Young Quaker

Young Quaker (YQ) is a monthly magazine produced by Young Friends General Meeting, providing a forum for religious, social, environmental and other issues. It lists national and international events as well as changes of address and other notices. Because it is the magazine of Young Friends General Meeting, Young Quaker is primarily aimed at people between the ages of 18 and 30. The magazine is also read by young people under 18.

The magazine is printed on recycled paper by The Birches Printers, West Midlands. It is sold predominantly on a subscription only basis and there are subscribers across the UK, US and Europe. Individual copies are sold from the Quaker Bookshop, Friends House, London.

In 2005 subscriptions increased by some 15%, while the average length of the magazine was 24 pages.

History
Young Quaker was started in 1922, a natural development from the Young Friends movement which started around 1910.

It stopped after a couple of years and resurfaced in the mid 1930s as a quarterly European publication. It went to ground again and then came back in the 1940s during the second world war as a London news sheet for young Friends.

In 1956 production began regularly and the magazine is now in approximately the 51st year of continuous production. A full archive of these issues can be found in the library at Friends House.

Editing the magazine
The magazine is edited over a weekend by two editors out of five, who piece together the contributions and advertisements with their own thoughts and ideas to form the final magazine, which is usually between 24 and 32 pages. A 36 page issue has been produced, as have editions of less pages, though these are now less common.

The five editors are appointed by Young Friends General Meeting, having been discerned by that Meeting's Nominations Committee. They are appointed for a period of three years, during which time, each editor will work on approximately 15 editions.

Online presence
Since January 2006, Young Quaker has also had its own website. The website contains several elements not contained within the printed magazine, including articles on successful Quakers, colour versions of the magazine’s pictures and an archives section containing articles from previous issues. It also contains a growing message board for feedback about the magazine and the website. This site is updated on a monthly basis, roughly in line with when the magazine is edited. This means that some elements are available on the website before they are available in printed form.