Events

Come and see this unique building rooted in Leicester's radical past. The whole of the Secular Hall will be available to view, including the rare arts and craft tiles in the Ballroom. There will be guided tours throughout the day . The recently restored stained glass window can be viewed.   This year is the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Society. The Lord Mayor will be opening our new exhibition about the Society's history at 1pm.    There is no need to book Light refreshments available throughout the day.

The talk will provide an overview of forthcoming NSS research examining how evangelical groups, including the Church of England, are exploiting non-religious schools as their recruitment grounds, and how religious privilege within our education system leaves schools dangerously at risk of such exploitation. Jack Rivington is Campaigns Officer at the National Secular Society. All welcome - admission free. Tea & biscuits. Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs.

The helmet was found in 2000 buried in thousands of tiny fragments at a ritual site in Hallaton, Leicestershire. It was meticulously reconstructed by conservators at the British Museum. It is a stunning silver-gilt Roman cavalry helmet dating back to the time of the Roman conquest of Britain (circa 43 AD). It features intricate cheekpieces depicting a Roman emperor trampling a barbarian enemy. Helen Sharp is the Curator of Archaeology for Leicestershire County Council Museums. She is widely known for leading public talks, research projects, and recent reconstructions regarding the Hallaton Helmet.

The lecture explores British-Sikh connections from the eighteenth century through the Anglo-Sikh Wars, culminating in Sikh recruitment into the Indian Army. "Gurinder Singh Mann is a Leicester-based historian, author, heritage specialist and cultural project manager dedicated to preserving and promoting Sikh history and heritage. He is the Director of the Sikh Museum Initiative, through which he researches, documents and shares Sikh history through exhibitions, publications, educational programmes and digital projects. He is the author of several books on Sikh history and heritage, making historical research accessible to wider audiences. Gurinder is also the creator of the world’s first 3D Sikh Museu...

An examination of conspiracy theories that explain an event or situation by asserting the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable. They are often reinforced by circular reasoning: both evidence against the conspiracy and absence of evidence for it are misinterpreted as evidence of its truth. Paul Fitzgerald is 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. I detest dogma, superstition, fanaticism and rigid ideologies of all kinds.

This illustrated lecture takes audiences on a whistle-stop tour of world cinema, showing how international films break conventional boundaries and connect us across cultures. From the early days of silent cinema and the first black US filmmakers in cinematic history to the gripping realism and Nouvelle Vague of European cinema in Italy and France, music and dance loaded spectacle of Indian classics to the quiet emotional depth of East Asian dramas, we will explore why expanding your watchlist can change how you see the world. Dr. Barbara Knorpp is a London-based visual anthropologist and film historian who specializes in the intersection of anthropology, cinema, fine art, and media studies. She is prominently associated with Open City Docs at University C...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks myelin, the insulating cover of nerve cells in the human body, causing damage to the central nervous system. It is a type of demyelinating disease, where the nervous system's ability to transmit signals is damaged. Symptoms can be physical, mental, or both, including double vision, vision loss, eye pain, muscle weakness, loss of sensation and coordination. John Thompson of the MS Society will talk about the wide range of support given locally to MS sufferers. All welcome - admission free. Tea & biscuits. Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs.

Leicester's market is roughly 800 years old but was moved to its current location roughly 700 years ago. Recent excavations have uncovered 2,000 years of human activity directly beneath the market marketplace. Archaeologists found Roman buildings, medieval market surfaces, and the remains of a late medieval dungeon believed to belong to the historical Gainsborough Chamber—a civic hub used for shops, judicial affairs, and a prison. Jim Butler is a local historian, heritage learning specialist, and content creator based in Leicester, UK, best known as the creator and producer of the popular online series Hidden Histories of Leicester . All welcome - admission free. Tea & biscuits. Donations welcome - £5 s...

The Society's annual general meeting is only open to members.

Adrift in Soho exists as both a 1961 semi-autobiographical novel by Colin Wilson and a 2018/2019 independent film adaptation directed by Pablo Behrens. Set in the late 1950s, both mediums explore London’s burgeoning Beat Generation and bohemian subculture, chronicling the transition from postwar austerity into the radical cultural shift of the 1960s. Colin Stanley is the official bibliographer, longtime friend, and leading archivist for the prolific English author and philosopher Colin Wilson. After discovering Wilson’s first novel, Ritual in the Dark, at age 18, Stanley became deeply inspired by Wilson's ideas on existentialism and consciousness. In 1981, while working as a librarian at Nottingham University, Stanley reached out to Wilson to su...