AGM & Conference - Saturday 16th May 2026

Hybrid meeting (PPU office & Zoom) - 10.30am - 4.30pm

Over the past year, war and militarism have intensified at an alarming pace, bringing devastating human suffering, accelerating the climate crisis, and deepening global insecurity. The UK government has played a significant role in this trajectory, through involvement in overseas conflicts, escalating military spending, 'gap year' military placements, and an increasingly entrenched militaristic outlook.

Against this backdrop, the PPU continues to champion nonviolence - challenging militarism in our communities and ensuring a clear pacifist voice is heard within wider movements for peace.

Now more than ever, it is essential we come together to strengthen our collective capacity to organise, to speak out, and to advance radically different, nonviolent alternatives in the months and years ahead. Our AGM & Conference is a valuable opportunity to do just that. It’s a chance to connect, reflect, and look forward together. We warmly invite you to join fellow PPU members on 16th May to hear about the past year’s work and, crucially, to help shape what comes next.

Schedule

The AGM & Conference will be held both at the PPU’s London office (1 Peace Passage, N7 0BT) and online (via Zoom), making it accessible wherever you are. This free hybrid event is open to all PPU members, ensuring as many people as possible can take part.

We’ve put together a rich and engaging programme for the day: thought-provoking political discussions, inspiring speakers, an interactive workshop, and updates on our campaigns for peace. Above all, there will be plenty of space to connect, share ideas, build relationships, and strategise together with fellow pacifists. We look forward to welcoming you there!

• 10.00am - In-person attendees arrive at PPU office for refreshments
• 10.30am - Welcome & Council elections
• 10.45am - Campaigning updates
• 11.45am - Workshop: 'What does the Peace Pledge mean today?' - Sarri Bater (PPU Council & OpenEdge)
• 1.00pm - Lunch (provided by the PPU for in-person attendees)
• 1.45pm - Talk: 'The global surge in military spending and military carbon emissions' - Stuart Parkinson (Scientists for Global Responsibility)
• 2.45pm - Short break
• 3.00pm - Panel: 'Can young people talk peace in a world of war?' - Eddie Moriarty (Woodcraft Folk) and Sufia Sadullah (Youth Worker)
• 4.00pm - Group discussion
• 4.30pm - Closing

Book your place now!

The AGM will be a hybrid event, to ensure as many people as possible can participate. It is free to attend, and open to all current PPU members - please book your place now!

Attending online

• Please register your attendance before the meeting by completing the Zoom meeting registration form.
• Bookings for online attendance will remain open until the meeting starts.
• The Zoom meeting will open at 10.15am - please log in before 10.30am for a prompt start.

Attending in person in the PPU Office (1 Peace Passage, London, N7 0BT)

• Please book your place by emailing mail@ppu.org.uk by Monday 11th May, to give us time to finalise arrangements, such as catering.
• The physical event will be an opportunity for members to visit our office and archives, and to meet each other in person.
• Attendees are welcome to arrive from 10am onwards for tea and coffee, and to meet other PPU members. You're also welcome to stay afterwards to carry on informal discussions and socialise!
• We will be providing a vegetarian lunch, tea and coffee. If you have additional dietary requirements please do let us know. If you are able to make a contribution towards the cost of lunch, we will welcome donations on the day.
• Please also get in touch if you have accessibility requirements and we will do our best to accommodate you within our building’s restrictions.

PPU Council Elections

The deadline for nominations has now passed.

There are vacancies for one Chair, seven Council members, and one Treasurer.

The Returning Officer has received one nomination for Chair, eight for Council members, and none for Treasurer.

All members will have received ballot papers in the post, and are requested to return these by post to The Returning Officer, Peace Pledge Union, 1 Peace Passage, London N7 0BT. Alternatively, scans or photographs of the ballot paper can be sent in to election@ppu.org.uk, ensuring that the individual ballot number is clearly visible. In both cases, ballots are to be returned by Friday 15th May 2026.

Please note: members can only vote for up to seven Council candidates, as there more candidates than vacancies.

Statements from all candidates can be found below.

Chair

Peter Glasgow
Events across the world, upsurges in nationalist fervour and an acceptance that increased military spending to support military solutions is the way forward shows that the PPU's position of shifting people from opposing a war to opposing all war is as relevant as ever. Previously as an FE teacher my passion was promoting young people's critical awareness; I would like to see the PPU continue its work in providing alternative ways of looking at the world, at exposing militarism and challenging accepted notions of how things should be done.

As articulated in our Strategic Plan the PPU aims to raise the profile of pacifism in public discourse, articulating its relevance across a range of political contexts. We need to equip our members and supporters to promote pacifist, nonviolent perspectives, and actively resist war, alongside supporting our formal peace education work.

