 | This articlemay rely excessively on sourcestoo closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from beingverifiable andneutral. Please helpimprove it by replacing them with more appropriatecitations toreliable, independent sources.(December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 Humanists UK logo | |
| Formation | 1896; 130 years ago (1896) |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Members | 150,000 members and supporters[1] (2025) |
President | Adam Rutherford |
Vice President | Alice Roberts Shaparak Khorsandi Jim Al-Khalili Polly Toynbee A. C. Grayling Laurie Taylor |
Chief Executive | Andrew Copson |
Publication | New Humanist (est. 1885) |
| Affiliations | Humanists International |
| Website | humanists |
Formerly called |
|
Humanists UK,[2] known from 1967 until May 2017 as theBritish Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotessecular humanism and aims to representnon-religious people in the UK[1] through a mixture of charitable services, campaigning on issues relating to humanism,secularism, andhuman rights, and through publishing the magazineNew Humanist.
The charity also supportshumanist and non-religious wedding, funeral, andbaby naming ceremonies inEngland and Wales,Northern Ireland, and theCrown Dependencies, in addition to a network of volunteers who provide like-mindedsupport and comfort to non-religious people in hospitals and prisons. Its other charitable activities include providing free educational resources to teachers, parents, and institutions; apeer-to-peer support service for people who face difficulties leaving coercive religions and cults; work to promote tolerance and understandingbetween religious communities and the non-religious; and work to promotehumanist values and understanding of humanism. The current president of Humanists UK isAdam Rutherford and the chief executive isAndrew Copson. The association currently has 70 affiliated regional and special interest groups and claims a total of approximately 140,000 members and supporters.[1]
Humanists UK also has sections which run as staffed national humanist organisations in both Wales and Northern Ireland.Wales Humanists andNorthern Ireland Humanists each have an advisory committee drawn from the membership and a development officer. Wales Humanists and Northern Ireland Humanists campaign ondevolved issues in Cardiff and Belfast and work to expand the provision of humanist ceremonies, pastoral care, and support for teachers in those countries.[3][4]
The organisation's Articles of Association sets out itscharitable aims as:
Reflecting these, Humanists UK's 2021–2025 strategy defines its remit as:
By advancing the humanist approach to life, we inspire and support non‑religious people to be happy, confident, and ethical, and we work with them for a better society.
— Humanists UK strategy, 2021–2025[6]
It defines its three strategic outcomes as:
These three strands cover, broadly speaking, Humanists UK's education work,interfaith dialogue, and public awareness campaigns; the charity's support programmes offering direct support, includingpastoral support andhumanist ceremonies; and its public policy agenda, which includes lobbying onhuman rights and equalities issues.[6]
The organisation traces its origins to theUnion of Ethical Societies, which was founded in 1896 under the leadership of American-bornStanton Coit. The Union brought together the numerousethical societies existing in Britain.[7] Amongst the important founding figures wasLady Elizabeth Swann (who presided over the inaugural conference). Other figures included the feminist writerZona Vallance (its first Secretary), executive committee memberMay Seaton-Tiedeman (also asuffragist and divorce law campaigner),[8] chair from 1900 to 1901Ramsay MacDonald (who would go on to becomePrime Minister), and the writer and criticLeslie Stephen (father ofVirginia Woolf).[9] Stephen served multiple terms as President of the West London Ethical Society.[10]
The Union of Ethical Societies changed its name to theEthical Union in 1920 and was incorporated in 1928. In 1963H. J. Blackham became the first executive director.[11]
In this period, the Ethical Union's projects focused on addressing legal and social barriers to non-religious people, as well as the needs of the urban poor, racial minorities, and elderly. Such projects included the Humanist Housing Association founded in 1955 (which exists today asOrigin Housing),[12] the Agnostics Adoption Society, later known as the Independent Adoption Society (IAS) founded in 1963 (made obsolete in the 1980s by non-discrimination laws),[13] and the Humanist Counselling Service in 1960 (partially subsumed by theBritish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy),[14] and the umbrella network Secular Organisations for Sobriety (providing evidence-based, non-religious alternatives to thetwelve-step programmes).[14]
The Ethical Union became the British Humanist Association (BHA) in 1967, during the Presidency of philosopherA. J. Ayer.[15] This transition followed a decade of discussions which nearly prompted a merger of the Ethical Union with theRationalist Press Association and theSouth Place Ethical Society. In 1963 the first two went as far as creating an umbrella Humanist Association of whichHarold Blackham was the executive director.
