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Volunteer with Us

Comms team volunteer: creative, proactive, strategic

Join our comms team to help create inspiring, thought-provoking and fun content, promoting our events and building the Sunday Assembly London community.

What will you be doing?

Between them, our comms volunteers are responsible for:

  • Capturing images and video at our assemblies and other events for use on promotional materials
  • Posting, updating and interacting via our website and social media channels (currently Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn)
  • Writing and distributing our regular newsletter and other email communications
  • Managing our mailing list
  • Writing and disseminating press releases
  • Keeping our database of press contacts up to date
  • Campaigns to help us reach out to identified target audiences (for example, students or those newly arrived in London) via social media, traditional media and in-person engagement
  • Identifying opportunities beyond our own channels (website, email marketing and social media) to market Sunday Assembly London 

Communications tasks are allocated amongst the team according to skills, experience, and capacity.  

How much time will it normally take?

We expect that, on average, this role will take around 4-8 hours per month.  Although it would be great if you could attend Sunday Assembly London on a regular basis to capture content, there is a lot of flexibility as to when you complete your volunteer tasks.

What support will be available?

Don’t worry, we won’t throw you in at the deep end! You’ll start with a structured induction, during which you’ll be familiarised with our branding and tone-of-voice guidelines.

You’ll work closely with the Co-Ordination Crew Lead, the Community Engagement Lead and your fellow comms volunteers (which includes both communications professionals and those with less experience), bouncing ideas off each other.  You’ll also have access to a WhatsApp group for support and regular informal check-ins with the Co-Ordination Crew Lead.

We’ll provide access to a Canva Pro account to enable you to produce high quality graphics.  You’ll also have the opportunity to develop your skills and network with communications industry professionals by attending training workshops run by the Media Trust.

What should I be able to do?

  • Create visual and written content that is engaging and inspiring, which shows attention to detail, and which fits our branding
  • Be confident in using a range of social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
  • Have experience of creating graphics using Canva (or be willing to learn)
  • Have experience of using WordPress to maintain a website (or be willing to learn)
  • Have a strategic approach to communications
  • Show initiative in coming up with fresh ideas and implementing them
  • Enjoy working as part of a team with a variety of skills and abilities

Do I have to be a well-established member of the Sunday Assembly London community?

Our community is always open to newcomers and our volunteering is no exception. The team welcomes interest from anyone who’s friendly, open-minded and keen to learn.

What will I learn? 

You will be able to gain:

  • Experience of creating fun and engaging content across a variety of different platforms
  • Experience of running strategic marketing campaigns
  • Opportunities to gain leadership experience by leading on specific communications projects
  • Access to highly regarded industry training run by the Media Trust
  • An understanding of how small volunteer-led charities are run 
  • New friends within the Sunday Assembly London community

How do I apply for this role? 

Email Gwawr, our Co-Ordination Crew Lead, at gwawr@sundayassembly.com, or speak to Gwawr at one of our assemblies, and we’ll arrange a chat. 

To learn more and apply, please email Gwawr
Main EventsPast events

11:00 am, February 15 2026

Valentine’s Special: The Love Doctress Is In!

This Valentine’s weekend, we explored the love that builds the type of communities, friendships and resilience we cherish at Sunday Assembly London.

Guest speaker: Adela Apetroaia

Adela is a senior lecturer and psychotherapist known as the Love Doctress. She explores how love shows up in all forms: not just romance, but in friendship, community, creativity and self-acceptance.

Drawing on years of experience in psychology, bodywork and relational coaching, Adela shared practical insights on how we can build more honest, heart-led connections in a time of increasing disconnection.

Guest poet: Morwenna James

We love welcoming new speakers and poets to our stage, and we also love welcoming back familiar voices like Morwenna. She’s a spoken word artist and published poet who uses radical honesty and self-deprecation to explore universal themes with a playful, humorous slant.

This time, Morwenna entertained us with Mother Time, about her experience of motherhood among other mothers. Watch Morwenna’s performance on Instagram

Our singalongs

As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band and reflecting today’s themes.

  • Lovefool – The Cardigans
  • You Can’t Hurry Love – The Supremes
  • Kiss from A Rose – Seal
  • I Want To Know What Love Is – Foreigner

The lyrics were projected on screen and everyone was welcome to sing (and dance) along.

