Events

 We have a break in our programme at Yuletide, Easter and in the summer holiday period. The new programmes commence in January, April and September.

Leicester Karate Club is the oldest, established martial arts club in the United Kingdom. They are proud of their legacy and continue to provide professional tuition to all ages of students who come to Secular Hall to learn from the highest qualified teachers in Leicester.   Dave Wilkins (an 8th Dan Karate Instructor) will talk about the history of  the Leicester Karate Club, founded in January 1964, that has been running in the Secular Hall , ever since.    All welcome - admission free . Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs. 

A review of the final report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the 2022 Leicester violence Better Together: Understanding the 2022 Violence in Leicester which set out key findings and recommendations to help rebuild trust and strengthen community relations in Leicester and beyond.   Sharmen Rahman has represented the Green Party as a Parliamentary Candidate for Leicester South and as a councillor, policy worker, and caseworker. She is committed to the cause of anti-racism and human rights. She helped pass the motion to adopt the APPG definition of Islamophobia at Leicester City Council, led a coalition of women in the fightback against the Leicester Riots and sits on her local branch of Stand up to Racism .   All welcome - admission free. Tea & biscuits. Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs.

  Freethinking humanist heroes who shook the world!    Paul is based in Manchester and had been producing ‘Polyp’ cartoons since 1980 (for Leeds Student Newspaper) and took it up full time in the 90’s, having been a care worker before then.  He has drawn many cartoons including for New Internationalist, Ethical Consumer Magazine, The Freethinker, Christian Aid, The Big Issue, Friends of the Earth, Liberty and  Campaign Against the Arms Trade.   His graphic novels  focus on deliberately suppressed history, or events from the past that challenge how we see the present.  He is chair and founder of the Peterloo Memorial Campaign in Manchester, which successfully lobbied for a permanent physical tribute to those who died.  He describes himself as a secular, freethinking humanist with a deep belief in rationalism, scientific skepticism and in confronting the tough ethical issues our culture often tries to ignore. Pa...

One of the most iconic books of the late twentieth century, ‘The Outsider’, by Leicester- born Colin Wilson, caused a sensation when first published on May 28, 1956. Colin Stanley tells the story of his overnight success.   Colin Stanley is  Colin Wilson’s bibliographer, convenor of 4 International Conferences on his work and associate curator of his archive at the University of Nottingham. Author of several studies of his work including ‘An Evolutionary Leap: Colin Wilson on Psychology’ (Routledge, 2016) All welcome - admission free . Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs. 

The Living Together oral history project has documented the memories of 103 people who have made their home in Leicester. This talk will discuss key themes from the interviews, and explore points of cohesion, tension and unity in the city.   Tom Wilson is the director of the St Philip’s Centre, an organisation that fosters understanding, respect and cooperation between diverse faith and belief communities through education, dialogue and community engagement.    All welcome - admission free . Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs. 

An ex-Muslim woman exposes sexual shame, forced marriage and Islamist gender apartheid, combining lived experience with UK context and global evidence.   Veiled Rose is a British Bangladeshi ex-Muslim activist and Communications Manager at Faithless Hijabi .

Tom’s talk will introduce his research that is working to better understand the reality of marine litter on heavily-littered shorelines with the help of community experts.   Plastic pollution and marine litter have emerged as pressing environmental challenges of our time, impacting the health of our ocean and ecosystems. With the relentless production and disposal of plastic materials, our planet has become a dumping ground for an alarming array of plastic debris. From microplastics, to larger plastic items like bottles and bags, these pollutants pose a threat to marine life, the food chain, human health and the delicate balance of our planet's aquatic environments.   Tom is is a Senior Lecturer in Geography at Loughborough University. As an interdisciplinary environmental researcher, Tom’s work combines environmental science, human geography, ethnography, and material cultures disciplines to better understand society’s material footprints on the pl...

Francesco Sani   Scholar and theatre practitioner Francesco Sani explores the use of community-based theatre to discuss political economy and labour rights. Francesco has undertaken research aimed at identifying modalities of engagement with the practice of political theatre that would be accessible to non-traditional theatre audiences and explores different possibilities of performance production outside of the professional industry. The applications of this work can range from education to community-oriented cultural activities.   All welcome - admission free. Tea & biscuits. Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs.  ...

A Look at the Society's Website then joining at 7pm A BELIEF IN DIALOGUE EVENT on Zoom 'One God - Many Masks We have been unsuccessful in booking a speaker for this Sunday and will therefore begin with a review of what is available on our website before joining this Zoom event from the Hall. As you will see below you can register to join the event from home if you prefer.   Is there just one way to God, or are there many ways? Or is there no God at all, only the mystery and gift of life on this earth. Does this diversity of perspectives make any difference? Can we still live together and all our children flourish?   The  subject will be addressed b...

Phil Cooper   Phil will give an illustrated talk on the highlights from his trip of a lifetime 20 or more years ago  from Cairo visiting the oldest functioning monastery in Mount Sinai;  Jordan’s Wadi Rum and of course Petra;  fortresses in Syria, the oldest Byzantine Mosaics at Madaba;  Palmyra and Aleppo before the destruction of the civil war,; finishing in Turkey with Cappadoccia and Istanbul.