A RELIGIOUS group will mark the 50th anniversary of its meeting house by opening its doors to friends and neighbours.

The Ealing Quaker Meeting House in Woodville Road, Ealing, will be hosting an afternoon of history, crafts and children's activities to mark its 50th birthday this Saturday between 2pm and 6pm.

Wendy Sender, of Ealing Quakers, told the Times: "This is an opportunity for us to invite our neighbours and members of the local community to an afternoon of activities and history.

"Before the Meeting House was built, Quakers used to meet in private houses or rented rooms in Ealing.

"The new meeting house gave Ealing Quakers a permanent base, and the extra space meant that a children's meeting could be established alongside the adult one on Sunday mornings."

The Meeting House was built back in 1954 although the group had been meeting in Ealing since 1903, when a small group established a weekly meeting for worship in a private house in North Common Road, Ealing.

It was not until the 1950s that a site, the materials and the money became available to build a modest single-storey brick meeting house.

The site in Woodville Road had previously been occupied by an Edwardian house, which had been destroyed by a fire in the 1930s.

The Quakers are a religious group who value all people and oppose anything that harms or threatens them.

They also work to achieve human rights for all, which includes ending forms of slavery that still exist and challenging racism.

The At Home afternoon is free and is open to everyone at 17 Woodville Road, Ealing from 2pm - 6pm on Saturday, July 17th