What’s On

Coping with the subjects of death and grief remain some of life’s greatest challenges. For those who are not part of a religious framework or community – and do not wish to be – what can be offered as a substitute for the emotional comfort that religious faith offers those in facing their own death or the death of their loved ones? How can we find ways to adapt ritual technology to support ourselves and our communities on the long and challenging path of loss and bereavement?

Guest speaker: Rachel Rose Reid

Rachel is a spoken word artist, writer & storyteller grappling directly with these questions. Raised on a hotchpotch of immigrant heritage, English folk and concrete jungle, Rachel plays with storytelling through the creation and adaptation of folk rituals and practices for meeting real and pressing needs in contemporary life.

Rachel aims to show that the art of reclaiming, renewing, and restoring ritual practice in everyday life is for everyone, and is most often made by people making do with what they have available to them, which can be enough.

Watch the recording

From Shame to Pride, Fear to Joy – We are all our own master Alchemists.

Chris Fitchew is part jester, part comedian, full joy alchemist and space holder who has travelled the world to hone his crafts, including working with plant medicines in Peru, vortex energy healing and working with many great teachers and Wisdom Sharers. He believes that one of the greatest access points in finding our purpose and self-healing is through laughter, joy, and play; for ourselves and our communities.

Chris brings his life story to this Sunday Assembly London Pride special, as he shares how he managed to pivot and transmute a childhood of shame to a life of pride, and fears a plenty into Joy in abundance.

Tom Ana will be the guest poet for this Assembly. They are a nonbinary writer and facilitator from the North of England, and run the Queer Poetry Circle, a space that aims to create a new oral tradition through exploring poetry; Queer Spiritual Explorers, a group for interfaith exploration for LGBTQ+ people, and are a co-facilitator at the Queer Death Café.

Watch the recording

Sometimes life is a coin toss. Sometimes it’s a foregone conclusion. The problem is telling the difference, but this is a skill you can improve. Whether you want to know how your next date will go or who will win the US election, you can learn when to be confident and when to be uncertain. Nathan Young, a forecaster at the Swift Centre, has a few tips for adding predictions into your toolkit. You’ll enjoy it. Probably.

Nathan predicts events in geopolitics, AI and pandemics, and builds forecasting tools online. He also founded the Coronavirus Tech Handbook. Beyond that, he likes singing and hosting community dinners. If you have an idea for a forecasting question, he’d love to hear it at @nathanpmyoung on twitter.

We’re also very much looking forward to Hannah Deasy in our poetry slot! Hannah offers hard -hitting, vulnerable and often hilarious spoken word. Unpredictable, raw, warm and not afraid to dish the dirt on the state of her mental health, she holds crowds gripped with her personal true stories, skilfully intertwined with supremely well observed jokes.

Watch the recording

Dance occupies a funny place in the English psyche; can you think of an activity we engage with so enthusiastically and regularly, but also so badly. Why was it banned by Oliver Cromwell and the priest in Footloose? Why was the government so threatened by “music wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats”? When society wants us to be cerebral observers of culture, dance allows us to be visceral participants.

We’re delighted to have our very own Alan Gregan deliver a talk on how we in England live, how we dance and how we can use dance to explore and practise different ways of living. Alan is a dancer, a teacher and a Sunday Assembly community member. He has been learning styles under the swing umbrella for 12 years and teaching since 2015.

We will also have Emma Fisher deliver a movement workshop that explores what it might be like to tune into the language of our bodies, developing internal connectivity to allow for greater outer expressivity, and beginning to re-choreograph narratives about self, other and community. Emma is a professional dancer and registered Dance Movement Psychotherapist. Her performance career has taken her across 5 continents, collaborating with artists and choreographers.

Your host for the assembly is Anj Cairns.

Watch the recording

Improv Your Year

• Sunday 10th January 2021, 11:00am

• Speaker: Pippa Evans
• Poet: Dan Simpson

Happy New Year, and happy 8th birthday to Sunday Assembly! In honour of this special occasion, we’ve invited Olivier award-winning comedian and Sunday Assembly co-founder Pippa Evans to be our main speaker! Pippa has been very productive during the pandemic, performing with the Showstoppers and translating her acclaimed self-improvement course “Improv Your Life” into book form. She realised that 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. Pippa will teach us some of the skills she has learned as an improv comedian and how they can be applied to every ‘scene’ in our lives.