Another important aim is to continue to increase membership numbers.  We must secure a more active and diverse membership, which can adapt the PPU's mission for the modern world. I would like the opportunity to continue the work of supporting staff, volunteers and members as our organisation implements the changes necessary to become even more effective in today's increasingly militaristic society.

I have previously taken a lead within the PPU Personnel function as the staff team operate within a non-hierarchical management structure and I wish to continue to support the outstanding members of our current team and be involved in ensuring any new staff become fully embedded as effective members of this strong team.

A major priority has to be ensuring the PPU's financial stability; I will continue to work with others on exploring fundraising and other finance related initiatives.  Another priority has to be the continuing work to expand our membership and supporters in those communities and groups with whom we have previously failed to engage.

The PPU is going from strength to strength and it is crucial that staff and peace activists are properly supported; action that will help the Peace Pledge Union to continue as the premier pacifist organisation in the UK.

Council

Sarri Bater
I would like to put myself forward for re-election to the Council of the Peace Pledge Union.
I am a peace practitioner and scholar working at the intersection of nonviolence, conflict transformation, and systemic justice, with nearly three decades of experience working across communities, organisations, movements, and institutions. I am committed to continually learning, embodying and growing idea and practices for everyday non-violence and nonviolent system change.

Over my past 2 years on Council, I have contributed to strategic thinking and organisational development, supporting how PPU continues to evolve while staying grounded in its core purpose and values. A key part of my contribution has been gently supporting movement towards greater diversification of Council and the wider organisation, with attention to how this can be done in ways that are thoughtful, relational, and sustainable.

Alongside this, I have contributed to PPU's public engagement, including writing articles for the website, and speaking at public events, offering sessions for the upcoming web series, and was part of the summer camp with Woodcraft Folk. These have been opportunities to extend PPU's work, particularly in connecting nonviolence with wider questions of systemic justice and lived experience.

I have also contributed to collective decision-making within Council and, most recently, supported the recruitment process for the new Communications Manager.

My approach to this role is shaped by long-standing practice in working with complexity, conflict, and systemic change. I aim to support spaces that can hold difference, deepen understanding, and strengthen shared responsibility, while also attending to the structural conditions that shape how organisations function.

If re-elected, I would continue to contribute in these ways, supporting the organisation to remain relevant, responsive, and rooted in its values in a changing context.

Albert Beale
Albert Beale is a militant pacifist, born-again atheist, Londoner, pedant, and Shostakovich junkie; he opposes nationalism without exception. An active member of the PPU and of War Resisters' International since the 1970s, he has frequently represented both in the media, and has held elected office in both. He became a pacifist at school, on a day when someone was hanged "to show that killing people is wrong". Once a computer programmer, then a physics teacher, peace movement jobs include co-ordinator of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, co-editor of Peace News, and editing an international database of peace organisations. He has spent many years as volunteer editor of the Housmans Peace Diary. Anti-militarist campaigning has included a focus on Northern Ireland and the Middle East; he also campaigns over public transport, nuclear power, censorship, sexual rights, over-consumption, and local democracy - amongst other things. He has a varied experience of (civil and criminal) legal issues in a political context (with a 100% acquittal record). He doesn't think it right to be less than open about one's views for the sake of a quiet life; he supports nonviolent direct action in a range of causes.

Davide Dionisi
I have been a PPU member for two years. I joined because I am worried about the pro-war policies and militaristic rhetoric that I see nowadays in the UK, in the EU and in the West. I completely agree with the PPU strategy of active pacifism, active peaceful resistance to war, active nonviolence, remembrance of civil as well as military victims of wars, and I think it should be communicated more widely online and in person. Often pacifism is seen as passivity, while the opposite is true. It takes courage to go against the dominant pro-war narratives in the past and today (my two pence on a pacifist slogan: 'Be brave, be a pacifist'). I am keen to help the PPU to disseminate our message of opposition to war and militarism, e.g. by promoting pacifism education, peaceful protests, petitions and other ways of saying 'no' to the inevitability of wars, rearmament and militarism.

I am for freedom of movement ('How can a human being be illegal ?', Elie Wiesel), for freedom of speech ('I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it' Evelyn Beatrice Hall), for self-determination to be achieved by peaceful means (parliamentary votes or referendums), against the association of war and heroism ('War is organised murder and nothing else', Harry Patch, WWI veteran, hence where is the heroism in joining something that is 'nothing else' than 'organised murder'?) and for a multipolar world or even better for an apolar world where every country is truly sovereign and free to choose not to have enemies and to have friendly relations and trade with any other countries. Sadly, the world we are living in, especially in the West, is very far from my ideals.

Chris Green
I would like to stand for Council because I think I have the experience, time and energy to contribute to the organisation.

