It’s Good to Talk: Pastoral Care for the Non-Religious

A talk by Teddy Prout

People in need of pastoral support, whether in hospital, hospice, prison, university, or the armed forces, should be able to speak to someone who shares their worldview. Until recently, it has been assumed that religious chaplains should be the sole providers of this kind of service. But with over half of British society now identifying as non-religious the provision of non-religious pastoral care is long overdue.

The Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network, part of Humanists UK, has accredited nearly 200 non-religious pastoral carers who are now working in nearly 100 healthcare and other institutions.

Teddy Prout is the Director of Community Services at Humanists UK. In this talk he will tell us the story of the network, its ambitions for the future, and the discrimination it still faces.