Hosted by co-founder of Sunday Assembly and founder of The Lifefulness Project Sanderson Jones, this assembly will also have poetry by Dan Simpson, a member of the community talking about how they’re “Trying Their Best”, and fun sing-along songs by the Sunday Assembly Band. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Po5L2HFV8

The Words That Move Us

• Sunday 24th January 2021, 11:00am

• Speakers: Nick Makoha, ddregalo
• Poet: Robin Lamboll

At Sunday Assembly, we love poetry. In honour of Burns Night on 25 Jan, we’d like to take some time to think about the importance of poetry in our daily lives. We are delighted to welcome internationally renowned London-based poet Nick Makoha as our main speaker. We will also have as our special guests poet Robin Lamboll performing some of their original work and artist ddregalo talking about his mural in Shoreditch which features poetry.

This assembly will be co-hosted by Maddalena Tralli, the organiser of our poetry club Lively Poets Society, and Anj Cairns, founder of We Wrote a Poem. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXe42esjJUo

The Truth About Mindreading

• Sunday 7th February 2021, 11:00am

• Speaker: Stuart Nolan
• Poet: Leonora Nicholson

How do your thoughts affect your body? Can other people see what you’re thinking? Isn’t mindreading just a bunch of mumbo jumbo? To separate fact from myth, our main speaker is Stuart Nolan, a performer, scientist, and PhD researcher exploring the history of mindreading and how it relates to new neurotechnologies. Stuart will teach us a few mindreading techniques and explain why they work, and he’ll also tell us how this exciting field can be useful in modern medicine.

What’s better than one Stuart? Two Stuarts! Community member and street art blogger Stuart Holdsworth (@inspiringcity) hosts. We’ll also hear poetry by Leonora Nicholson of Unheard Poetry and some great songs that will get your mind and body moving. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

A Place to Call Home

• 21st February 2021, 11:00am
• Speaker: Rachel Hamilton

No one deserves to be homeless. And many of us wish we could help but don’t know how. It seems like an impossibly large problem. Based in Camden, the C4WS Homeless Project has been tackling every aspect of the homeless problem head-on since 2005. From winter housing to mentoring, English classes, creating a social support network, and jobs guidance, this heroic team of over 700 volunteers reaches out in all the ways that people need to get off the streets and into a permanent living situation. Rachel Hamilton, who runs their Home From Home project, will talk to us about how people with spare bedrooms can help by providing short-term accommodation to guests from their shelter while they wait for their permanent housing to be ready.

This event will be hosted by Sanderson Jones, co-founder of Sunday Assembly and founder of The Lifefulness Project. In addition to the main talk we will have some rockin’ songs about love to sing along to in celebration of Valentine’s Day, and a special musical performance. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

When Women Move Mountains

• Sunday 7th March 2021, 11:00am

• Speaker: Lee Webster

When women take action together, they can change the world. Raising each other up, they can reach higher and farther. On International Women’s Day, we want to celebrate the achievements of women. Our main speaker is Lee Webster, women’s rights activist and Deputy Director of International Development at ActionAid, an international charity working with women and girls living in poverty. In Lee’s two decades of experience working in international development, she has seen time and again that real change happens when women and girls stand together to raise their voices, claim their rights and hold governments to account.

This event will be hosted by Anj Cairns, author and poet at WeWroteAPoem. In addition to the main talk we’ll have our usual rockin’ songs to sing and dance to, poetry, and a special guest performance by Gemma Rogers! Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!) and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

We’ve Come a Long, Long Way Together

• Sunday 21st March 2021, 11:00am

A Year to Reflect

• Sunday 4th April 2021, 11:00am
• Speaker: Leonora Nicholson
• Poet: The Oratist Artist

What does ‘community’ mean to you? If we’re not all in the same room together, are we still a community? Over the past year, we’ve learned through our virtual assemblies that our community can be sustained, and in some ways thrive, without a shared physical space, because we still have the same goals we’ve always had: to live better, help often, and wonder more.

We are so pleased to welcome back Leonora Nicholson, founder of Unheard Poetry, as she takes us through a short version of her “Take a Break” sessions, helping us to write down our thoughts and feelings about how the past year has impacted each of us. Make sure to bring a pen and paper!

This event will be hosted by street art blogger Stuart Holdsworth (@InspiringCity). And as always, we’ll have other good stuff: sing-along songs, poetry, and a few words from community members. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!) and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

Is There Life on Mars?

