The 74-year-old has been a Quaker for more than 50 years and says it plays a major part in how she lives her life.

"Fundamentally it drives my life," says Lorna.

"The values of peace, equality and simplicity are central to Quakerism and the way we feel about people and the globe.

"They are the things I value very strongly and try to live my life by them. I don't always succeed but I do agree with the underlying principles and try to live quite simply."

Quakerism, also known as the Religious Society of Friends, is a Christian-based movement devoted to peaceful principles. It has no set beliefs other than the shared view that there is a God or divine sprit in all people.

Lorna, a retired Hartlepool College of Further Education lecturer, first joined the movement as a young woman in the mid 1950s when she lived in Wales.

Although a regular Christian churchgoer, she was beginning to question the world around her.

"I had just started thinking about vegetarianism and saw all creatures as my brothers and sisters," said Lorna.

"That was part of it. Then I read a book called Autobiography of a Yogi and it put me on to a different way of thinking as an ordinary churchgoer."

She maintained the Quaker lifestyle when she moved back to Hartlepool and attended meetings with her mother, Alice Bendle, in York Road.

When they became the only remaining members they began attending meetings in Norton, near Billingham, which is part of the Tees Valley Quakers and where Lorna is now the meeting's appointed overseer.

Like other churches they meet on Sundays, but unlike your typical Christian church, there is no singing, no minister and no preaching.

Quakers worship largely in silence around a large table although everyone is free to stand up and speak when the mood takes them.

Lorna explained: "We worship in silence as we believe it is where we can really feel our spirituality and God. I like the silence, simplicity and friendship of it. There is no judgement on anybody.
"It is like having an extended family."

Her daughter, Lyz Jones, who is a "birth right" Quaker as she was born into the movement, agrees.

She said: "It is so nice to go to meetings and know you will never be judged. Everyone has got their own beliefs and you have the freedom to explore ideas and bounce them off people which is absolutely wonderful."

Today there are just around 15,000 Quakers in Britain. But their influence is felt around the globe.

A large part of their work sees them working behind the scenes in countries like Israel and in Africa to bring peace between opposing Governments and warring nations.

For three years, Lorna was a member of the movement's national Quality, Peace and Social Witness committee, which oversaw the work against injustice happening all over the world.

Such work has seen the number of Quakers internationally rise.

But because their numbers are small and their work often unseen, most people have little knowledge about the movement.

Lorna said: "People have generally heard of Quakerism but don't know a lot about us like how we are structured and how we meet."

Fellow Hartlepool Quaker Mary Waldmeyer added: "Some people think we are a bit wishy-washy compared to other churches that tend to have a strong line on certain issues."

But Quakers are lobbying the United Nations for a ban on child soldiers and are concerned what impact ID cards would have on people's freedom.

In a bid to raise awareness, Lorna recently helped the Tees Valley Quakers to stage a series of meetings in Middlesbrough and to attract more members from all faiths including Buddhists, Muslim and Anglican Quakers.

Lorna said: "The meetings were quite successful. People who came along said they felt welcome and able to talk,"

To find out more about the Tees Valley Quakers contact Michael Wright on (01429) 231254 or log on to www.quaker.org.uk

Quaker factfile...

• QUAKERISM arrived in England in the 1650s with George Fox credited as the movement's major founder.


• Fox believed the church had lost its way and argued for a more free spirit-filled kind of Christianity that was not oppressive of people's race, sex or class.


• In June 1652 he preached to 1,000 followers on Firbank Fell, in the Lake District, and emphasised the personal nature of a person's relationship with God.


• From that time Quakerism spread to London, Europe and America.


• The term Quaker is thought to refer to a time when George Fox told a magistrate to tremble at the name of God.