Cumbria Humanist Group

What's On?

This page will include not only our own Meetings Programme but also information about neighbouring Humanist Groups' activities (see also Links page) plus other events in the area that might be of specific interest to our members.  Please let us have your suggestions.

For those of you who are not able to attend our meetings, or see the reports in your local newspaper (although we are in touch with all the local press in Cumbria), we are now posting meeting reports on the Documents page.  

Guests and non-members are very welcome at our meetings, although we hope that if you share our views and become 'regulars' then you will want to join us as full members.    (Membership registration forms are available at meetings or can be downloaded from the Documents page.) 

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CHG Meetings Programme 2010   (NEW)

(Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month,  at 7.30 pm, at either the Eden Rural Foyer, Penrith or the Morton Community Centre, Wigton Road, Carlisle.  Maps of the venues can be downloaded from the Documents page.)   As our membership is increasing throughout the county, we are hoping to meet at further venues and Cockermouth is looking like a distinct possibility.  We'll keep you informed.

20 January 2010 : Annual General Meeting.    (Penrith)

17 February 2010 : Rev. Bert Thomas, Senior Schools Officer, Carlisle Diocese, will ask “Does the Church have a positive contribution to make to education and schools?”  And he hopes that we will give give him our views on this.   I'm sure we will, Bert!   (Carlisle)

17 March 2010 : Dan Bye, Member of NSS Council and Freethinker publishing board will speak  “Against religious privilege: secularism and the National Secular Society ”.  
(Carlisle)

21 April 2010 : Dr Sarah Wykes, International Human Rights Campaigner, will talk about her experiences in this field.  Sarah was arrested in Angola in 2007 while working for the NGO Global Witness so I think we can promise a fascinating account!    (Penrith)

19 May 2010 : Major David Lennox of the Salvation Army, Carlisle Citadel Corps, will talk about the work of the Salvation Army, which I have read is second only to the government in the UK in the scale of its social service provision. We’re all aware of their magnificent community support during the 2005 Carlisle floods.  (And they don't proselytise while they're doing it!)    (Carlisle)

16 June 2010 :   “Where do we go from here?” As CHG membership increases and our range of activities widens, we invite members to share their views on the future of the Group.  (Carlisle)

21 July 2010 : Jane Yates will talk about "Including non-religious perspectives in the primary curriculum".   Jane, a CHG member, teaches philosophy to her primary school pupils as an alternative to RE.     (Penrith)

15 August 2010 (Sunday) : Summer Outdoor Visit and Walk – possibly Dalemain House, near Penrith, including lunch. Details later.

15 September 2010 : Film – "The Atheism Tapes". Jonathan Miller Interviews.   (Carlisle)

20 October 2010 : Members’ Discussion Group – details later.   (Penrith)

17 November 2010 : Diana Martin, long-standing CHG member, “A Learning Experience”, about her teaching experiences in Lithuania.   (Carlisle) 

8 December 2010 : Annual Buffet / Dinner at The Black Lion, Durdar, Carlisle. Guests welcome. Details later.

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CHG Meetings Programme 2009   

21 January 2009 : Annual General Meeting.    (Penrith) 

18 February 2009 : Film : “2500 Years (& more) of Free Thinking. A History of Humanism.” Followed by discussion.    (Carlisle)

18 March 2009 : Michael Travers "Humanist Themes in Music and Literature".   (Carlisle)

15 April 2009 : Professor Chris Carr, Vice-Chancellor, University of Cumbria, will talk about "Dispelling the myths: the Church in higher education".                                         We are deeply concerned about the level of influence by the Church of England in the University. The Chancellor is John Sentamu, Archbishop of York; the Chair of the Board of Directors is Peter Ballard, Archdeacon of Lancaster, and a third of the Board (7/21) are directly nominated by the  C of E.     (Penrith)

20 May 2009 : Rev. Ben Phillips, Vicar of Stanwix will talk about “Existentialism, Humanism and Christianity”, following on our correspondence in The Cumberland News in April 2008.   (See Stop Press! entries for 25 April and 3 May 2008.)   (Carlisle)

17 June 2009 :   Focus Group. Joel Rasbash, Equality Officer for Cumbria County Council, has asked us to participate in the Cumbria Equality and Diversity Project to assess council-funded services across the range of ‘diversity groups’. We have been asked to provide a non-religious perspective.     (Carlisle) 

15 July 2009 :  Dr Jamie Caryl. "Evolution: in Nature and in a Test Tube." Jamie’s talk to us last year about “Superbugs and Micro-evolution” was very well received and he’s back by popular demand!   (See June 2008 below.)     (Penrith)   

16 August 2009 (Sunday) : Summer Outdoor Visit and Walk – at Hutton-in-the-Forest, near Penrith, including lunch.  (Email for information by 16 July.)                 

