : Council of British Druid Orders
DP : Derbyshire Pagans
HFP : Heathens for Progress
OBOD : Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
PA : Pagan Association
PF : Pagan Federation
PN : Pagan Network
PM : Pentacle Media
TR : The Ravens
TDN : The Druid Network

MINUTES

Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Cassandra Latham and Pam Gardner (PF).
Minutes of Previous Meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting were checked for accuracy and approved.
PEBBLE partnerships
JD had contacted the Pagan Leicester Alliance regarding joining PEBBLE and had asked them to contact PEBBLE directly. JR agreed to chase them.
South West Pagans United has gone back to its membership for a second vote on whether to join PEBBLE. If they vote yes, it is expected that they will be in contact for further information.
There were representatives of two potential PEBBLE members at the meeting: FL and SS (on behalf of Jeanette Ellis) representing The Ravens; and SH representing OBOD. Each representative discussed the constitution of their respective organisations and stated that they believed that they fulfilled all the requirements of joining PEBBLE. Entry to PEBBLE was put to the vote for both organisations, and both votes were in unanimous agreement.
Pentacle Media had been approved as a PEBBLE member at the previous meeting, pending approval by its membership. JR reported that this had been approved within two weeks and as a result LD and LO’C were attending today as Pentacle Media representatives.
The representatives of all three new members received welcoming words from PEBBLE members.
ERO reminded the new members that they were not required to make decisions on behalf of their organisations at PEBBLE meetings, but that they should go back to their organisations with all the relevant information for the organisation to decide. However, representatives could make decisions on certain issues, at their own discretion.
Action: Representatives of TR, OBOD and PM to send description of their organisations to DC for inclusion on the partners page of the website.
ERO asked if the Charnwood Grove of Druids could be considered for membership. She described how they are not solely internet based, have a membership of around 80 and are believed to fulfil all of the remaining criteria. ERO agreed to invite a representative to the next meeting.
Amendment to the membership criteria
It was agreed that no amendments were necessary at this time.
2011 census
JR reported that Paganism was not going to be included as a tick box in the census, However, discussions on terms pertaining and relating to Paganism would be counted. This means that Pagans will be able to ascertain far better data about Paganism in the UK than if a single tick box without sub-groups was used. JR has been invited to two meetings in April to discuss counting methods; specifically, which entries will be classed as Pagan for internal counting purposes. In the last census there were 45 terms counted as Pagan, though there is no upper limit.
TT said that she would send some alternative names for ‘Heathen’ to JR.
JR agreed to consult with spiritualists as to whether ‘Spiritualism’ should be included.
Action: JR to report back from the meetings and to send list of terms decided upon to the group and to DC for inclusion on the website.
Pagan Oaths
TT reported that the organiser of the Wakefield moot was campaigning for any specific deity/deities to be acknowledged in the Pagan oath. They had discovered that if you present a serious request to the court staff, they may allow you to using any wording, depending on the view of the judge. On the other hand, they also have the right to refuse any wording, even if it is one of the recommended alternatives available to courts.
SW reported how he had used a Pagan affidavit at an immigration services tribunal. He said that it was worth stressing that since the new wording has been introduced it is more likely that Pagans will seriously consider the implications of their oaths.
Media coverage of Pagans and Paganism
ERO reported that her attempt to gather together contact details of media representatives of each of the PEBBLE partners had failed. She suggested passing this on to DC.
ERO raised the question of how PEBBLE responds to media requests. MW questioned whether we need someone who is trained in working with the media and JR offered to organise a media training day linked to the next PEBBLE meeting. RBW suggested having one person prepare a press release which would be approved by the group before being released. Dragon suggested that as PEBBLE cannot speak on behalf of its partner organisations it would be better if media enquiries were directed to them and that no-one spoke on behalf of PEBBLE.
TT suggested we try and second-guess some of the questions and include the answers to them on an FAQs page of the website.
Action: DC to chase PEBBLE representatives for names and contact details of the media spokespeople in each of their organisations and to publish on the partners page of the website. DC also put a statement on the website that PEBBLE doesn’t speak for its partner organisations, so media enquiries should be directed to the most relevant partner’s media contact.
Website and domain hosting
JR agreed to create and host a closed forum for PEBBLE partners to communicate between meetings to replace the current e-list.
