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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
The Outside Project: Creating an LGBTIQ+ Safe Haven
11:00 am, July 6 2025
Speaker: Carla Ecola
Poet: Annie Hayter
Live Better is a value we hold dear at Sunday Assembly London, but what if your dream turns to crisis? Many LGBTIQ+ people move to London to live as themselves and find connection among a larger population – only to struggle without stable work, housing and social networks. One special organisation has led the way in helping them since 2017.
The Outside Project was founded as the UK’s first shelter, centre and domestic abuse refuge for the LGBTIQ+ community. This London Pride weekend, we were honoured to welcome The Outside Project’s co-founder and director Carla Ecola (preferred pronouns: they/them).
Carla is a queer homelessness activist who saw the gap in crisis services for LGBTIQ+ people whilst working as an Outreach Worker in their twenties.
We found out how they support LGBTIQ+ people in London without a home or a place to feel safe – driven by Carla and the team’s own personal experiences – and hear about the challenges they’re facing today.
We also had poetry from Annie Hayter, who delights in writing about queer transformations and flatulent saints. Their work has been found in The Big Issue, Rialto, MAGMA, Time Out, and on BBC Radio 3.
Annie’s verses took us from grandparents to geese with a blend of lightness, elegance and honesty.
The Outside Project takes its name from a George Michael song. In celebration of that, our Sunday Assembly London band performed four pop songs from LGBTIQ+ artists for us to sing our hearts out to. It was hard for some of us to resist a dash of dancing too.
Love Shack – The B-52’s
A Little Respect – Erasure
Pink Pony Club – Chappell Roan
Freedom! ’90 – George Michael
As always, we projected the lyrics for everyone to follow. But if you’re not into singing, there’s no pressure at all to join in.
We’re proud to host events where LGBTIQ+ members, volunteers, speakers and poets give each other a sense of belonging within a secular community that welcomes all.
A little old place where we can eat together: lunch at Love Shack!
In honour of our speaker Carla Ecola and their topic, the UK’s first LGBTIQ+ shelter, our lunch venue was Love Shack. Right up the road from Sunday Assembly London, Love Shack is a wonderfully welcoming vegan restaurant that recently joined the Safe Space London directory of trans-friendly businesses.
We had one of our biggest Lunch Club turnouts in a while! Thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate our community, the LGBTIQ+ community and the local East London community.
(We chose the venue, then we chose the song!)
Conversations on Kindness: How the Power of Kindness can Change the World
11:00 am, July 20 2025
Speaker: Bernadette Russell
Poet: Adam Lind
Here at Sunday Assembly London, kindness is one of the qualities that we value the most and try to cultivate within our community and beyond. Today we welcomed expert on kindness to help us continue to spread the love!
Bernadette Russell is a storyteller, performer, and expert on kindness and hope. For over a decade she has toured the US and UK speaking about the life-changing experience of practising kindness. This was her fifth time speaking at Sunday Assembly London.
With wit and poignancy, Bernadette told us about how London’s 2011 riots inspired her to spend the following year doing an act of kindness every day, touching others’ lives and her own in unexpected ways. She extended her kindness to us by giving us sunflowers and teacakes!
Adam Lind gave us the rare privilege of hearing him perform his poetry. He connected with us through three authentic poems whose themes included perceptions of masculinity and setting an example to future generations.
Thank you to Bernadette and Adam for being so appreciative of our Sunday Assembly London community. Their latest books, Conversations on Kindness and Floating Home, are available via our online bookshop.
As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band. They reflected today’s theme of acts of kindness:
With A Little Help From My Friends – The Beatles
All The Small Things – Blink 182
Lean On Me – Bill Withers
Shine – Take That
Summer Sync-Up activities: August 2025
Did you know that some animals hibernate in summer?* That wouldn’t suit us at Sunday Assembly London. While our assemblies were taking a break in August, we had an array of Sunday events to keep us connected.
Sunday 3rd August: picnic; ice cream crawl
At 12pm, we got together in Lincoln’s Inn Fields (near Holborn Tube station) for a bring-your-own picnic lunch.
Then we walked a route around London to sample a series of ice cream treats. We had a delightful ice cream crawl in September 2024 and couldn’t wait to do it again.
We met at 3pm opposite Kentish Town Station (Tube – Northern line; the National Rail Thameslink station is next door) at 3pm. Anyone who wanted to skip straight to dessert was welcome to come along without being at the picnic first!
Sunday 10th August: Lido swimming
A refreshing swim at the Serpentine Lido.
Sunday 17th August: picnic; art walk
At 12pm, we were back at Lincoln’s Inn Fields for another bring-your-own picnic lunch.