About Sunday Assembly London

Sunday Assembly London is your regular and reliable stop for a welcoming, accessible and inspiring Sunday community, where you can hear talks and poetry, sing songs and make new friends.

Stay after for tea, biscuits, and chat in the Backyard Comedy Club. Then join us for a local meal, picnic, or a drink and card games at the pub.

→ Our next assembly: You Matter… Really!, 1st March
← Our previous assembly: Hidden London, Hidden Lives: Homelessness Revisited, 1st February

Main EventsPast events

11:00 am, February 1 2026

Hidden London, Hidden Lives: Homelessness Revisited

Homelessness can happen to anyone. Redundancy, relationship breakdown, illness or a sudden change in circumstance can turn even a stable life upside down. During these winter months, when cold, isolation and vulnerability intensify, the reality of homelessness becomes even more concerning.

Guest speaker: Jasmine Awad

Jasmine Awad is CEO of Unseen Tours, an award-winning social enterprise offering alternative walking tours of London led by people with lived experience of homelessness. Their guides share personal stories and hidden histories from some of London’s most vibrant neighbourhoods, inviting us to rethink what it truly means to be homeless.

By creating opportunities for connection with homeless and formerly homeless individuals, Unseen Tours helps give visibility and a voice to those who are so often unseen and unheard. 

Book an Unseen Tour here

Our singalongs

As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band and reflecting today’s themes.

  • These Boots are Made for Walking – Nancy Sinatra
  • Walk of Life – Dire Straits
  • Walking Away – Craig David
  • Waterloo Sunset – The Kinks

→ Our next assembly: The Love Doctress Is In!, 15th February
← Our previous assembly: Kicking off Change, 18th January

Not just Sunday AssembliesPast events

7:30 pm, January 22 2026

Laugh Your Assembly Off at our comedy night with Quantum Leopard

Who says January has to be ‘that sad month after December’? Join Sunday Assembly London and Quantum Leopard on 22nd January for an evening of shared laughter, well-crafted comedy and birthday joy!

January is the month Sunday Assembly London started – with entertaining, informative, non-religious get-togethers co-hosted by two comedians. What better way to celebrate than by lining up two fabulous comedians to entertain you?

One of those performers, and our host for the evening, is James Ross, whose Quantum Leopard comedy nights have a ten-year record of showcasing stand-up that doesn’t punch down. James will bring you his unique take on Guess Who? which he describes as ‘a very silly party show’.

Thom Tuck, our other performer, is hailed as ‘erudite, energetic and overtly bendy’. You’ll be treated to a preview of his forthcoming show about adorable animals.

As experienced stand-ups bringing you fresh material, James and Thom will make sure that Laugh Your Assembly Off! lives up to its name, and leave you in no doubt about why the Quantum Leopard format has won six Chortle Awards.

How much will it cost you to take in that incredible talent? Just £15, or £5 if you’re on a low income or precariously employed.

When: Thursday 22nd January from 7:30pm to 10pm (doors open at 7:30pm; show starts at 8pm)

Where: COLAB Tower, 22 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HB

The sooner you get your ticket, the sooner you can look forward to laughing in the face of winter!

https://bit.ly/quantumassembly

All line-ups subject to change.
Tickets are non-refundable.
Limited number of concessionary tickets available.

Main EventsPast events

11:00 am, January 18 2026

Kicking off Change: The goal to transform young lives

Guest speaker: Jude Geoghegan

An inspiring talk from footballer and coach Jude Geoghegan, national winner of the Disability Pathway Coach of the Year award 2025.

With personal experience of spina bifida and an extraordinary story of resilience, Jude has created inclusive football opportunities for young people with disabilities. He is currently an ambassador for BBC Children in Need.

Jude shared how sport changed his life and how coaching became his platform for the kind of community change we love to support here at Sunday Assembly London!

Guest poet: Leilah King

Bringing us her own unique perspective on the world of football, Leilah is a half-Iranian queer footballer and coach, mental health advocate and stand-up poet.

Our singalongs

As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band. They reflected today’s theme by being songs often sung at, or adapted for, sporting events.

  • Three Lions – Lightning Seeds, David Baddiel and Frank Skinner
  • I Predict a Riot – Kaiser Chiefs
  • Freed from Desire – Gala
  • Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond

The lyrics were projected on screen and everyone was welcome to sing (and dance) along.

