Sunday 17th June 2012 – Venue: The Royal Station Hotel Newcastle

10:30am – 4:00pm

With Keynote Speakers

David Pollock: President of the European Humanist Federation

Pavan Dhaliwal :Head of Public Affairs for the British Humanist Association

Religious groups have had an unwarranted influence on society in Britain for more than a thousand years.  For the last few hundred years there have been Christian Bishops in the House of Lords, making Britain one of only two countries in the world (the other being Iran) which have religious officials present, as a matter of right, in government. The number of religious faith schools has been expanding in recent years with even more on the way, with religious groups of all kind, particularly those with extreme views gaining control of even more schools.

At the Humanist Week conference, David Pollock, President of the European Humanist Federation (EHF) will be speaking on the influence of religion and faith in the educations system, while Pavan Dhaliwal, Head of Public Affairs for the British Humanist Association will be talking about the other ways in which religions are influencing and attempting to influence our lives and our society.

David Pollock was elected EHF president in 2006, has been actively involved in the humanist movement since 1961. He is a member of the board of trustees of the British Humanist Association (1965-75 and 1997 to date; chair: 1970-72) and a member of the board of the Rationalist Association (1979 to date; chair: 1989-91). He takes a special interest in policy and campaigning on the place of religion and belief in society and on other questions of public policy.

Pavan Dhaliwal  was appointed as Head of Public Affairs at the British Humanist Association at the beginning of 2012.  Prior to this appointment she held roles as an equalities and human rights expert with a special interest in youth, criminal justice and education policy, including for the Government of Bermuda, and with race equality organisations the 1990 Trust and Race on the Agenda. She was a founding member of the UK/US collaborative initiative Equanomics UK and is a trustee of CRJ UK, a charity working to tackle disproportionality in the criminal justice system, and of the gender equality organisation The Fawcett Society.

Tickets are £10 and include morning tea and coffee. Go to the ticketing page to get your tickets. The price includes morning coffee.