Here are our upcoming events
Tuesday 23rd April 2024 – Talk: Rob Preece – The Howard League for Penal Reform
April’s talk is being given by Rob Preece from The Howard League for Penal Reform.
By the prison service’s own measure of safe and decent accommodation, there are about 80,000 prison places in England and Wales. But official projections published by the Ministry of Justice indicate that there could be as many as 114,800 people in prison in four years’ time.
As a general election draws nearer, this talk will examine the scale of the challenge that awaits whichever party assumes responsibility for the prison system in the years ahead. Studying evidence from Dartmoor and Exeter prisons, as well as jails further afield, we will explore how the crisis came about, how it might escalate, and, most importantly, how we might solve it.
Venue: The B-Bar, The Barbican Theatre, Castle St, Plymouth PL1 2NJ (accessibility information can be found here www.accessable.co.uk/plymouth-city-council/access-guides/barbican-theatre )
This event is free and all are welcome, although a voluntary contribution (in cash please) to help cover speakers’ costs would be appreciated.
Sunday April 28th – Social: Walk around Teignmouth and Shaldon
Our first walk of 2024 will be starting from Teignmouth. From there we’ll take the ferry to Shaldon and explore the area south of the Teign. For those coming from Plymouth, meet at the rail station at 9:50 to catch the 10:10 train, which gets to Teignmouth at 10:30. We’ll come back late afternoon/early evening. There will doubtless be some time spent in a pub at some point for refreshments. We’ll be inviting Exeter Humanists along, so it’ll be a great chance to meet some other local humanists. Let us know if you’re coming so we can keep you updated with details.
Thursday 16th May – Theatre Night: Jonny & The Baptists – The Happiness Index / Ten Thankless Years
We’re going to see cult multi-award-winning musical-comedians Jonny & The Baptists at the Theatre Royal on Thursday 16th May. Come and join us for what should be a very entertaining evening. Details and tickets here: https://theatreroyal.com/whats-on/happiness-index/
Accessability information here: https://theatreroyal.com/visit/access/
Sunday 26th May – Social: Sunday Brunch
Join us for Sunday Brunch at Boston Tea Party on Vauxhall Street in Plymouth City Centre, starting at 10:30. We usually get a really good turnout for these, so it’s a great opportunity to meet and chat with fellow humanists. Stay as short or long as you like, but please let us know if you’re coming along so we can get a large enough table, as space in the venue fills up fast.
Tuesday 28th May at 19:30 – Talk: Understanding energy and decarbonisation
We’re delighted to have Zion Lights, a Humanists UK Patron, coming to speak to us in May. She spoke at HUK’s 2023 Convention and also gave their 2023 Holyoake Lecture.
Zion is a science communicator who is known for her environmental advocacy work. She is the founder of the evidence-based climate activism group Emergency Reactor and author of The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting. Zion is also a leading speaker on clean energy, specifically nuclear energy, and also lectures on effective science communication, tackling misinformation, and climate action. She is the former editor of The Hourglass, Extinction Rebellion’s print newspaper, and was previously the group’s spokesperson for two years.
In this talk, Zion will be explaining how energy systems work, why and how urgently we need to decarbonise, and how we can get there. She’ll cover nuclear energy in depth, looking at the myths surrounding the technology, where they come from and what different countries are doing to counter (or surrender to) them.
Venue: The B-Bar, The Barbican Theatre, Castle St, Plymouth PL1 2NJ (accessibility information can be found here www.accessable.co.uk/plymouth-city-council/access-guides/barbican-theatre )
This event is free and all are welcome, although a voluntary contribution (in cash please) to help cover speakers’ costs would be appreciated.
Tuesday 25th June at 19:30 – Talk: Faith to Faithless
Our June speaker is from Faith to Faithless. Faith to Faithless was founded in 2015 to raise awareness of apostasy and support those who have left religion in the UK. For more about its work see https://www.faithtofaithless.com/
Venue: The B-Bar, The Barbican Theatre, Castle St, Plymouth PL1 2NJ (accessibility information can be found here www.accessable.co.uk/plymouth-city-council/access-guides/barbican-theatre )
This event is free and all are welcome, although a voluntary contribution (in cash please) to help cover speakers’ costs would be appreciated.
Tuesday 26th November 2024 – Talk: Andrew Copson
Details to be confirmed, but we are hoping Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of Humanists UK, will be coming to speak to us in September.