Voltaire Lecture
Humanists UK logo
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| Formation | 1896 |
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| Location | |
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President
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Shappi Khorsandi |
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Chief Executive
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Andrew Copson |
| Website | http://www.humanism.org.uk |
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Formerly called
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Union of Ethical Societies (1896–1928) Ethical Union (1928–1967) British Humanist Association (1967–2017) |
Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes Humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs" in the United Kingdom by campaigning on issues relating to humanism, secularism, and human rights.
The charity also supports humanist and non-religious ceremonies in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Crown dependencies and maintains a national network of accredited celebrants for humanist funeral ceremonies, weddings, civil partnerships, and baby namings, in addition to a network of volunteers who provide like-minded support and comfort to non-religious people in hospitals and prisons. The current President of Humanists UK is Shappi Khorsandi and the Chief Executive is Andrew Copson. The association currently has 70 affiliated regional and special interest groups and claims a total of approximately 60,000 members and supporters.
Humanists UK also has sections which run as staffed national humanist organisations in both Wales and Northern Ireland. Wales Humanists and Northern Ireland Humanists each have an advisory committee drawn from the membership and a development officer. Wales Humanists and Northern Ireland Humanists campaign on devolved issues in Cardiff and Belfast and work to expand the provision of humanist ceremonies, pastoral care, and support for teachers in those countries.
The organisation's Articles of Association sets out its aims as:
The organisation also wishes to build itself as a sustainable and nationally-recognised organisation as a voice for non-religious people.
The organisation was founded in 1896 by American Stanton Coit as the Union of Ethical Societies, which brought together existing ethical societies in Britain. In 1963 H. J. Blackham became the first Executive Director, and the society became the British Humanist Association in 1967, during the Presidency of philosopher A.J. Ayer.
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