JR also offered to transfer the hosting of the PEBBLE website to the Pentacle servers before the allotted time of handover of the site. JR said he would work with DC on transferring the site.
JR reported that he was monitoring the availability of .com and .org web addresses with a view to buying them when they became available.
Action: JR to create forum and forward details to the group.
MOD and armed forces
TT reported that Zin Walker was working towards getting Paganism listed independently, rather than under ‘other’, in MOD application forms. Zin runs a Pagan awareness network in the MOD.
Police force
JR reported that he had been invited to a Faith Forum for Enfield and that more forces were wanting Pagans to get involved in Faith Forums as they have a mandate of inclusion. MW added that it was important that Pagans were included not just to make up the diversity numbers, but to make a serious and worthwhile contribution.
JD reported that she is the Pagan contact for Derbyshire police.
Action: JR to send DC information for the police page of the website.
SACREs
SW reported that he had taken part in a project run by an unofficial ‘youth SACRE’ on the religious treatment of sex education in schools. The Newham project took the form of a DVD with questions answered by both children and faith leaders. The DVD is to be circulated to all schools in Newham and all LEAs in the country.
JD reported that she had been co-opted onto the SACRE in Derbyshire. Despite two initial objections, she was voted onto the committee unanimously. She described how the Chair had wanted to announce to the press that they had taken on a Pagan, but that JD had declined as this wasn’t done with new members of other faiths. A piece was included on their website however.
ERO reported that Pagans are now on SACREs in Warwickshire and Devon and two more applications were underway in other parts of the country.
Action: ERO to send DC details of where Pagans are involved in, or are talking to, SACREs for inclusion on the website.
Pagan handfasting
JR reported that LifeRites was not currently in operation as its director was unwell. He agreed to monitor the situation and report back.
MW noted that funeral directors often automatically put forward a humanist ceremony if not instructed to do otherwise.
Dictionary definitions
TT gave some background to the project. She reported that the OED had completed the letters M to Q and were working next on R and S, although they have also started prioritising all ‘common’ words. She told the groups that she had already submitted 200 words, each with four independent citations, which she deemed a suitable number. This can include magazines, but not online sources or e-books.
TT also described a project entitled ‘Wiktionary’ where anyone can enter words with a minimum of three citations. She offered to provide guidance to anyone wishing to contribute.
Action: TT to send list of submitted words to DC for inclusion on the website.
AOB
'Supporting members'
JR proposed the appointment of an independent Chair of PEBBLE with non-voting rights. Dragon agreed that it would be good for the Chair to be independent to avoid conflict of interest. TT suggested that as we have 'supporting groups' that are not full partners, we could also have 'supporting members' that attend meetings but don’t represent partners and don’t have voting rights. JR suggested that they would have to be ratified by the group’s voting members. RBW stressed the importance of not setting a precedent of creating positions without due cause. SW suggested that PEBBLE was an organic organisation and can make exceptional allowances to include people with the right experience. He suggested that people might also become 'supporting members' on a temporary basis to work on specific projects. MW stressed the importance of ensuring that they are, and are seen to be, independent.
ERO proposed Belinda Winder be asked to take up the post of Chair. Belinda is in the process of resigning from the PF. The group voted a unanimous yes.
Action: ERO to ask Belinda Winder to take up the post of Chair as a non-voting 'supporting member'
Definition of 'public body'
ERO asked that a definition of what constitutes a public body be put on the website. SW defined a public body for the purposes of PEBBLE as any body funded by the taxpayer, including central or local government, quangos and non-departmental government bodies. Charities that are wholly or partially funded by the government but which are independently governed are grey areas and can be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Action: DC to put definition on website.
Badges
JR offered to produce these for members of PEBBLE for use at meetings, forums, conferences etc. He told the group that if they want one to please send him their details.
Racist groups
TT asked if it was still the policy of PEBBLE that its members cut ties with racist groups. The members voted unanimously yes.
Dealing with complaints
AG asked what was PEBBLE’s policy on dealing with complaints about its partners bringing Paganism into disrepute. Dragon suggested that in the first instance the partner should be approached privately and given a chance to respond.
As the meeting was due to finish, it was agreed that the method of resolution following this initial step would be discussed on the new forum and a resolution policy confirmed at the next meeting.
Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held in Oxford on 27 September 2008.