This slide from Freed From Desire has gone down in Sunday Assembly London history:

About Sunday Assembly London

Sunday Assembly London is your regular and reliable stop for a welcoming, accessible and inspiring Sunday community, where you can hear talks and poetry, sing songs and make new friends.

Stay after for tea, biscuits, and chat in the Backyard Comedy Club. Then join us for a local meal, picnic, or a drink and card games at the pub.

→ Our next assembly: Hidden London, Hidden Lives: Homelessness Revisited, 1st February
← Our previous assembly: Adding Creativity into Everyday Life, 4th January

News

Sunday Assembly London turns 13! A look back at our birthdays

In honour of our 13th birthday, join us for a look back at how we’ve marked some of our birthdays gone by.

We’ve included links to our event pages, photos and livestream recordings.

2013: Beginnings

Sunday 6th January 2013 was when it all started. Almost 200 people turned up at The Nave on St. Paul’s Road in Islington for a get-together that promised to ‘solace worries, provoke kindness and inject a bit more whizziness into the everyday.’

Our first speaker, children’s author Andy Stanton, told us how his first book took almost a decade of dropping out and dead end jobs to write.

As you can see from the artwork, we called ourselves The Sunday Assembly back then. Little did our co-founders Pippa Evans and Sanderson Jones realise how that ‘The’ would be overtaken, with hundreds of assemblies to follow and dozens of Sunday Assembly communities in the UK & internationally!

2014: One year and counting
Our guest speaker was Alom Shaha: science teacher, writer and film-maker.

2016: There was a cake…
Shown here with our co-founders Pippa and Sanderson.

2018: There were many cakes!
There’s a photo of them at the top of the page.

Our 5th birthday speaker was Rufus Hound. Tying in with our theme of Light in the Darkness, Rufus spoke about the role of hope in our lives, how faith can provide it and how those without faith can still can embrace it.

2020: Change of Heart
Conservationist Margot Raggett helped us explore how we can make changes for the better, both in our personal lives and in the world around us. Comedic singer/songwriter Gecko returned to entertain us.

2021: Improv your Year
Our 8th birthday speaker was none other than Sunday Assembly London co-founder Pippa Evans. Pippa explained how life is one big improvisation and all of our interactions with the world are made of quick decisions based on what’s available to us.

We couldn’t celebrate this birthday in person, but the good news is that because we were using Zoom and YouTube, we recorded it! Watch the recording here

2022: It’s My Party and I’ll Dry if I Want To
A hybrid assembly. Our guest speaker was Laura Willoughby, co-founder of Club Soda. Laura taught us all about ‘mindful drinking’, and how we can empower ourselves to make conscious decisions about our alcohol consumption. Gecko performed for us again too.

Those of us who gathered in Conway Hall had a birthday lunch in Nando’s afterwards.

2023: Into double figures!

2024: Send in the Clowns
Embracing the playfulness that none of us should lose as we age, our guests were clown Afa Simpson and poet Paul Matthews.

2026: 13 and we feel lucky!
Fast-forward to our first teenage birthday and we kept up our recipe for success with a speaker from our community (Hanna Finn on everyday creativity), plenty of singing and generous helpings of tea and homemade cake, followed by a local lunch and a trip to the pub.

Thank you to everyone who’s celebrated our birthdays with us and the many assemblies in between. You’ve helped to build an in-person community and that’s no small thing. Here’s to another year of Living Better, Helping Often and Wondering More.

We meet at the Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green at 11am on the first & third Sundays of the month (most months). You can arrive any time from 10:30am with no need to book and no pressure to pay (though donations are very welcome).

If you’re looking for learning, laughter and a little less loneliness in London, we can’t wait to welcome you in 2026. We were all Sunday Assembly London first-timers once, and we know how daunting it can be – but once you’ve taken that step through our doors, the rest is a piece of cake!

Main EventsPast events

11:00 am, January 4 2026

Adding Creativity into Everyday Life

Happy New Year and Happy Birth-month to Sunday Assembly London! (Our first assembly was in January 2013.)

Many of us start each new year with big plans for a new creative hobby. Pottery classes and embroidery workshops fill up quickly, but for many people their new hobbies end up being one off experiences rather than lifelong creative pursuits.

Being creative is not just about becoming really skilled in knitting or drawing, or some other craft. It’s a way of making decisions and coming up with solutions to problems. There is plenty of research suggesting that being in the habit of small scale creativity stimulates multiple areas of the brain, promoting better memory, focus and problem-solving skills.