16 September 2009 : Paul Pettinger of the BHA will talk about “The BHA’s Anti-Faith Schools Campaign”.    (Carlisle)  

21 October 2009 : Iain Paterson, CHG Chair, BHA Trustee and recently retired HM Inspector of Schools,will talk about "School inspections: are they fit for purpose?", based on his extensive professional experience in this field.
(Inspector Ray Greenhow of Cumbria Police was going to talk to us about “Policing in a Democratic Society”, but he has moved on and cannot be replaced for this meeting.  So Iain has nobly stepped into the breach.)    (Penrith)   

18 November 2009 :  Joel Rasbash, Equality Officer for Cumbria County Council, will talk about the Cumbria Equality & Diversity Project, including the input from our meeting in June. (See above).   (Carlisle)             

2 December 2009 : Annual Buffet / Dinner at The Black Lion, Durdar, Carlisle. This was very popular last year. Guests welcome. (Tickets from Chris, £10 per person.)

16 January 2008  :  Annual General Meeting. (Penrith)

20 February 2008 :  Members' Discussion Group.   Click here for details.  (Carlisle)

19 March 2008 : Pepper Harow (BHA's Local Development Officer) will talk about her       Local Development Project.   The project is funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government.   (Carlisle)

16 April 2008 :  Anne Bell and colleagues, Quakers from Penrith Meeting, will talk about shared values between Humanists and Quakers. (Penrith)           

21 May 2008 :  Anne Pickles, columnist and Associate Editor at Cumbrian Newspapers, will talk about maintaining editorial balance over controversial issues in a local newspaper.  (Carlisle)

18 June 2008  :  Dr Jamie Caryl will talk about "Superbugs - and other aspects of Micro-evolution".    See also Sense about Science   (Carlisle)

16 July 2008  :  : Members' Discussion Group, including reports from both the North East Humanists Regional Conference at Durham on 17 May (Diana Martin and others) and the Humanism course held at Higham Hall at the end of May (Nona Murray).   Iain Paterson will talk about his continuing role as a member of Cumbria SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education), as well as his experience as a BHA Trustee. We also hope to hear from Michael Lawton and John Seed about their activities within the BHA Local Development Project, (See March meeting details), including the Cumbria Equality & Diversity Partnership and the Cumbria Inter-faith Forum.    (Penrith)    

17 August 2008 (Sunday) :  Visit to Smardale Gill Wildlife Centre (near Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria).  Possibly - or even probably - preceded by a pub lunch.  The Black Swan at Ravenstonedale looks promising.  Please let us know (by phone, email or at the next meeting) if you plan to come as it would be good to have some idea of numbers, both for Smardale and the pub. 

17 September 2008  :  David Pollock, President, European Humanist Federation,  Trustee, British Humanist Association,  Board Member, Rationalist Association, will talk about "Church and State in Europe and the work of the European Humanist Federation"    (Carlisle)    

15 October 2008  :  David Boulton, author and journalist (both print and TV) and member of the Sea of Faith Network, will talk about “Taking Humanism to Church.”   (Penrith) 

19 November 2008  :  Members’ Soapbox Meeting.   John Seed asks “Do Humanists have a Darwinian Advantage?” and Richard Speirs questions "Creationism in Science Lessons? Should Michael Reiss have resigned from his post as the Royal Society's Director of Education?"  Followed by discussion – if not downright conflict!   (Carlisle) 

3 December 2008  :       Annual Dinner.   Buffet Supper at The Black Lion, Durdar, Carlisle.     

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North East (Tyneside) Humanist Group    

Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at The Literary and Philosophical Society (‘Lit & Phil’), 23, Westgate Road, Newcastle. Tea/coffee at 6.45 pm for a 7.15 pm start. Visitors are very welcome.   (Click for Map.)
 
For details of NEH Meetings Programme see North East Humanist newsletters, downloadable from the Documents page.)

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