• Sunday 18th April 2021, 11:00am
• Speaker: Jon Chase
• Poet: Robin Lamboll

On 18 February, NASA’s exploration rover Perseverance landed on Mars. Its mission is to seek signs of ancient life on the surface of our celestial neighbour. But why are scientists looking for life on Mars, and what impact will it have for all of us back here on Earth if they find it? Would we even recognise alien life if we saw it?

Helping us better understand the deeper questions about space exploration is our main speaker, science communicator and rapper Jon Chase, who has appeared on BBC’s Bitesize and performed his science raps at places like The Science Museum and the Royal Society. This assembly will also feature poetry by physicist and UK slam champion Robin Lamboll, and a couple of surprises from the Sunday Assembly Choir!

Hosted by our resident King of Nerds, Matt Lockwood, we’ll sing to some out-of-this-world songs and hear a few words from members of our community. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!) and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

A Helping Hand

• Sunday 2nd May 2021, 11:00am
• Speaker: Rich Walker

For many years, Rich Walker’s idea of a ‘helping hand’ was a robotic one: he’s the managing director of the ethically-minded Shadow Robot Company. But last year, the world changed dramatically, and Rich realised that there was an overwhelming need for a more organic form of assistance. After joining a local mutual aid group, he founded the St Ann’s Food Hub, which provides over a hundred boxes of fruit and veg a week to those who need it- nearly 2/3 of which are donations. Over the past year they have donated nearly 3,000 boxes! #helpoften

Hosted by Anj Cairns, author and founder of We Wrote A Poem, this assembly will feature rocking sing-along songs performed by our band and choir and talks by members of our community. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!) and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

Leave Better

• Sunday 16th May 2021, 11:00am
• Speaker: Jane Morgan, Sandra Greenyer

Daniel Defoe once famously wrote “‘Tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes.” (Yes, we had to look that up.) In these uncertain times, it can feel like most aspects of our lives are outside of our control. We don’t know when our time will be up, but there are ways to plan for it.

Jane Morgan, funeral celebrant and director of the Good Funeral Guide, and Sandra Greenyer, end-of-life doula and Death Café host, came together in 2019 to launch London’s first Coffin Club. They will speak at our assembly about how to confront some of our fears and worries about death, as well as how to think practically about making a plan for our own eventual ends.

Hosted by Sanderson Jones, co-founder of Sunday Assembly and founder of The Lifefulness Project, this assembly will feature some of your favourite sing-along songs performed by our band and talks by members of our community. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!) and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

Your Opinion Matters

• Sunday 6th June 2021, 11:00am

• Speaker: Alastair Lichten

What do you think of opinion polls? (Choose one answer.)

1. I love to give my opinions to anyone who will listen.
2. They provide essential feedback to organisations who want to better meet the needs of people who use their goods or services.
3. They trick people into giving away personal information that will be used to advertise to them.
4. The data is skewed, because anyone who agrees with #3 won’t participate in polls, so you’ll only get responses from people who agree with #1 or 2.

Alastair Lichten, head of education at the National Secular Society, has been fascinated by the formation and measuring of public opinion since studying politics at university. Alastair has been involved in the use, research and commissioning of opinion polling in various capacities, including student writer and activist. He believes opinion polling is a valuable tool to understand the world, but that we need to improve the ways we design and use them.

Hosted by street art aficionado Stuart Holdsworth (@InspiringCity), this assembly will feature sing-along songs that are statistically proven to be absolute bangers! We’ll also have poetry and a talk from someone who is Trying Their Best. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!) and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome. For accessibility, we will have live captioning at this event.

Letting Loose

• 20th June 2021, 11:00am
• Speaker: Danni Emery

Have you recently gone out into the real world and suddenly realised you’ve completely forgotten all of your social skills? As restrictions ease and we return to some of our pre-pandemic activities, some of us may feel apprehensive about interacting with others. How can we let loose and enjoy ourselves with all of these insecurities getting in the way?

For our last virtual assembly before summer break, we are delighted to welcome Danni Emery, aka “Officer Emery Bored” of The Insecurity Guards, as our main speaker! She will talk about this fantastic troupe who help people confront and release their insecurities.

Hosted by poet and founder of “We Wrote A Poem”, Anj Cairns, this assembly will include sing-along rock and pop songs to go wild on in the comfort of your own home, poetry that will move you, and some words from members of our community to remind you that you’re not alone. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!) and lively conversation with our community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome. For accessibility, we will have live captioning at this event.