In the 1960s, the organisation campaigned for reform of theEducation Act 1944's clauses on religion in schools and it was active in the campaign to legalise abortion and homosexuality. It supported repeal ofSunday Observance laws and the end of theatre censorship, the provision of family planning on the NHS and other reforms. More generally the BHA aimed to defendfreedom of speech, support the elimination of world poverty and remove the privileges given to religious groups. It was claimed in 1977 that the BHA aimed "to make humanism available and meaningful to the millions who have no alternative belief."[15]
The local ethical societies united in 1896 had (mainly during the 1950s) renamed themselves as humanist groups and their number grew over time, becoming today's network of affiliated local humanist groups. A network ofcelebrants able to conduct non-religious funerals, weddings, naming ceremonies and same sex affirmations (before the law allowing gaycivil partnerships) was also developed and continues today as Humanist Ceremonies.[16]
Social concerns persisted in the BHA's programme. The BHA was a co-founder in 1969 of the Social Morality Council (later transmuted into the Norham Foundation), which brought together believers and unbelievers concerned with moral education and with finding agreed solutions to moral problems in society.[17] The BHA was active in arguing forvoluntary euthanasia and the right to obtain anabortion. It has always sought an "open society". It is credited with substantially popularising the salience and use of the concept in Britain. In 1969 it held an influential conference,Towards an Open Society, at theRoyal Festival Hall.[18]
Throughout the period, the number of people professing no religion grew steadily. This led to the creation of new programmes, as well as older programmes becoming redundant due to market forces stepping in or government action. For example, growing numbers of non-religious people led to numerous newhousing associations forming which did not impose religious restrictions on who could use their services. The Humanist Housing Service was spun off from the BHA and acquired by a commercial provider.[12] Meanwhile, the BHA's adoption service, whose focus had been non-discriminatory and interracial adoption, became obsolete followingnational anti-racism legislation.[13] Still, new services came into being to suit the needs of the times, including the Humanist Bereavement Project.[14] The Humanist Counselling Service, whose early work had been subsumed by the development of the BACP, was restarted in the 1990s response to growing awareness of discrimination and mistreatment of non-religious prisoners, hospital patients, and armed forces members inchaplaincy-based support services.[14] This programme was re-established in 2016 as theNon-Religious Pastoral Support Network, together with other projects under a "Humanist Care" programme group.[14] Humanist Care's other service reflected the changing demographics.Faith to Faithless was founded by ex-Muslim humanists to provide specialist support to people leaving high-control religions and cults, who are sometimes labelledapostates and subjected toshunning andhonour-based violence.[19]
The BHA also campaigned for reform ofBBC broadcasting policy, including preferential treatment of religions and "religious privilege" in broadcast scheduling.[20] Throughout the period, it told the BBC that its policy banning non-religious people from appearing on theThought for the Day slot in Radio 4'sToday programme was discriminatory.[20] In April 2009 a "breakthrough" in the BHA's campaign sawAndrew Copson invited to participate as a humanist representative in the BBC's short-lived Standing Conference on Religion and Belief when it replaced the Central Religious Advisory Committee.[21]
In May 2017, the BHA changed its operating name to Humanists UK. Its chief executive, Andrew Copson, said that the change followed "a long, evidence-driven process with focus groups of non-religious people across the UK and research involving over 4,000 of our supporters... Humanists UK represents not just a new logo, but a totally new, friendly look that captures the essence of humanism: open, inclusive, energetic, and modern, with people and their stories placed first and foremost...".[22]
