What We Do
As well as organising a monthly programme of speakers and events on topics relating to Humanism or of interest to humanists, the group:
- Holds regular social get-togethers in a Birmingham city-centre pub
- Produces a quarterly newsletter
- Brings Humanism to the attention of the general public by having a stall at one of the local street festivals every year
- Is funding a scholarship to enable a student to complete their secondary education at the Humanist Academy in Uganda
- Has given financial support to the Waris Dirie Foundation’s campaign against female genital mutilation
- Has provided the Religious Studies Department of every secondary school in Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall and Wolverhampton with a complimentary copy of the BHA publication ‘Humanist Perspectives 2’ – a resource book for teachers
- Has offered the library of every secondary school in the six areas a free copy of ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins – by this means, it has got the book into about 70 schools
- Has offered to support primary schools in the Birmingham area by donating sets of ‘Rosie Stories’ – books about humanist ceremonies – along with teachers’ notes.
In addition, several of the group’s members are ‘celebrants’ who conduct funerals, and wedding and naming ceremonies. Many individual members carry out voluntary work such as: recording ‘talking newspapers’ for blind people; working for the Samaritans; working in charity shops; working on the multi-faith care team at Birmingham airport; being a member of the St Mary's Hospice Compassionate Communities Reference Group; working with Encompass, a group that was set up in memory of a terrorist outrage that aims ‘to empower young people to make positive changes in their local communities through promoting tolerance and intercultural understanding’.
To find out more about Humanism and the Birmingham Humanists group, come along to one of our meetings – there’s information about these in the Events calendar.