World Wide Pride

• 5th July 2020, 11:00am
• Speaker: Ché Feenie

We welcome all to our annual Pride Assembly! Our main speaker is Ché Feenie. Ché is a lifelong trailblazer in LGBTQ+ rights activism and the Director of Social Impact at KeyoPass, an app that helps people engage in ‘social good travel’. Keyo Pass has benefited nonprofit ‘local heroes’ around the world.

The Sunday Assembly Band and Choir have been working hard on putting together some amazing sing-along videos for us. As always, we will also have a poetry reading and we will hear from a member of our community about how they’re Trying Their Best.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms.

Because of the lockdown, we cannot meet at Conway Hall, so our meeting will be held on Zoom instead, and livestreamed to YouTube. By turning your camera on, you agree to have your image included in our livestream, which will be recorded and stored on our YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-vW4hckpAQ

Asking Deep Questions

• 19 July 2020, 11:00am
• Speaker: Kyrill Potapov

Sometimes we get so caught up in our everyday lives that we forget to stop, look up at the stars, and think about the Big Picture. Why are we here? What makes us human? What does the future hold?

Every summer, Kyrill Potapov takes young people on a journey of self discovery. As co-director of Camp Quest UK, he believes that a summer camp can be more than a place to enjoy outdoor activities. By working together on completing mental and physical activities, Kyrill encourages his campers to marvel at the universe while developing a critical eye and a love of learning. He will help us ‘Wonder More’ by demonstrating one of the camp’s philosophy activities with us.

Hosted by co-founder of Sunday Assembly and creator of Lifefulness Sanderson Jones, this assembly will also have poetry by Olivia Hall, some rocking tunes for you to sing along to, and a talk from a member of our community who is Trying Their Best.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45bl4Ns2iMU

‘Meet The Unbelievers’: Online Film Premiere w/ DAN SNOW & SANDERSON JONES

• Thursday 30th July 2020

The online premiere of ‘Meet The Unbelievers’ – three short films about unbelief. Filmmaker Sanderson Jones will be interviewed by Dan Snow.

Meet The Unbelievers: Online Premiere
Dan Snow interviews filmmaker and presenter Sanderson Jones about 3 Short Films on Unbelief.
‘Meet The Unbelievers’ is a groundbreaking series of three short films, written and presented by Sanderson Jones , into what so-called religious unbelievers do believe.
The films were directed by J on Drever ( Super Bob , his production company won a Oscar for Documentary) and produced by History Hit, and make use of exclusive access to research from the world’s largest study of atheism and agnosticism – ‘Understanding Unbelief’ (University of Kent).
The films will premiere on July 30th in an online event where Dan Snow , the Creative Director of History Hit and BBC presenter, will interview Sanderson Jones.
Sanderson Jones is the co-founder of the worldwide Sunday Assembly movement of non-religious congregations, and an internationally recognised change-maker. He was elected to the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship in 2017 for his work.
Each film looks at a different aspect of life as an ‘unbeliever’:
* Childhood – Sanderson Jones goes into a primary school to find out what non-believing children do believe, drawing on pioneering research by Anna Strhan and Rachael Shillitoe. At the end of the episode the children lead a non-religious school assembly.
* Superstition / Belief – Sanderson Jones entices non-believers into a superstition store, to test their how superstitious they really are. But these rational atheists, who say they don’t believe in spirits, balk at signing a contract for Sanderson to buy their soul.
* Death – The final film explores how atheists and agnostics negotiate the end of life. In this moving film, Sanderson interviews atheists with late stage cancer to speak to them about how they understand their passing.
There are 1.17 billion people in the world who are not part of any religion (if they were a religion – they’d be the third largest in the world) but, academically, they’d be relatively little research into them. Find out what makes them tick, when you watch Meet The Unbelievers.
We’d love to have you attend the premiere, and are pleased to be raising money for Sunday Assembly – the community building charity. If you would like to give a donation, please do. 

Picnics

• 2nd, 16th and 31st August 2020, 12:00pm

In lieu of regular assemblies, Sunday Assembly London has an annual tradition of hosting picnics in August. This year our picnics will be held at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Holborn. Grab a blanket, some food, and acoustic instruments and join us in the middle of the park!