We enjoyed the “world turned upside down” near LSE and the Wellcome Collection’s current inclusive exhibitions are fantastic.
Saturday 30th August: walking adventure in Box Hill, Surrey
Emily ran a very special event for those of us wanting to adventure a little bit further afield than Central London.
Meeting at Box Hill & Westhumble station at 12:15pm, we embarked on a 5 mile walk.
Moderate difficulty – see National Trust classification
Dogs and Children welcome – we go at a leisurely pace
As we said beforehand: ‘We’d love as many people as possible to join us for some or all of these activities, even if you’ve never been to a Sunday Assembly before. We know it’s not always easy to make and keep connections in London, so we’re waiting to welcome you!’
If you want to find out more about our not-just-assemblies events, email Tanya at community@sundayassembly.com. Or, as with our assemblies, just turn up!
*Aestivation? We don’t know the meaning of the word…
Fight the Good Fight: How to Have Conflict
11:00 am, September 7 2025
Speaker: Katie Goldfinch
Poet: Yvonne Murray
Conflict is unavoidable in life: in our relationships with family, friends, colleagues or and strangers. How can we manage it better?
Katie Goldfinch is a broadcaster, mediator and host of the podcast How Not to F*** Up Your Kids.
Katie specialises in conflict resolution for neighbourhood disputes and intergenerational family dynamics. She is also currently working on a global peace building project with the Institute of Global Negotiation to disseminate conflict resolutions tools internationally.
By encouraging us to explore our own and each others’ definitions of conflict, and to practise active listening, Katie helped to us to understand how we can improve the quality and outcome of conflict at the personal level.
Yvonne is a Murray poet, inspirational motivator and author who loves to manipulate words into stories, hurts into lessons and to empathise with those who share similar paths.
Yvonne read three of her poems, Peace in Pieces, Punchbag and Fight the Fight Good, moving us with her imagery and empathy. The third poem was specially written for our assembly and you can watch a video on Yvonne’s Instagram.
As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band. They reflected today’s theme of conflict.
Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor
Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting – Elton John
We Can Work It Out – The Beatles
Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
Weird Science: An Introduction to Anomalistic Psychology
11:00 am, September 21 2025
Speaker: Professor Chris French
Poet: Lydia Daisy
We live in a weird world! And according to polls, over half the UK population believes some it may be down to paranormal phenomena.
Every ancient society we know of had some kind of supernatural belief system. Statistics suggest, even today, a steady increase in interest in this realm of enquiry.
But can belief in, and reported experience of, paranormal phenomena, actually be explained in terms of psychological factors?
We welcomed back Professor Chris French, Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. Chris talked about the remarkable field of anomalistic psychology: the psychology of strange experiences and behaviours.
Chris’s entertaining, insightful talk demonstrated the scientific backing for healthy scepticism.
As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band. They reflected today’s theme and today’s date.
Bad Day – Daniel Powter
Ghost Riders in the Sky – Johnny Cash
Superstition – Stevie Wonder
September – Earth, Wind & Fire (it’s about the 21st of September!)
Thank you to the volunteers who stepped up to become our impromptu singers alongside our band. A true Earth, Wind & Choir Day!
Thank you
What a great blend of attendees we had today too. From regulars who’ve been coming since Sunday Assembly London started in 2013, to first-timers, to visitors from Sunday Assembly Brighton and Sunday Assembly LA!
Hope Sings: The Choir with No Name
11:00 am, October 5 2025
Speaker: Kate Wareham
We believe firmly in the wonder of singing together. Today we welcomed another organisation using the power of collective song to empower, build connection, confidence and joy.
The Choir With No Name is a unique community choir made up of people who have experienced homelessness or marginalisation. Kate Wareham, their CEO, shared some of the community’s moving stories about how music creates a safe, inclusive space where people find their voices.
Kate has a PhD in music psychology, focusing on music and homelessness. Before Choir with No Name, she worked in community and arts organisations including The Children’s Society, Yorkshire Dance, St John Ambulance and Home-Start.
We were also led through some fun games by our resident Games Master Matt Lockwood.
As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band. They reflected today’s theme.
Sing – Travis
Make Your Own Kind of Music – Mama Cass Elliot
Your Song – Elton John
Scare Away the Dark – Passenger
Colours of Our Mind: The Science of Synaesthesia
11:00 am, October 19 2025
Speaker: Mary Spiller
Poet: Lydia Daisy
Did you know some people can taste words or see music? Welcome to the fascinating world of synaesthesia: a unique way of experiencing the world where the senses blend together.
Mary Spiller, Senior Lecturer at the University of East London, offered us a glimpse into this wondrous phenomenon.
Mary’s research explores how our senses can cross-wire in surprising and creative ways, opening up fresh ways of seeing the world.