By the 2020s, Humanists UK had achieved several key victories in relation to its service provision. Following changedNHS England and prison service guidelines on pastoral care, non-religious pastoral carers were embedded in many NHS trusts and local prisons as an example of best practice, and Humanists UK was an integral part of the spiritual care sector.[23][24] In 2023, theMinistry of Defence awarded Humanists UK endorsing authority status to provide humanist pastoral carers to serve alongside religious chaplains in the army, navy, and air force.[25] TheWelsh Parliament also appointed a humanist pastoral carer to Welsh politicians, reflecting the significant non-religious population in Wales.[26]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Humanists UK was part of the Government's moral and ethical advisory group, on the basis that humanists conducted a more significant share of British funerals than many religions. At the peak of the first national lockdown, Humanists UK organised a virtual "national memorial ceremony" led by its then-PresidentAlice Roberts,Mark Gatiss,Joan Bakewell and others.[27] Humanist funeral celebrants and pastoral carers were designated as "key workers" duringlockdowns in the United Kingdom,[28] and Humanists UK directed thousands of its members towards volunteering with mutual aid programmes and food banks,[29] and in support of the Covid vaccine rollout.[30] Humanists UK's Chief Executive was also invited byNHS England to lead a national ceremony of commemoration for NHS staff in 2021.[28]
A number of perennial humanist campaigns saw success or significant progress in the late 2010s and early 2020s, including the legal recognition of humanist weddings in Northern Ireland and Jersey. Humanists UK also counted other wins aroundorgan donation registers across the UK,[31][32] same-sex marriage and legal abortion in Northern Ireland[33] (later itself conducting the first same-sex marriages),[34] legal changes to allow early stage at-home terminations of pregnancy,[35] and the creation of Safe Access Zones around abortion clinics in response to rising levels of harassment experienced there.[36] A major legal win concerningReligious Education curriculums in 2022 also led to humanists joining mostStanding Advisory Councils on Religious Education as full members.[37]
In 2021, Humanists UK celebrated its 125th anniversary. It launched a newHumanist Heritage website, cataloguing much of its 125-year history and the wider history of humanism in the UK,[38] and received cross-party video messages of congratulations from theLeader of the Opposition andLabour, SirKeir Starmer; theFirst Minister of Scotland and leader of theScottish National Party,Nicola Sturgeon; from the leader of theLiberal Democrats, SirEdward Davey; the co-leader of theGreen Party of England and Wales,Siân Berry; and a warm letter of thanks from theConservative UK Government.[39]
In 2025, Humanists UK announced that it had completed a merger with theRationalist Association after "more than a century" of close collaboration. This change saw Humanists UK take over the RA's responsibilities as the publisher ofNew Humanist magazine, transformingNew Humanist into "the UK's newest major print publication", with more than 26,000 print subscribers and an online readership of more than 130,000.[40]
Humanists UK continues to work closely withConway Hall Ethical Society (formerly the South Place Ethical Society), the UK's other longstanding humanist charity.
The organisation opposesfaith schools because "The majority of the evidence [...] points towards their being an unfair and unpopular part of our state education system which the majority of people in Britain want them phased out."[41] In addition, they argue that faith schools are "exclusive, divisive and counter intuitive to social cohesion" and blame religious admissions procedures for "creating school populations that are far from representative of their local populations in religious or socio-economic terms."[42]
While the organisation is opposed to faith schools receiving any state funding whatsoever, it supports theFair Admissions Campaign which has a more limited scope because "it furthers our aims of ending religious discrimination and segregation in state schools; and secondly because we know how important this particular topic is."[43] The organisation campaigns for reform ofReligious Education in the UK including a reformed subject covered by the national curriculum which is inclusive of non-religious viewpoints, such as "Belief and Values Education". They believe that "all pupils in all types of school should have the opportunity to consider philosophical and fundamental questions, and that in a pluralist society we should learn about each other's beliefs, including humanist ones".[44]
Humanists UK President-elect Alice Roberts was criticised for sending her child to a faith school,[45] despite Humanists UK's campaign against state-funded religious schools. She responded that this was the very point of the campaign: that she, like many other parents, had little choice over where to send her child[46] and that she would have preferred a non-faith school option local to her.[47]
Humanists UK also support humanist volunteers on the localStanding Advisory Council on Religious Education which currently determine theReligious Education syllabus for each local authority. Educational issues have always featured prominently in Humanists UK campaigns activities, including efforts to abolish compulsory dailycollective worship in schools and to reform Religious Education so that it is "Objective, Fair and Balanced" (the title of an influential 1975 booklet) and includes learning about humanism as an alternative life stance.
