Past events

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.

Our guest speaker: Mary Spiller

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. 

Our guest poet: Lydia Daisy

We’re thrilled to welcome Lydia back. Artful in her words and her performance, she expressed her defiance of a system that treats creativity as a threat.

Hear some of Lydia’s poetry on her Instagram.

Our songs

As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band. They reflected the title of today’s talk.

• Karma Chameleon – Culture Club
• Red Red Wine – UB40 version
• True Colours – Cyndi Lauper
• Gold – Spandau Ballet

Halloween Bake Off

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…

Our next Autumn Awesomeness activity will be our one-shot choir, performing on 2nd November.

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: Keep Calm and Carry On: Connection Through Our Shared Humanity, 2nd November
← Our previous assembly: Hope Sings: The Choir with No Name, 5th October

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.

Our guest speaker: Kate Wareham

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.

Our songs

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

And talking of choirs…

Would you like to join our next community choir: rehearsing on 22nd October and performing a song at our assembly on 2nd November?

Or perhaps you like to make something for the Halloween Bake Off that’ll be taking place at our assembly on 19th October? Find out more about our assembly-adjacent activities here.

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: Colours of Our Mind: The Science of Synaesthesia, 19th October
← Our previous assembly: Weird Science: An Introduction to Anomalistic Psychology, 21st September

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?

Our guest speaker: Chris French

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.

There’s more in Chris’s book The Science of Weird Sh**: Why Our Minds Conjure the Paranormal, available in Sunday Assembly London’s online bookshop.

Our guest performer: Lydia Daisy

Lydia Daisy’s enthralling performance captured both her despair and hope within a world where the only thing that makes sense is trying your best.

Hear some of Lydia’s poetry on her Instagram.

Our songs

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!

Autumn Awesomeness

Talking of choirs, would you like to join our next community choir: rehearsing on 22nd October and performing a song at our assembly on 2nd November? Or perhaps you like to make something for the Halloween Bake Off that’ll be taking place at our assembly on 19th October? Find out more about our assembly-adjacent activities here.

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!

There’ll be even more intercity assembling at Sunday Assembly’s annual gathering happening next weekend in Glasgow. Details here.

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: Hope Sings: The Choir with No Name, 5th October
← Our previous assembly: Fight the Good Fight: How to Have Conflict, 7th September

Conflict is unavoidable in life: in our relationships with family, friends, colleagues or and strangers. How can we manage it better?

Our guest speaker: Katie Goldfinch

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.

Get a ticket for Katie’s free conflict resolution workshop on 25th September

Our guest poet: Yvonne Murray

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.

Find out more about the launch of Yvonne’s new poetry collection on 25th October

Our songs

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

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: Weird Science: An Introduction to Anomalistic Psychology, 21st September
← Our previous assembly: Conversations on Kindness: How the Power of Kindness can Change the World, 20th July

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!

Our guest speaker: Bernadette Russell

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!

Our guest poet: Adam Lind

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.

Our songs

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

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: Fight the Good Fight: How to Have Conflict, 7th September (after our August break)
← Our previous assembly: The Outside Project: Creating an LGBTIQ+ Safe Haven, 6th July

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.

Our guest speaker: Carla Ecola, The Outside Project

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.

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.

Our guest poet: Annie Hayter

We were also thrilled to have some spoken word 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.

Today’s songs

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.

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.

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.

After the assembly

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

Our lunch venue this time was Love Shack, a wonderfully welcoming vegan restaurant that recently joined the Safe Space London directory of trans-friendly businesses. (We chose the venue, then we chose the song!)

→ Our next assembly: Conversations on Kindness: How the Power of Kindness Can Change the World, 20th July

What if one small act of kindness, every single day for a year, could ignite a light in the darkness? Bernadette Russell gives us an insight into her extraordinary 366-day journey of discovery and connection.

What’s happening in August?

August is when we take a break from hosting assemblies, but not from being a community! We have a range of other get-togethers. They include picnics in Lincoln’s Inn Fields on 3rd and 17th August, lido swimming, Article Club and an ice cream crawl. Keep an eye on this page and our social media for details.

We love hearing your ideas too, so please post them on our social media or email us anytime!

→ Our next assembly: The Choir With No Name, 5th October
← Our previous assembly: Fight the Good Fight: How to Have Conflict, 7th September