We’re thrilled to welcome Lydia Daisy back. Artful in her words and her performance, she expressed her defiance of a system that treats creativity as a threat.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to bake delicious treats for our bake off, with flavours ranging from pumpkin to banoffee. They were both eerie and cheery. Some of the treats went so fast it was almost like they were never really there…
Keep Calm and Carry On: Connection Through Our Shared Humanity
11:00 am, November 2 2025
Speaker: Neil Shah
Stress touches every one of us – shaping our health, our relationships, and the way we experience daily life.
Ahead of National Stress Awareness Day on 5th November, we welcomed Neil Shah, founder of the Stress Management Society and a leading voice on resilience and wellbeing.
Neil is the driving force behind Stress Awareness Month, a national campaign raising awareness of the impact of stress and how we can manage it together. His mission: to empower people to live happier, healthier lives.
Neil explained how his own mental health experiences have motivated his work, and how suicide rates and stress have increased in recent years as community cohesion has decreased. He also gave the first public performance of a poem on these themes, expressing how what we may see as breakages are ways to let the light in.
We were also treated to a performance by the newly formed Sunday Assembly London choir. Following their rehearsal on 22 October, they performed Focus Is Power by Self Esteem.
Reviving a little bit of Sunday Assembly heritage, this was a perfect opportunity for Sunday Assembly Londoners who want to try being in a choir but can’t commit to regular weekly rehearsals and frequent events or shows.
As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band. They had lyrics reflecting today’s theme.
Three Little Birds – Bob Marley and The Wailers
Hand In My Pocket – Alanis Morrissette
I’ll Stand By You – Pretenders
Don’t Stop – Fleetwood Mac
De-Masking Masculinity: What Does Being a Man Mean Today?
11:00 am, November 16 2025
Speaker: Kris Genijn
From Hollywood heroes to social media influencers, our culture today is full of mixed messages about what it means to be a man. These myths of toughness, dominance and emotional silence have shaped generations and left many men disconnected from themselves and others.
By unpicking these stories, we can live more thoughtfully and supportively.
Kris Genijn leads De-Masking Masculinity workshops at transformational festivals like Medicine, Nowhere and Burning Nest. He blends humour, vulnerability and cultural critique to ask: what have we lost in trying to “man up”?
Kris invited us to consider how tenderness, play and presence can be reclaimed as strengths, helping us move beyond stereotypes.
He also led us through a series of energy alchemy exercises: using breathing and movement to help us shed our inhibitions and release our energy.
As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band and reflecting today’s theme of masculine identity.
Piano Man – Billy Joel
The One and Only – Chesney Hawkes
Father and Son – Cat Stevens (Yusuf)
All These Things that I’ve Done – The Killers
As always, the lyrics were projected on screen and everyone was welcome to sing (and dance) along.
Thank you to our band for adding versality to virtuosity, with multiple lead vocalists and instrumentals.
The Sound of Movement: More Than Meets the Ear?
11:00 am, December 7 2025
Speaker: Dr Tommaso Perego
Poet: Yvonne Murray
From Christmas playlists in every café to the festive hum of the high-street, sound seems to move all around us at this time of year.
Understanding how we experience sound in space goes far beyond the mechanics of the ear. But how do our brains make sense of it all? This ‘Sound Day Assembly’ was an opportunity to find out.
Dr Perego is a composer, sound designer and senior lecturer at the University of East London. His research explores sonic movement; how we perceive sound in motion and space and how that shapes everything from performance and architecture to multimedia and art.
He gave us a playful exploration of sound, space and perception and we discovered why even the Christmas jingles that chase us through the shops can tell us something fascinating about being human.
Yvonne Murray is a Murray poet, inspirational motivator and author who loves to manipulate words into stories, hurts into lessons and to empathise with those who share similar paths.
As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band and reflecting today’s theme.
Shut Up and Dance – Walk the Moon
Sound of the Underground – Girls Aloud
Footloose – Kenny Loggins
Don’t Stop Movin’ – S Club 7
The lyrics were projected on screen, with everyone welcome to sing (and dance) along.
Winter Fayre 2025: sharing your creativity with our community!
We invited our community to display (and sell if they wanted) their creations at our Winter Fayre. The stalls were open either side of this assembly i.e. 10:20 to 11am, 12:15 to 1pm.
Thank you to all our makers – from cards and crocheted toys to games and hats – and to all our shoppers!
Yule Rock 2025: we sang Xmas pop, loud and proud!
7:30 pm, December 12 2025
Rich Mix, Shoreditch
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!]
Yule Never Believe It: Rational Rituals and Secular Ceremonies
11:00 am, December 21 2025
Speaker: Alan Gregan
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.