The organisation opposes the teaching ofcreationism in schools. In September 2011, Humanists UK launched their "Teach evolution, not creationism" campaign,[48] which aimed to establish statutory opposition tocreationism in theUK education system.[49] TheDepartment for Education amended the funding agreement for free schools to allow the withdrawal of funding if they teach creationism as established scientific fact.[50] In 2019, Humanists UK's Wales Humanists branch revived the campaign in partnership withDavid Attenborough after theWelsh Department of Education omitted to include similar safeguards against teaching creationism in schools.[51]
Humanists UK has long campaigned in opposition tocollective worship laws in the UK which require all schools to hold school assemblies "of a broadly Christian character". In 2019, the charity backed two parents to take a human rights challenge to those laws, arguing that the state had a duty to treat non-religious pupils equally and by effectively isolating those who withdraw from compulsory worship, discrimination occurs.[52] Later that year, Humanists UK launched a new website,Assemblies for All, which compiles school assembly resources from NGOs, charities, government sources, the BBC, and businesses to make it possible for teachers and school leaders to put on "inclusive assemblies" on diverse topics – including the environment, mental health, and public holidays – as opposed to the collective worship required by law.[53]
Through its education website Understanding Humanism, the charity also provides resources to teachers who want to include humanist perspectives and information about humanism in lessons.[54]
The organisation campaigns for asecular state, which it defines as "a state where public institutions are separate from religious institutions and treat all citizens impartially regardless of their religious or non-religious beliefs."[55] It points to issues such as the joint role of theBritish monarch (both Supreme Governor of the Church of England and Head of State), the reserved places for bishops in theHouse of Lords, the status of theChurch of England (the officially established church[56]), and other "discriminations based on religion or belief within the system" such as those in education and Public Services.[57]
Humanists UK has supported therights for those who need assistance in ending their own lives, and lobbied parliament for a change in the law,[58] on behalf of Tony Nicklinson and Paul Lamb, in their 'Right to Die' legal cases.[59] In 2014, it intervened in a Supreme Court case in which the court stated it would rule again on a potentialdeclaration of incompatibility between restrictions on the right to die and theHuman Rights Act should Parliament fail to legislate decisively.[60] In February 2019 they helped form the Assisted Dying Coalition, a group of like-minded campaign groups seeking to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill or incurably suffering.[61]
Persistent campaigns include defending legalabortion in Great Britain and securing its decriminalisation and its legalisation inNorthern Ireland,[62] defendingembryonic stem cell research for medical purposes,[63] challenging the state funding ofhomeopathy through theNational Health Service,[64] and calling for consistent and humane law on the slaughter of animals.[65] It has also campaigned for 'opt-out'organ donor registers to improve the availability of life-saving organs in the UK; Wales became the first part of the UK to adopt such a register in 2015.[66] Jersey followed in 2019, to befollowed by England in 2020.
The organisation also campaigns on marriage laws, demanding full equality for same-sex and humanist marriage ceremonies throughout the UK. Humanists UK had been providing same-sex wedding ceremonies for decades, and had strongly supported legalising same-sex marriage years in advance of eventual UK and Scottish legislation.[67][68] In 2013, it secured an amendment to the same sex-marriage bill to require UK Government to consult on letting humanist celebrants conduct legal marriages. Though the consultation result strongly indicated that legalisation should go ahead, ministers have so far declined to use the order-making powers to effect the change. It also campaigns for same-sex and humanist marriages in Northern Ireland.[69] In 2017, it supported a humanist couple to challenge Northern Ireland's refusal to give legal recognition to humanist marriages through the High Court in Belfast,[70] which resulted in legalisation of humanist marriages in Northern Ireland in June 2017.[71] After campaigning to legalise same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, it celebrated its success with a promotional billboards across Belfast emblazoned, 'Love wins for everybody', advertisinghumanist ceremonies.[72]
The charity has been consistently supportive ofLGBT rights across its history. It was also among the first organisations to protestSection 28 in the late 1980s, and was one of the most vocal and longstanding advocates of a ban ongay conversion therapy, which it denounces as "religious pseudoscience" with harmful consequences. This eventually led to a 2018 commitment from the UK Government to ban the practice.[73] Its humanist celebrants conducted non-legal partnership/wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples for many decades prior to the law changing.[74]
Many of its campaigns are based onfree speech andhuman rights legislation and it has based much of its campaigning on the Human Rights Act 1998.[75] In 2008, theblasphemy law was repealed, an issue over which Humanists UK had long campaigned.[76][77][78][79] It sought unification of existing anti-discrimination legislation and contributed to the Discrimination Law Review which developed the Equality Act 2006 and then theEquality Act 2010.[80]
The BHA's thorough research helped many of us to make informed and better-argued contributions to debates, particularly on complex ethical issues which arise in this House by the year. In the field of human rights, the BHA also helped us to refine theRacial and Religious Hatred Bill, theEquality Act 2006 and, of course, the currentEquality Bill, which I trust will be passed in the last days of this Parliament without too much compromise. Some noble Lords with whom we have differed may feel that we humanists have had too much to say in controversies about education, but we make no apology for trying to improve the teaching on sex in schools, nor for our opposition to the teaching of creationism as science.