We’ll be sitting right in the middle of the park. Due to the pandemic, we need to do things a little differently this year. We request that people try to form groups of 6 on the lawn and stay with that group as much as possible. We will all still be near each other, but just a little further apart than usual. During or shortly after the event, we would also like all participants to complete the form on our website to comply with the NHS Test and Trace System.

Sit on the Fence or Take a Stand?

• 6th September 2020, 11:00am
• Speaker: Lindsay Jordan

Sometimes the world seems completely binary. We are perpetually pressured to pick a side, join a team, raise a flag, and declare our allegiance. But if we are open-minded and can rationalise both sides of an argument, we often find ourselves sitting on the fence with our toes dipped in two worlds. Which is better, having convictions or empathy?

Lindsay Jordan, a senior lecturer at UAL, wrote her PhD thesis on the ethics of understanding and the connection between contradiction and disillusionment. She will talk to us about the controversy of fence-sitting and how it impacts our daily lives.

Tuning in all the way from New Zealand, Singaporean slam champion, poet, and multidisciplinary artist Deborah Emmanuel (@deborahthepoet) will be our guest performer.

Hosted by street art blogger Stuart Holdsworth (@inspiringcity), this assembly will also have some rocking tunes for you to sing and dance along to and a talk from a member of our community who is Trying Their Best.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiNPBBVb1I

All Together Now – a Mega Assembly

• 20th September 2020, 11:00am

A whole load of lovely UK based Assemblies have joined together to use their combined powers of goodness to bring you a MEGA ASSEMBLY!

There’s going to be ALL the stuff – interesting speakers, poetry, singing and dancing, sparkles (please wear your best sparkly clothes, hats, headbands) and more hosts than you’ve had hot dinners (we might be exaggerating there).

[Plymouth, Manchester, Sheffield, Brighton, Edinburgh, London, East End]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Xwccx1smY

A Whole New World: Lessons We Learn From Musical Theatre

• 4th October 2020, 11:00am
• Speaker: Ray Rackham

Musical theatre gets a bad rap. People say it’s corny, it’s too big and cartoonish, and characters burst into song and dance, seemingly out of the blue. Performers from other disciplines look down on musical theatre performers as being jacks of all trades and masters of none. But the worst accusation of all is that musicals are pure escapism and don’t tackle modern problems. The reality is that time and again, musical theatre has pushed the boundaries of what topics can be addressed in a public forum.

We are delighted to have Ray Rackham, writer, director, and owner of the popular London piano bar Overtures, as our main speaker. He will tell us about the ways musicals can not only entertain, but also teach us and challenge us to be the best we can be. Through musicals, we gain a better understanding of the world around us and how we can be a part of it.

Hosted by our own song-and-dance man, Sanderson Jones, this assembly will have a bunch of showstoppers for you to belt out, thanks to the Sunday Assembly London band and choir. And to celebrate National Poetry Day on 1 October, we will have special guest Fay Roberts doing a poetry reading.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aer2SrO1LlY

Why Money Matters

• 18th October 2020, 11:00am
• Speaker: Nikki Ramskill

Talking about money makes many of us feel uncomfortable. We know we need it, but we wish we didn’t. We don’t want to know who has more or less than us. We’re not sure if we use it correctly, and often we feel shame over our irresponsible handling of money. And perhaps the most challenging thing about money is learning to place a clear value on our own time and skills.

To help us clear the air and make us feel better about money, our next assembly will feature a talk by “The Female Money Doctor”, Nikki Ramskill. Nikki is a NHS doctor specialising in women’s health, who in her spare time coaches people on financial matters on her award-winning blog and in one-to-one sessions. She believes that many physical and mental health issues are brought on by prolonged money problems that are ignored.

We’ve got some great money-themed songs lined up for you to sing along to, as well as a special performance by the SAL Choir. This assembly will be co-hosted by Stuart Holdsworth and Maddalena Tralli.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew_9X4mKANU

The Miseducation of Britain

• 1st November 2020, 11:00am
• Speaker: Dr Nadena Doharty
• Poet: Sam El-bahja

Every October, we celebrate the lives and accomplishments of notable Black people, and acknowledge the heavy toll Black people have taken throughout history for no reason other than the colour of their skin. But what happens on 1 Nov? Does Black history end? Do we return to ‘just history’?