Alan Gregan 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.
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.
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!]
Are you a cheerful people person, and a natural community-builder? We’re looking for one or more Front of House Leads to support our team of volunteers as they welcome attendees to Sunday Assembly London.
Front of House Lead is the ideal role for a gregarious person who wants to give their time to a community and build their experience of events organisation, fundraising, and community management. It is a great way to get involved in Sunday Assembly London behind the scenes. It’s all about making sure everyone feels safe and welcome!
What will you be doing?
Assemblies take place twice a month, on Sundays, and front of house volunteers do a range of different things to make sure everything runs smoothly on the day. We ask front of house volunteers to arrive at 10am, and the event finishes at 1pm.
You’ll also join regular meetings with the Coordination Crew to plan upcoming Assemblies, and contact the volunteers to ensure everyone is prepared for each event. It is roughly 8 hours of volunteering a month.
What difference will you make?
It’s vital that new attendees and regulars alike feel looked after at our events, so that we can keep building a community worth being a part of!
You’ll be able to develop and support a team of volunteers, and help to make decisions about how the Assembly is run.
We’re open to this role being a job-share, with two or more FOH Leads on a rota: giving you all the rewards without the pressure of having to be at every assembly.
Our Summer Sync-Up deserved a sequel! We planned an array of fun activities to go alongside our autumn assemblies, including…
Halloween Bake Off – Sunday 19th October
‘Today’s assembly comes with extra cake! Whether you’re making, tasting or both, help us turn Backyard into Bake-yard. With Halloween as our theme, it could be a case of “traybake or treat?” (That’s all the wordplay we’ve got for now, though we may have a pun in the oven.)’
Thanks to everyone who took the time to bake delicious treats for our bake off, with flavours ranging from pumpkin to banoffee. They were both eerie and cherry. Some of the treats went so fast it was almost like they were never there…
Sunday Assembly London one-day choir – Wednesday 22nd October, Sunday 2nd November
Reviving a little bit of Sunday Assembly heritage. Following a rehearsal in October, our pop-up choir (or do we mean pipe-up choir?) performed an uplifting song for our fellow Sunday Assemblers during our first November assembly (or “Novembly” as no one was calling it) on the 2nd, Keep Calm And Carry On.
This was a perfect opportunity for Sunday Assembly Londoners who want to try being in a choir but can’t commit to regular weekly rehearsals and frequent events or shows.
The chosen song was Focus Is Power by Self Esteem.
Thank you to the choir for reinforcing the power of literally singing from the same songsheet.
For even more singing joy… join us at Yule Rock ’25!
Sing Christmas pop loud and proud, with a live band and a room big enough for 200 very festive people.
It’s happening on Friday 12 December at Rich Mix in Shoreditch.
Based on Yule Rock 2024 sales, we’re expecting 2025 to be a sell-out. Find out more about the Yule Rock magic and get your tickets at https://bit.ly/yulerock25
Did you know that some animals hibernate in summer?* That wouldn’t suit us at Sunday Assembly London. While our assemblies were taking a break in August, we had an array of Sunday events to keep us connected.
Sunday 3rd August: picnic; ice cream crawl
At 12pm, we got together in Lincoln’s Inn Fields (near Holborn Tube station) for a bring-your-own picnic lunch.
Then we walked a route around London to sample a series of ice cream treats. We had a delightful ice cream crawl in September 2024 and couldn’t wait to do it again.
We met at 3pm opposite Kentish Town Station (Tube – Northern line; the National Rail Thameslink station is next door) at 3pm. Anyone who wanted to skip straight to dessert was welcome to come along without being at the picnic first!
Sunday 10th August: Lido swimming
A refreshing swim at the Serpentine Lido.
Sunday 17th August: picnic; art walk
At 12pm, we were back at Lincoln’s Inn Fields for another bring-your-own picnic lunch.
We enjoyed the “world turned upside down” near LSE and the Wellcome Collection’s current inclusive exhibitions are fantastic.
Saturday 30th August: walking adventure in Box Hill, Surrey
Emily ran a very special event for those of us wanting to adventure a little bit further afield than Central London.
Meeting at Box Hill & Westhumble station at 12:15pm, we embarked on a 5 mile walk.
Moderate difficulty – see National Trust classification
Dogs and Children welcome – we go at a leisurely pace
As we said beforehand: ‘We’d love as many people as possible to join us for some or all of these activities, even if you’ve never been to a Sunday Assembly before. We know it’s not always easy to make and keep connections in London, so we’re waiting to welcome you!’
If you want to find out more about our not-just-assemblies events, email Tanya at community@sundayassembly.com. Or, as with our assemblies, just turn up!
*Aestivation? We don’t know the meaning of the word…
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