— Lord Macdonald of Tradeston expresses gratitude for the BHA in Parliament, 18 March 2000[81]
In January 2008 Humanists UK (known as the BHA at the time) and the National Secular Society approached the Scouts Association about a conflict between the claims of inclusivity on their website and their oath.[82] In February 2008 journalistsBryan Appleyard andDeborah Orr criticised both Humanists UK and theNational Secular Society for the (ultimately successful) campaign to end discrimination against non-religious children in theScouts' Oath of Allegiance.[83][84] In April 2008 Jonathan Petre, The Daily Telegraph religious affairs journalist, countered this position pointing out that the Scout Oath of Allegiance was discriminatory.[85] After consultation with Humanists UK over a five-year period, Girlguiding UK in June 2013 and eventually the UK Scout Association in October 2013 recognised the discrimination and amended their oaths to accommodate non-religious young people from 1 January 2014.[86][87]
In the 2020s, Humanists UK was one of the charities at the forefront of campaigns to defend the Human Rights Act and the freedom to instigatejudicial review from threats of being watered down or repealed.[88] It assembled a large civil society coalition of charities, trade unions, and human rights organisations speaking in defence of the present settlement.[89]
On 21 October 2008, Humanists UK lent its official support toGuardian journalistAriane Sherine as she launched a fundraising drive to raise money for the UK's first atheist advertising campaign, theAtheist Bus Campaign. The campaign aimed to raise funds to place the slogan "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life" on the sides of 30 London buses for four weeks in January 2009. Expecting to raise £5,500 over six months, the atheist authorRichard Dawkins agreed to match donations up to £5,500 to make £11,000 total.[90] The campaign raised more than £153,000,[91] enabling a nationwide advertising campaign to be launched on 6 January 2009.
On 8 January 2009Christian Voice announced they had made an official complaint to theAdvertising Standards Authority asserting that the Atheist Bus slogan broke rules on "substantiation and truthfulness".[92] In total the ASA received 326 complaints about the campaign, with many claiming that the wording was offensive to the religious,[93] however Humanists UK contested the complaint and commented on the plausibility of the ASA making a claim as to the "probability of God's existence".[94]Robert Winston criticised the campaign as "arrogant".[95] The ASA ruled that the slogan was not in breach of advertising code.[93]
In 2011, Humanists UK campaigned to get atheists, agnostics and other non-believers to tick the "no religion" box in response to the optional religion question in the 2011 census (as opposed to writing in either a joke religion like "Jedi" or ticking the religion one grew up in). Humanists UK believed the question was worded in such a way as to increase the number of currently non-religious or nominally religious people who list the religion they grew up in rather than their current religious views, and thus the results would have been skewed to make the country seem more religious than it actually is. Humanists UK believes that this supposed overstatement of religious belief creates a situation where "public policy in matters of religion and belief will unduly favour religious lobbies and discriminate against people who do not live their lives under religion".[96]
Posters for the campaign which used the slogan "If you're not religious, for God's sake say so" were refused by companies owning advertising hoardings in railway stations following advice from the Advertising Standards Authority who believe the adverts had "the potential to cause widespread and serious offence".[97]
The Census results for England and Wales showed that 14.1 million people, about a quarter of the entire population (25%), stated they had no religion at all, a rise of 6.4 million since the 2001 census. Humanists UK said the fall in the number of Christians from 72% to below 60% was "astounding", and calculated that they could be in a minority by 2018.[98]
Set up in 2010, the Resolution Revolution campaign aims to "[recast] the tired old New Year resolution – so often about breaking a negative habit – as a pledge to do something positive for others".[99] Participation is open to all and not restricted to humanists or the non-religious.[100]
New Year is a time for renewal – but beyond diets and gyms, not just for ourselves. Resolution Revolution is a humanist social action initiative, turning good intentions outwards to others. The more people that get involved, even in a small way, the bigger the impact is. Spending cuts don't make a cohesive society, but generous actions do.
