What we’re about
We're an active and friendly Humanism group in London, UK. Our well attended monthly humanist gatherings normally take place on the second Monday of each month. As well as these main meetings, we have plenty of other interesting activities too. We're a Partner of Humanists UK.
To attend meetings you don't have to join or become a member. You're especially welcome if you think you may in fact already be a humanist and want to find out more.
There's no need to use the RSVP button here on Meetup - just come along!
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There's also more information on our website:
www.swlhumanists.org.uk
Humanist Celebrants:
If you're looking for someone local to conduct a humanist funeral, wedding, baby naming or civil partnership, then go to Ceremonies where you'll find details of local Celebrants who are all fully-accredited by Humanists UK.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Jim al-Khalili "The Story of Time"Richmond Library Annexe, Greater London
We were due to have Prof Jim al-Khalili as our speaker in January, but he had to pull out because his father was taken ill. The good news is that his father is fine, and Jim is giving us his "The Story of Time" talk on 9th June.
Jim will be online, but we will meet physically in the usual venue, as we've done previously when we've had speakers online - with the usual opportunity for a drink afterwards. Or you can participate via Zoom.
Despite our ever-deepening understanding of the physical universe, we have yet to reach a consensus on the nature of time: does it flow like a river, carrying us along, or does it flow past us? And why does it point towards the future and not to the past? Is this arrow of time baked into the structure of the universe, or is it just a trick of our senses? What does our current understanding of the laws of physics and the nature of the universe tell us about these big questions on the nature and behaviour of time? This session will change the way you think about the passage of time and your place within it. Jim gave this talk at last year's Humanists UK Convention - it's really interesting and thought-provoking.
8pm start at Richmond Library Annexe, Quadrant Road, Richmond TW9 1DH. (Entry fee £5 to help cover costs - concessions available.)
Alternatively, you can participate online using this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82097538417?pwd=WmhPZ1dDTzlKNkNXN2I4dmRoUFpjQT09
(If you're a regular/frequent online participant, then we'd like to ask you to donation of £25/year, ideally by standing order so you don't forget. Click here for our bank details - please make sure you put your name as the reference.)
Prof Jim al-Khalili FRS, CBE is Vice President of Humanists UK, and a distinguished theoretical physicist and broadcaster, including hosting the BBC's "The Life Scientific". - Annual General Meeting + discussion: "Is churchgoing increasing?" (online)Richmond Library Annexe, Greater London
This year we're holding our AGM as a separate online meeting, on Tue 10 June at 8pm.
As usual, we'll aim to get through the fomalities quickly - our record is 10 mins - but it's important that everyone has the opportunity to ask questions and express their views. (We rarely need to vote on anything, but if we do, and as we don't have membership subscriptions, "voting members" are defined in our constitution as anyone who's both on our mailing list and a paid-up member of Humanists UK.) The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82097538417?pwd=WmhPZ1dDTzlKNkNXN2I4dmRoUFpjQT09We'll then have time for a discussion on reports of an increase in young churchgoers. These have been prompted by a Bible Society report, "The Quiet Revival", based on a big study carried out by YouGov, claiming that "Gen Z leads an exciting turnaround in church attendance". That indeed is what the data show. But it's not all that it seems. In particular, it implies significant increases in attendance between 2018 and 2024 in both the Church of England and, especially, the Catholic Church. But the churches' own data show declines. It's a puzzle. Wearing his "Humanists UK Dialogue Officer" hat, Jeremy has written this post about it on the Humanists UK website. And there's some interesting new data form France. Something is going on. But what?
