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.

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