As we remember the life of Queen Elizabeth II, we also remember that earlier this year, it was the Platinum Jubilee celebration of her reign. Newcastle Council of Faiths hosted a tea party to celebrate, and some of our members went along – here’s Ben’s account of it:

“We enjoyed a wonderful Queen’s Platinum Jubilee party with the Newcastle Council of Faiths, hosted by the Reform Synagogue. The food was lovely, with homemade finger sandwiches, cakes, scones, biscuits shaped like corgis and colourful meringues. The sandwiches were made with homemade mayonnaise and featured no meat, as there is no meat in the synagogue. (My favourite was the coronation egg sandwiches.)

Newcastle Unitarians were represented by five attendees; Ben MacLeod, David Venus, Diana Bebby and Julie and Stuart Brown. There was a fun quiz, with prizes for the best table. We did not win, but luckily did not come last! We were very pleased to reconnect with our friends at the Newcastle Humanists and meet new faith groups. The Reform Synagogue gave us an informal tour, opened their ark and showed us the Torah scrolls, which were rescued from the Nazi occupation of Europe. It was a wonderfully congenial afternoon and we had all of our questions about Reform Judaism answered with great knowledge and patience. Thank you so much to everyone involved for such a wonderful afternoon.”