Our guest speaker: Hanna Finn

Sunday Assembly London’s own Hanna Finn has spent decades developing her skills in crochet, embroidery, weaving, baking, hat making and many other creative pursuits, and also regularly arranges her dinner to resemble a face.

Hanna took us through the kind of creative activities anyone can incorporate into their everyday life without spending any money or taking hours to master.

Birthday cake

We invited all the bakers in the Sunday Assembly London community to bake us a birthday cake and bring it along.

Those who were more King Alfred than Mary Berry were encouraged to give us a charitable donation in honour of our birthday and help yourself to what’s on offer!

Our singalongs

‘As usual, there will be four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band and reflecting today’s themes. You’ll find out which ones at the assembly, or you may spot clues on our social media closer to the time.

The lyrics will be projected on screen and everyone’s welcome to sing (and dance) along.’

The songs were

  • Celebration – Kool & The Gang
  • Teenage Kicks – The Undertones
  • One Day Like This – Elbow
  • Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus

About Sunday Assembly London

Sunday Assembly London is your regular and reliable stop for a welcoming, accessible and inspiring Sunday community, where you can hear talks and poetry, sing songs and make new friends.

Stay after for tea, biscuits, and chat in the Backyard Comedy Club. Then join us for a local meal, picnic, or a drink and card games at the pub.

→ Our next assembly: Kicking off Change, 18th January
← Our previous assembly: Yule Never Believe It: Rational Rituals and Secular Ceremonies, 21st December

And coming up in February…

1st: Hidden London, Hidden Lives: Homelessness Revisited

15th: Valentine’s Special: The Love Doctress in the House!

Not just Sunday AssembliesPast events

7:30 pm, January 15 2026

Article Club: January 2026

Article Club is where the Sunday Assembly London community read a diverse range of articles, share them with like-minded people and deal with our anxiety that we aren’t reading books.

This will be our 73rd meeting and it’s never too late to join! Just like at our assemblies, we love welcoming new members and their unique opinions.

How Article Club works

1. We meet every 1-2 months in the National Theatre building in Central London by the river. We go for the round seats in the Lyttelton Theatre bar on the first floor.

2. We vote in advance and pick two articles from a short list to read before we meet. Usually one relates to politics/current affairs and the other to history, culture or science.

January’s articles:

https://observer.co.uk/style/features/article/felix-baumgartners-fall-from-grace

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/31/andrew-royal-behaviour-analysis

3. We talk about each one for around half an hour. The beauty of Article Club is that we can think more deeply about the broader themes of a topic, and how well the article gets to grips with them.

4. We each give a score out of 10 for the articles that have been discussed.

5. We set the date for the next Article Club and sometimes adjourn to the pub.

There will also be an Article Club on 26 February. And to meet more of the Sunday Assembly London community while learning about a new or familiar topic, you’re always welcome at our Sunday Assemblies too!

Main EventsPast events

11:00 am, December 21 2025

Yule Never Believe It: Rational Rituals and Secular Ceremonies

As a non-religious community with a history of big festive pop singalongs (Yule Rock), we know how meaningful Christmas is to so many people. What if we marked other points in the year with the same level of ritual? What traditions could we revive or create? Today’s Winter Solstice was the ideal time to explore it.

Guest speaker: Alan Gregan

Alan is a long-standing member of the Sunday Assembly London community, an atheist physics teacher and founder of the Fountayne Fire Society. What started as folk songs round a bonfire has since swelled into elaborate ceremonies to mark solstices, equinoxes and other major moments.

Our singalongs

As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band. It’s that time of year, and our Yule Rock 2025 spectacular was fresh in our minds, so we joined in on some festive favourites.

  • Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End) – The Darkness
  • I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday – Wizzard
  • Stay Another Day – East 17
  • Merry Xmas Everybody – Slade

As always, the lyrics were projected on screen and everyone was welcome to sing (and dance) along.

About Sunday Assembly London

Sunday Assembly London is your regular and reliable stop for a welcoming, accessible and inspiring Sunday community, where you can hear talks and poetry, sing songs and make new friends.

Stay after for tea, biscuits, and chat in the Backyard Comedy Club. Then join us for a local meal, picnic, or a drink and card games at the pub.

