Here are our upcoming events
Sunday 24th 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 26th May at 19:30 – Talk: Climate change is real and serious
Our May talk is a review of the seriousness of climate change presented from the perspective of a biologist. Our speaker is Sir Ghillean Prance, who will give us many examples of the evidence for, and the effects of, climate change on plants and animals, some from his own experience from extensive research in the tropical rainforests of the world. He will argue that if we do not address the issues of climate change more seriously many more organisms will become extinct and that perhaps even the human race may be at risk.
Professor Sir Ghillean Prance FRS, VMH, is a prominent British botanist and ecologist. He trained as a plant taxonomist and is an expert on the flora of the Amazon rainforests, having led annual expeditions there for over 25 years, collecting more than 450 Amazonian plants new to science. He has been a Fellow of the Linnean Society since 1961 and a Fellow of the Royal Society since 1993. He was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1988 to 1999.
The location of this talk is to be confirmed.
This event is free and all are welcome, although a voluntary contribution (cash or card) to help cover our costs would be appreciated.
Saturday 30th May at 10:05 – Social: Wembury to Plymouth Walk
We will take the 48 bus at 10:05 from stop A11 on Royal Parade (see the map at the bottom of this page for where to find it), which gets to Wembury at 10:38. If you prefer to make your own transport arrangements you can meet us by the Old Mill Café at 10:50. Bring lunch, as we’ll stop on the way for something to eat, and we’ll end up at the Jennycliff café where we can have further drinks/snacks before catching the ferry back to Plymouth. The overall distance is about 6 miles.
Monday 1st June at 14:30 – Social: Cafe Social and Discussion Group.
Join us for a discussion on topics of interest to humanists. The subjects will include: Is sport a positive or negative force in society? We’ll be in Cafe Momus on Manor Street, in the space at the back – if you’ve not been there before it’s the door to the right of the bar, pretty much directly opposite you as you go in. Let us know if you’re coming so we can give the Cafe an idea of numbers
Sunday 7th June at 12:00 – Social: Joint meeting with Cornwall Humanists
Tim, our secretary, is speaking to Cornwall Humanists in June about how we run Plymouth Humanists and his work as a volunteer school speaker. This is a great opportunity to meet up with our neighbouring group, so all are welcome to join us for a trip down to Truro. We’ll be going by train, which one has yet to be decided and we’ll be meeting in Vertigo, 15 St Mary’s St, Truro, TR1 2AF. Let us know if you’d like to join us so we can update you with the details.
Tuesday 24th June at 19:30 – Talk: Religious Education
Ed Pawson, who amongst many other roles is the RE Advisor to Plymouth SACRE, will be speaking to us about religious education in schools and how the teaching of the subject may change in the future.
Ed Pawson is the RE adviser to a number of SACREs in SW England. He spent 23 years as a secondary Religious Education teacher and subject leader. He is the Programme Director for Learn, Teach, Lead RE (SW) and the former Chair of the National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE). He has published work on Islam, Contemporary Issues in RE and spiritual development