Humanists UK
Charitable organisation promoting secular humanism
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2023 | The Ministry of Defence awarded Humanists UK endorsing authority status to provide humanist pastoral carers in the army, navy, and air force. |
2022 | Achieved a major legal win concerning Religious Education curriculums, leading to humanists joining most Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education as full members. |
2021 | Humanists UK launched its strategic plan for 2021-2025, outlining three key outcomes: increasing awareness of humanism, supporting non-religious people, and promoting freedom of thought and choice. |
2021 | Humanists UK's Chief Executive was invited by NHS England to lead a national ceremony of commemoration for NHS staff. |
2021 | Humanists UK celebrated its 125th anniversary, launching a Humanist Heritage website and receiving cross-party video messages of congratulations from political leaders. |
2020 | During the Covid-19 pandemic, Humanists UK joined the Government's moral and ethical advisory group and organized a virtual national memorial ceremony led by President Alice Roberts, Mark Gatiss, and Joan Bakewell. |
2020 | Humanists UK became an integral part of the spiritual care sector, with non-religious pastoral carers embedded in NHS trusts and local prisons following updated NHS England and prison service guidelines. |
2020 | England adopted an 'opt-out' organ donor register. |
2019 | Jersey followed Wales in adopting an 'opt-out' organ donor register. |
2019 | Launched the Assemblies for All website, providing inclusive school assembly resources from various sources as an alternative to mandatory Christian-character assemblies. |
2019 | Humanists UK backed two parents in a human rights challenge against collective worship laws in UK schools, arguing for equal treatment of non-religious pupils. |
2019 | Humanists UK's Wales Humanists branch revived the anti-creationism campaign in partnership with David Attenborough after the Welsh Department of Education omitted safeguards against teaching creationism in schools. |
February 2019 | Helped form the Assisted Dying Coalition, a group seeking to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill or incurably suffering individuals. |
2018 | Humanists UK celebrants gained the legal right to conduct marriages in Northern Ireland following a court case supported by the organization, involving patrons Laura Lacole and Eunan O'Kane. |
2018 | Secured a UK Government commitment to ban gay conversion therapy, following years of advocacy by the organization. |
2018 | Lindsay van Dijk was appointed as the first humanist to lead an NHS chaplaincy team at the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS trust, including the world-renowned spinal injuries unit at Stoke Mandeville hospital. |
2018 | The Northern Ireland Humanist Campaigners (Laura Lacole, Eunan O'Kane, Steven McQuitty, Ciaran Moynagh, Caolfhionn Gallagher QC, Janet Farrell, and Sarah Ewart) collectively received the Humanists of the Year Award. |
2017 | Joan Bakewell was honored with the Humanist of the Year Award by Humanists UK. |
June 2017 | Supported a humanist couple's legal challenge in Belfast that resulted in the legalization of humanist marriages in Northern Ireland. |
May 2017 | Renamed from British Humanist Association (BHA) to Humanists UK, marking a significant rebranding of the organization. |
2016 | Re-established the Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network under the 'Humanist Care' programme group to support non-religious individuals in chaplaincy settings. |
2016 | Lord Dubs received the Humanist of the Year Award, which was now being presented at a special reception event. |
2015 | Alice Roberts was presented with the Humanist of the Year Award by Humanists UK. |
2015 | Young Humanists was launched as the youth wing of Humanists UK, initiating events in multiple cities across the United Kingdom. |
2015 | NHS England recommended that every hospital in England offers a voluntary or employed non-religious pastoral carer. |
2015 | Wales became the first part of the UK to adopt an 'opt-out' organ donor register, a campaign supported by Humanists UK. |
2014 | Humanists UK intervened in a Supreme Court case addressing restrictions on the right to die and potential incompatibility with the Human Rights Act. |
2014 | Launched two public awareness campaigns: 'That's Humanism!' featuring videos narrated by Stephen Fry, and 'Thought for the Commute' with posters on London Underground and later in other UK cities. |
2014 | The National Offender Management Service recognized the legal right of prisoners to access non-religious pastoral carers. |
2014 | Gulalai Ismail and Wole Soyinka jointly received the International Humanist of the Year Award during the UK-hosted World Humanist Congress. |
2013 | Terry Pratchett was awarded the newly renamed Humanist of the Year Award by Humanists UK. |
2012 | Richard Dawkins received the Services to Humanism Award from Humanists UK. |
December 2012 | Jim Al-Khalili was announced as the upcoming president of Humanists UK, set to take office in January 2013. |
2011 | Humanists UK began presenting the annual Services to Humanism Award, with Philip Pullman as the first recipient. |
2011 | Humanists UK campaigned to encourage atheists and non-believers to tick the 'no religion' box in the 2011 census to accurately represent religious demographics. |
September 2011 | Humanists UK launched the 'Teach evolution, not creationism' campaign, aiming to establish statutory opposition to creationism in the UK education system. |
June 2011 | Professor A.C. Grayling withdrew from becoming president due to 'controversy' in his public life. |
April 2011 | Professor A.C. Grayling was initially announced to succeed Polly Toynbee as president of Humanists UK in July 2011. |
2010 | Launched the Resolution Revolution campaign, encouraging people to make positive pledges for others as New Year's resolutions. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Humanists UK, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.