→ Our next assembly: Adding Creativity into Everyday Life, 4th January
← Our previous assembly: The Sound of Movement, 7th December

Not just Sunday AssembliesPast events

7:30 pm, December 12 2025

Yule Rock 2025: we sang Xmas pop, loud and proud!

Every December, it’s our privilege to host Yule Rock and spread the combined joy of community and festive singing. Yule Rock also raises vital funds for our small volunteer-led charity. And we’re never far away from being reminded that the world needs warmth and harmony.

Heartfelt thank yous to:

  • Everyone who supported the event by coming to Rich Mix London
  • Our volunteers
  • Our host Helen Arney
  • Our raffle prize donors: The Star of Bethnal Green, The Three Colts, The Backyard Comedy Club, Baked by Steph, Helen Arney

Sunday Assembly London turns 13 next year and we can’t wait to welcome even more people to our secular celebrations of life!

Our Yule Rock 2025 songs

  • Troika
  • Merry Christmas Everyone (Shakin’ Stevens)
  • Step Into Christmas (Elton John)
  • Driving Home For Christmas (Chris Rea)
  • Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (Darlene Love)
  • It’s Christmas Time (Status Quo)
  • Last Christmas (Wham!)
  • It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (Andy Williams)
  • What Feliz Navidad Means To Me (Trad./Stevie Wonder)
  • Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (Brenda Lee)
  • Wombling Merry Christmas (The Wombles)
  • The Twelve Days Of Christmas
  • I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday (Wizzard)
  • Underneath The Tree (Kelly Clarkson)
  • Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) (The Darkness)
  • Let It Go (Frozen)
  • Fairytale Of New York (The Pogues/Kirsty MacColl)
  • Stay Another Day (East 17)
  • All I Want For Christmas Is You (Mariah Carey)
  • Merry Xmas Everybody (Slade)

The rest of this post is our original post promoting Yule Rock, kept for future reference.

We’ve been itching to announce this year’s Yule Rock, our annual large-scale singalong of Christmas pop songs. And only some of that itching is being caused by our festive jumpers and antler headbands.

What is Yule Rock?

As reliable as an over-illuminated convoy of soft drink trucks, but with far more musical variety, Yule Rock is an evening for unashamedly celebrating the combination of communal singing and classic pop that is unbeatable at Christmas time: a combination that brings people together in joy and harmony (harmonies not guaranteed) like no other festive tradition can. 

Yule Rock was acclaimed as one of London’s top ten December activities by Visit London in 2022.

Where and when is it happening?

This year, Yule Rock takes place at Rich Mix in Shoreditch on Friday 12th December from 7:30pm. 

It has its ideal compère in Helen Arney: comedian, presenter and geek songstress, hosting Yule Rock for the second year running.

Because belting out festive favourites is thirsty work, there will be a bar. There will also be a raffle.

How is Yule Rock different from Sunday Assembly London’s usual events?

Yule Rock builds on a key part of our twice-monthly gatherings at Backyard Comedy Club, where everyone’s invited to sing along to four pop songs in a welcoming non-religious environment. The songs are performed by our in-house band, loosely matched to the topic of each assembly’s guest speaker’s talk, and accompanied by a projected slideshow of the lyrics. This mass karaoke has been a staple of Sunday Assembly London’s appeal since its beginnings in 2013.

Yule Rock goes bigger, bolder and baublier than a standard Sunday Assembly. It boasts more band members, 20 songs and a larger venue, with room for 200.

When I get festive, I get really festive. Can Yule Rock handle that?

Yes! We encourage everyone to dress in their Yuletide best and sing their hearts out. 

Yule Rock is for anyone who treats Whamageddon as their winter wonderland, who’d never throw shade on Slade, and who knows when it’s time to swap Noel & Liam for pure Noël. The boys of the NYPD choir will approve, even if the fashion police won’t.

Sum it up for me.

Yule Rock is a fine tradition, a firm prediction (if you like puns) and, for the family and friendship groups that come back year after year, a fun addiction. 

Our volunteer-led team work hard to make it an unforgettable evening. We can’t wait to add some vocal sparkle to your festive season.

If I wait a bit longer to decide, will there still be tickets?

We can’t guarantee it. Based on Yule Rock 2024 sales, we’re expecting 2025 to be a sell-out. This year, to save you from tears (except the ‘of joy’ kind), we really do recommend booking your tickets now! [Thanks to everyone who did!]

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