In 2014, Humanists UK launched two public awareness campaigns. The first, called "That's Humanism!", was an Internet-based campaign revolving around four videos on humanist responses to ethics, happiness, death, and the scientific method, as narrated by its distinguished supporter,Stephen Fry. The videos, which were widely shared on social media, were intended to introduce non-religious people who were humanist in their outlook to the existence of a community of like-minded people living their lives on the basis of reason and empathy.[102] The second campaign, called "Thought for the Commute", was a London Underground campaign featuring posters depicting humanist responses fromVirginia Woolf,George Eliot,Bertrand Russell andA.C. Grayling to the question "What's it all for?" The campaign intended to be a positive introduction to Humanism for commuters, as well as to highlight the exclusion of humanist voices from BBC slots such asThought for the Day. After announcing that it intended to replicate it in other UK cities,[103][104] the campaign moved to bus posters in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool for four weeks in November and December 2014, this time depicting humanist responses fromJim Al-Khalili,Jawaharlal Nehru,Natalie Haynes and Russell once again.[105]
Prior to the creation of a president of the Union of Ethical Societies in 1918, and that of chair in 1916, several others held the equivalent role of Chair of the Annual Congress. The very first of these was a woman, the philanthropist and activistLady Elizabeth Swann, who was the wife of a prominentliberal MP. She presided over the founding Congress of the Union in 1896.[9] Other early chairs of the Annual Congress included then-future Prime MinisterRamsay MacDonald (1900-1901 and again in 1903).[116]
In April 2011, it was announced that ProfessorA.C. Grayling would succeedPolly Toynbee as president of Humanists UK in July 2011.[117] However, in June Humanists UK announced that Professor Grayling had decided not to take up that position, because of what he described as "controversy generated by activities in another area of my public life." Humanists UK stated that Polly Toynbee would continue as president until a new appointment was made later in 2011;[118] she remained president for a further 18 months until in December 2012 it was announced that physicistJim Al-Khalili would become president in January 2013.[119]
The charity also has a staff member each based in Wales and Northern Ireland, who coordinate its national sections (or branches) Wales Humanists and Northern Ireland Humanists. These officers are in turn supported by national committees of volunteers whose advice assists the charity's service delivery in those countries,strategic litigation, and lobbying on devolved issues at theNorthern Ireland Assembly andSenedd.[3][4]
Humanist equivalents of otherwise religious celebrations are conducted byhumanist celebrants, trained and accredited by Humanists UK across England, Wales and Northern Ireland,[122][123] while theHumanist Society Scotland performs similar ceremonies in Scotland.[124] Non-religious funerals are legal within the UK;[125] more than 8,000 funerals are carried out by humanist celebrants in England and Wales each year.[126] Between 600 and 900 weddings and 500baby namings per year are also conducted by Humanists UK-accredited celebrants.[127] In England and Wales, a humanist wedding or partnership ceremony must be supplemented by a process of obtaining a civil marriage or partnership certificate through aRegister Office to be legally recognised, but can be led by a Humanist celebrant.[128]
The humanist funeral for former WelshFirst MinisterRhodri Morgan at theWelsh Assembly was conducted by a Humanists UK celebrant,Lorraine Barrett and was the firstnational funeral in the United Kingdom to be led by a humanist celebrant.[129][130]
Since 2018, Humanists UK celebrants have been able to conduct legally recognised marriages inNorthern Ireland. This came about after Humanists UK supported a court case centring around its patrons, coupleLaura Lacole andEunan O'Kane.[131][132]