Dr Nadena Doharty, a sociologist of education and lecturer at the University of Sheffield, believes Black History Month and the way it is approached in schools is too often tokenistic and deficit informed. In her talk, she will help us to understand how British schools and teachers, while they may have the best intentions, may still be reproducing these narratives, and what they can do to improve the curriculum to better incorporate the histories of people of colour.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RajBBKg7IU

“The Gangs Matrix” Screening and Q&A with Kairon Edwards

• 1st November 2020

Please join this meeting for a special screening of the 20-minute documentary “The Gangs Matrix” and stay after for a Q&A session with director Kairon Edwards.

The Power of the Pen

• 15th November 2020, 11:00am
• Speaker: LJ Flanders
• Poet: Khushi Kantha / David Breakspear

L J Flanders was a budding entrepreneur who found himself in a bit of tight spot: he had been sentenced to 14 months in prison. When you have a lot of time and only a small amount of space, what do you do? You look at the materials you have to hand: a pen, some paper, and your own body. With these three things L J developed his Cell Workout, which he turned into a book and self-published. L J will share his inspiring story with us and teach us how to find our own power.

Hosted by writer/poet Anj Cairns, this assembly will feature poetry by another former prisoner, David Breakspear, and of course rocking sing-alongs by the Sunday Assembly Band. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fymyGs-_gYs

Everything is Awesome

• 6th December 2020, 11:00am

• Speaker: Abbie Headon

Most of us played with Lego when we were kids. Some of us even grew up to be AFOLs- Adult Fans of Lego. Regardless, it’s hard to ignore the impact this one toy brand has had on global culture. What is it that makes it so compelling? Author Abbie Headon (Build Yourself Happy: The Joy of Lego Play) believes that Lego can be used as a tool to practice mindfulness, releasing us from our perceptions that play time is wasted time.

Co-hosted by writer/poet Anj Cairns and all-around nerd Matt Lockwood, this assembly will feature poetry provided by our amazingly creative community as well as fun sing-alongs by the Sunday Assembly Band. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mUL8uEWtpQ

Matt’s Merry Quizmas

• Tuesday 8th December 2020, 7:30pm

[ …]

Write for Your Life: writing for self-discovery and creativity

• Wednesday 9th December 2020, 6:30pm

I’m delighted to be supporting Sunday Assembly London’s ’12 Days of Giving’ – All fees for this workshop will go to Sunday Assembly London.

Come along for fun writing exercises and discussion, for self-discovery and creativity.

We use free writing and discussion to explore different topics and themes. This combination of writing and sharing (always optional) never fails to connect those taking part in the joys and challenges of being human. It can also be a lot of fun and a great creative outlet.

Workshops are great for stress relief, confidence, and uncovering different perspectives and sometimes surprising insights. It’s also a lovely way to celebrate your ‘you’-ness and realise that you’re never alone when you have a pen in your hand.

No writing talent, knowledge or experience – and definitely no grammar – is required.

Registration for this event is only through RSVP’s to the Meetup event listing. This is to ensure security when using Zoom.

Writing can be insightful, and we might share things we write (always optional), but please note, this is not a therapy group and isn’t suitable for replacement of individual/group therapeutic work.

About me:
I’m Claire, a Write-for-Life Coach who helps people find, come back to and express themselves through writing. I’ve been running writing workshops and coaching for more than two years.

If you sit next to me long enough, I’ll have you doing a freewriting exercise, or two. I believe writing is the most useful tool we have, either to find, come back to or express ourselves. Oh, and to have fun.

I’ve been using freewriting for myself and to work with others for just over seven years.

You can find more info at https://www.cpsdayoff.com/ 

Christmas Jingles with Tanya

• Thursday 10th December 2020, 7:30pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/177704110692092

Christmas Jumper Day

• Friday 11 December 2020

Mitsky’s Festive Board Games

• Saturday 12th December 2020, 2:00pm

Welcome to the Board Games Group! This will be our 33rd boardgames session during lockdown. So far we’ve played Drawfull 2, Spyfall, Can’t Stop, Codenames, Yaniv, Solo, Perudo, Hanabi, Saboteur and Sushi Go.

DM Mitsky for the zoom link.

Don’t worry if you can’t make it at the start as we generally play short quick games so people can join in at anytime.
It is worth having 2 devices charged as we use Zoom to communicate and play the games on the other screen.
Ideally use the larger screen/device to play games and the smaller for zoom.

If you haven’t already, setup a free account on https://en.boardgamearena.com/ as we often play games there.