Peace Movement Experience
In Summer 1973 I went to Northern Ireland as a Fellowship of Reconciliation volunteer to work in a youth club in the Creggan estate, Derry.  Seeing the British Army operating there re-affirmed my commitment to the peace movement.
During the second intifada I did two summers working as a member of the peace organisation ISM in Palestine, accompanying ambulances, assisting with the olive harvest and escorting children to school to break the curfew. 
In 2004 I founded, and led for 15 years, the charity White Ribbon Campaign UK, which has become the largest organisation aimed at involving men to challenge men's violence against women.
In 2023-4 I was an active member of the Peace Pledge Union fundraising working party and in 2026 of the Remembrance and White poppies Strategy Group.

Organisational Development Experience
I founded two small printing and merchandising workers co-operatives in Hackney and in Manchester and later was a Co-operative and community business development adviser for local authorities. 

Other 
For relaxation I sing in a community choir, Calder Valley voices, play football a couple of times a week, and am an active member of Todmorden University of the Third Age.

Matthew Harbage
I have been a peace activist for 19 years; taking part in protests, petitioning MPs, attending arms company's AGMs and promoting peace in schools and churches. I have been a supporter of the PPU for a number of years, although not always as a paid up member. I have been a white poppy distributor for the last five years both in my church and a local primary school of which I am a governor.
 
The PPU has an important role: To promote pacifism as a viable and intelligent alternative to militarism and warfare, to reclaim 'remembrance' to avoid glorifying past wars, and through encouraging people to make the Peace Pledge to build up resistance to the UK entering future wars. I am interested in joining the council because I believe I can make a contribution towards the strategic approach and direction of the PPU.
 
I am an Anglican priest, currently a vicar in north London and a current member of the PPU Council (I am standing for my fourth year on Council). I have a passion for peace building, motivated by my Christian faith and believing in strength through diversity of tactics and people.

Anton Johnson
Have been a member of PPU for a little while. 
The world is facing challenges, sadly the idea of Peace is seemingly pushed to the back. 
The understanding of Peace, is rooted in how we live our lives. 
This we communicate in our daily interactions in our communities and work places. 
I have a history of being an activist over many years both in the community - my community the LGBTIQ+ and the Labour & Trade Union Movement. I was the Secretary of my borough's Trade Unions Council which focused on bringing people together. 
I was a member of Labour Action for Peace that was founded in 1940 though currently dormant. 
PPU has a rich history and an important role today. 
I live in south London, work as a Welfare Advisor for a NHS service and I am a member of UNISON.

Colin Kerr
I put myself forward for election to the PPU Council.

I am a long-term member of PPU and have served for two years on the Council,
taking a lively interest in the work of the Council and the work of the PPU as a whole, including volunteering in the office throughout the year.

My commitment to pacifism includes activism and outreach including liaising with other groups who share our objectives of opposing war, war education and the use of violence. I am also a member of Pax Christi and the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship.

The specific work of the PPU is as important as it has ever been. A committed and active Council is essential to work alongside all PPU members and supporters, connecting contemporary Pacifism to a wide audience and challenging militarism.

Liz Szewczyk
I am a longstanding white poppy wearer, PPU member as well as volunteer in the PPU office. I first heard of white poppies long before I knew anything about the PPU. Whilst working at a primary school in Hackney, I decided to run a whole school assembly on white poppies for Remembrance Day. I expected flack, but instead parents came to me to find out more and to thank me. This was a prompt to do more. I found Peace Passage and have been involved ever since, mainly packing poppies but also talking about the PPU, most recently in New Zealand where I was for ANZAC Day in April last year and where I found white poppies on various war memorials.

Any questions?

If you have questions about the nomination and election process, please email election@ppu.org.uk.

Submitting motions for debate

The deadline for submissions has now passed.

There will be no motions discussed at the AGM this year, as none have been submitted. Instead, the final session will be dedicated to group discussion, facilitated by Sarri Bater.

Useful Materials for the AGM

Annual Report 2025

We will be covering some aspects of the 2025 annual report in the campaigning updates section, but won't have time to run through it in its entirety. To get a full sense of the scope of our work throughout the year, and to be prepared to ask questions during the event, please read our 2025 annual report, which you can find here.

AGM 2025 - Minutes

Last year's AGM minutes can be found below. Please do give them a read, as they provide important information about the work of the PPU, as well as insights and ideas generated by PPU members during the day, especially from the group discussions.

AGM Minutes

Accounts

We will aim to publish the finalished 2025 accounts here before the AGM, but this might not be possible. In the meantime, members can access the three previous years' accounts below. You can also find a summary of our 2025 finances in the annual report.

2022 Accounts

2023 Accounts 

2024 Accounts