News and Past Events

Here’s a summary of what we’ve been up to in recent months

• Remembrance Day, 11th November 2025
  Here’s the text of the short speech Martin, one of the humanist volunteers at the University of Plymouth Pastoral and Spiritual Care Team, gave at the University’s Remembrance Ceremony this morning. Martin is grateful for the help input received from other humanists around the country in putting this together. In honouring the dead, we do… Read more: Remembrance Day, 11th November 2025
• September and October ‘25 update
  After a quieter couple of months over the summer, we started our Autumn series of talks with our most popular event for some time. Over 60 people packed out the B-Bar to hear Robin Ince talk about his latest book. Robin was on top form, and we all very much enjoyed hearing him. Our October… Read more: September and October ‘25 update
• AGM 2025
  Thanks to all of you who came to our AGM on Saturday 19th July and joined us for the meal at Toot afterwards. Our committee is unchanged from last year – Rich (Chair) Tim (Secretary) Julia (Treasurer), Martyn (SACRE rep), and Uschi, Jess and Martin (committee members). We will be continuing our talks in the… Read more: AGM 2025
• May and June News
  We’ve had a great run up to our summer break this year, with two fantastic and very well attended talks. Michael Marshall spoke to us in May about how to counter so called ‘alternative’ medicine when it starts to appear in mainstream health practices. Then in June, Professor Alison Raby spoke to us about the… Read more: May and June News
• April ’25 – Talk by Dr Rich Boden
  We had a fascinating talk from Dr Rich Boden of Plymouth University in April. He took us back to the origins of multicellular life to look at what we know about how eucaryotic cells first arose, and how much Darwin’s theory of evolution applied in those ancient times. Even today, the way bacteria evolve requires… Read more: April ’25 – Talk by Dr Rich Boden
• 15 Years of Plymouth Humanists
  This year marks the 15th anniversary of Plymouth Humanists. We’ve achieved a great deal over that time. We organised over 100 talks on very varied topics, ranging from the works of Shelley to quantum physics, and from assisted dying to climate change. On top of that, there were numerous social events such as meals, walks,… Read more: 15 Years of Plymouth Humanists
• March ’25 talk – Combating violence against women and girls in Plymouth.
  Meghan Field, Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategic Lead at Plymouth City Council, came to speak to us about what is a worrying but important issue. She told us how to recognise the various forms of violence woman and girls face in modern society, where help can be found for victims, and the positive… Read more: March ’25 talk – Combating violence against women and girls in Plymouth.
• February Events
  February was a busy time for us. To start off the month we saw the Danish film ‘The Girl with the Needle’, a beautifully filmed but disturbing story. Later in the month we had our Darwin Day meal at Veggie Perrins, which was as popular as ever. Finally our talk was ‘An Introduction to Particle… Read more: February Events
• January ’25 talk – Urban Wildlife
  We had an amazing turn out for our talk on urban wildlife in January. Over 40 people packed the B-Bar to hear Dr James Buckley talk about the challenges of and opportunities for encouraging biodiversity in our city. There are a few things of interest that were raised that we said we’d pass on. Plymouth… Read more: January ’25 talk – Urban Wildlife
• December ’24 Events
  As is traditional, we had our Christmas Buffet at the beginning of the month in the Fortescue, which was well attended, and also a few outings to see films at Plymouth Arts Cinema. Thanks to everyone for your support this year and we hope you will enjoy the events we have planned for you in… Read more: December ’24 Events
• November ’24 Talk – Humanists at Risk
  We had another well attended talk in November, when Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of Humanists UK, came to speak to us. He started by giving an update on the Assisted Dying Bill before moving onto his main subject – ‘Humanists in Danger’. The freedoms we enjoy in this country are not universal, and many humanists… Read more: November ’24 Talk – Humanists at Risk
• October talk – The Incoherent Truth: Plymouth & South Devon Freeport
  We had our most well attended talk since the pandemic in October. Around 30 people filled the B-Bar to hear Jim Funnell talk about Freeports, and in particular the Plymouth & South Devon Freeport. Jim has conducted extensive and meticulous research into Freeports and found that the promised gains simply don’t seem have materialised, while… Read more: October talk – The Incoherent Truth: Plymouth & South Devon Freeport