This event is part of Sunday Assembly London’s “12 Days of Giving” and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards this great charity which builds community – never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

12k walkathon

• Sunday 13th December 2020

Due to current restrictions, the Sunday Assembly London Walking Group is not able to organise a walking tour as we usually do. Instead, we are inviting everyone to do a 12K Walkathon as part of Sunday Assembly London’s “12 Days of Giving” campaign.

Here’s out it works:
1) Plan a 12K-long route anywhere you like.
2) Do the walk anytime on 13 Dec.
3) Post pictures of your journey on this page. You can also include screenshots of travel trackers so we can see the route you took.

You can set up your own personal fundraising campaign on JustGiving so your friends and family can cheer you on: https://www.justgiving.com/sundayassembly
(click on the “Fundraise for us” button)

Or you can donate on the “12 Days of Giving” page: https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days

Happy Trails!

Wake up and Dance with Claudia

• Monday 14th December 2020, 7:30am

Dance your way into your day! This bitesize session will get you moving and celebrating life in whatever style you like! Wake Up & Dance is hosted by Claudia of Nobody’s Watching, who is starting a 30 day Wake Up & Dance challenge on January 2nd.

This event is in aid of Sunday Assembly and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards this great charity which builds community – never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

Shake the Day Off with Claudia

• Monday 14th December 2020, 6:30pm

Whatever day you’ve just had, this evening session will get you bouncing. We love to dance and cannot wait to shake Monday off and welcome the evening! The party will be hosted by Claudia of Nobody’s Watching.

Poetry Workshop: Giving

• Wednesday 16th December 2020, 7:00pm

Join the Lively Poets for a workshop exploring what giving means, and all the ways we give.

The event is in aid of Sunday Assembly London and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards our great charity which builds community – never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

Laughing while Crafting

• Thursday 17th December 2020, 7:30pm

Join people from the Sunday Assembly London community for a fun evening of socialising and crafting activities. No previous experience required, but we will provide a list of materials you will need to make some of the crafts.

This will be a social evening whilst having a go at making some simple Chrismas decorations. Please have scissors, string, glue, cardboard – old cereal box and paper (even old newspapers) to hand and we can share our skills and stories.

This event is part of Sunday Assembly London’s “12 Days of Giving” and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards this great charity which builds community, something that has never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

2021 Resolution Workshop with Annie

• Friday 18th December 2020, 7:00pm

2020 has been one for the history books! Instead of looking back, it’s time to look forward. Annie will guide us as we explore our hopes and goals for the next year to come up with individual resolutions for what we want to achieve.

This event is part of Sunday Assembly London’s ’12 Days of Giving’ fundraising campaign and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards this great charity which builds community, something that has never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

Yule Lockdown Rockdown!

• Saturday 19th December 2020, 8:00pm

Sunday Assembly, a global network of secular communities that celebrates life under the motto “Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More” has a tradition of celebrating the winter holiday season with a big sing-along party (frequently featuring confetti cannons). This year, the pandemic has made it impossible for our beautiful communities to gather in person. So, for the first time ever, we will all come together at the same time around the world for one massive online event, from 9pm in Amsterdam to 9am the next day in New Zealand!

Join your fellow assemblers online! There will be singing, there will be talks, and there will be sharing of good tidings with our global community as we bring 2020 to a close. We welcome Assemblers old and new to come together to celebrate this holiday season.

Sunday Assembly founder Sanderson Jones and SA Nashville organizer Adam Newton will co-host the event as SA chapters from around the world contribute holiday songs, readings, and performances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z_w4XA2CRI

Hail Santa

• Sunday 20th December 2020, 11:00am

For our last assembly of the year, we want to have a seasonal celebration! Since we can’t have our usual Yule Rock concert this year, we’re inviting members of our community to contribute poetry readings and musical performances that are meaningful to them. There will be a few special guest performances as well to be announced later!

Because of the current government restrictions, we cannot meet at Conway Hall, so our meeting will be held on Zoom instead, and livestreamed to YouTube.

Christmas Day Zoom Meetup

• Friday 25th December 2020, 2:00pm

Hello, lovely people!

If you fancy having a virtual meet up to break-up Christmas day this is where we’ll be!

Pop into the Zoom room and say hi. Bring whatever you fancy to eat and drink or nothing at all. It’s going to be all laid back, so if you’re still in your pjs that’s good too.

If we don’t see you on the day have a MERRY CHRISTMAS.