Humanists UK maintains a network of roughly 150 trained and accredited volunteers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland who go into hospitals, hospices, prisons, universities, and other settings to provide like-minded comfort and support to non-religious people during times of distress, much like a traditional religiouschaplain. This network is known as theNon-Religious Pastoral Support Network. The project was initiated by data evidence which suggested that non-religious patients and inmates often refused support from a chaplain if they were themselves non-religious.[133] Since 2014, theNational Offender Management Service has recognised the legal right of prisoners to access non-religious pastoral carers,[134] and since 2015,NHS England has recommended that every hospital in England offers a voluntary or employed non-religious carer.[133] In 2018, Lindsay van Dijk was appointed as the first humanist to lead an NHS chaplaincy team at the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS trust, which includes the world-renowned spinal injuries unit at Stoke Mandeville hospital.[135] The current chair of NRPSN is Amy Walden.[136]
Young Humanists is the organisation'syouth wing, which launched early in 2015 with a number of events in cities across the UK.[137][138][139]
Numerous prominent people from the worlds of science, philosophy, the arts, politics, and entertainment are publicly aligned with Humanists UK, including ProfessorAlice Roberts,Tim Minchin,Stephen Fry,Matty Healy,Sandi Toksvig,Philip Pullman, andDan Snow.[140]
In the 20th century, key members of Humanists UK's "advisory council" includedKarl Popper,Vanessa Redgrave,Harold Pinter,E M Forster,Bertrand Russell,John Maynard Smith,Harry Kroto,Ludovic Kennedy,Jacob Bronowski, andBarbara Wootton.[141]
Humanists UK is a founding member ofHumanists International, and theEuropean Humanist Federation.[142]
In September 2008, Humanists UK joined with religious organisations, teachers' unions, and other human rights campaigns groups to found theAccord Coalition, a diverse coalition made up of groups that oppose religious segregation in education.[143]
Humanist Students is a national federation of atheist, humanist, secularist, and skeptic societies at universities and is part of Humanists UK. Its elected delegates traditionally, alongside members of Young Humanists, represent Humanists UK atYoung Humanists International events.[144]
Humanists UK has traditionally worked closely with theBritish Pregnancy Advisory Service, which was founded by the president ofBirmingham Humanists, sexologistMartin Cole, in 1968. Humanists UK was a founding member of the BPAS "We Trust Women" coalition, which campaigns for the full decriminalisation of abortion throughout the UK.[145]
The organisation supports a network of affiliated humanist groups throughout the UK and aims to encourage local campaigning, charity work, socialising, and events on a local level, and provides resources to assist the creation and running of such groups. Some of these groups are formally partnered with Humanists UK, which entitles them to added staff and promotional support, while others maintain a looser affiliate agreement. As of 2017, the number of partner groups stands at 47, with 15 affiliates.[146]
The charity has also sponsored philosophical debates[147] atHowTheLightGetsIn Festival.
Humanists UK runs a prestigious annual events programme, including theDarwin Day Lecture (on themes connected with Darwin's work and humanism), theRosalind Franklin Lecture (commemorating women in humanism), theVoltaire Lecture (on humanism more generally), theBentham Lecture (co-hosted withUniversity College London's philosophy department), theHolyoake Lecture (held in Manchester and covering humanism and political thought), and an annual convention which moves around the UK from year to year.
Past speakers at these events include top scientists, authors, and academics, includingSteven Pinker,Brian Cox,Richard Dawkins,Robert Hinde,AC Grayling,Natalie Haynes,Bonya Ahmed,Bettany Hughes,Alice Roberts,Nick Cohen,Ludovic Kennedy,Michael Foot,[148]Lawrence Krauss,Eugenie Scott,Adam Rutherford,Tom Blundell, andJerry Coyne,[149]Anne Glover,Angela Saini,Sarah-Jayne Blakemore,[150]Jim Al-Khalili,Owen Jones, andKate Pickett.[151]
From 2011 Humanists UK presented an annual award for special contributions to Humanism. It is known as the Humanist of the Year Award, having been known prior to 2014 as the Services to Humanism Award. The award was customarily presented during Humanists UK annual conference (or, in 2014, the UK-hostedWorld Humanist Congress). Since 2016 it has been presented at a special reception event. Past winners are:
Earlier awardees includeA. J. Ayer,Leo Igwe,Polly Toynbee, andJulian Huxley.[154]
.jpg)
.jpg)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
