Past events

Here’s a question you may not have been asked yet this year: could you be happier checking mousetraps than mailboxes? 

Recent research reveals that professional pest controllers experience surprisingly high levels of job satisfaction. What does this tell us about how ‘dirty work’ is valued in society, and what are the unexpected qualities that make labour enjoyable and meaningful?

Dr Hannah Fair is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Southampton. As part of her Economic and Social Research Council funded project SPIDER (Situating Pests: Impacts, Disgust, Expertise and Responsibility), Hannah explores everyday and often unwanted experiences with nature in our homes, from rats and mice to moths and bed bugs.  

We were treated to an insect-themed ‘musical extravaganza ‘Guess the Earworm’ medley courtesy of our Community Lead and keyboard queen Tanya!

Our singalongs

As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band. Three were connected to today’s theme, one was a tribute to a late, great singer-songwriter:

• Everyday – Buddy Holly and the Crickets (1957)
• Wind of Change – Scorpions (1991)
• Fields of Gold – Sting (1993)
• 9 to 5 – Dolly Parton (1980)

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

→ Our next assembly: The Fullness Factor, 20th September
← Our previous assembly: Adult ADHD, 19th July

Though ADHD in adults is talked about more and more, it’s still being misunderstood. Whether we have first-hand experience or not, there’s a lot to gain from understanding that ADHD isn’t just about distraction or restlessness, or only about coping: it’s about rebuilding self-worth and creating a more connected, meaningful life.

Guest speaker: Kyriakos Fiakkas

Kyriakos is the author of Adult ADHD: From Survive to Thrive (under the name George Stephens). His talk explored the challenges of living with ADHD, from time management and focus to relationships and the often overlooked ‘ADHD tax’. He also highlighted the strengths that can come with ADHD, and offered practical ways to navigate daily life.

Guest poet: Joe James

We welcomed back Joe, whose witty and thoughtful poetry gave us new perspectives, particularly on the distractions that may occur during a therapy session.

Our singalongs

As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band:

• Brass in Pocket – Pretenders
• Stand By Me – Oasis
• Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper
• Shine – Take That

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

About Sunday Assembly London

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

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

→ Our next assembly: Pests (TBC), 6th September (after our August break), but in the meantime we have our Summer Sync-Ups!
← Our previous assembly: Queer Disabled Joy!, 5th July

Guest speaker: JP Seabright (preferred pronouns: she/they)

How can poetry enable representation for marginalised people? Where do bodywonky, neurospicy types fit into a community that often prizes physical looks and sexual performance? This London Pride weekend and Disability Pride Month, we found out.

JP Seabright is a queer disabled author who explores gender, sexuality and disability through poetry, prose and experimental forms. As co-editor and organiser of the Arts Council-funded project eff-able, alongside our guest poet George Parker, JP helps to spotlight the intimate lives and erotic experiences of disabled, chronically ill, d/Deaf and neurodivergent members of the queer community – helping more of us to know their voices.

Guest poet: George Violet Parker (preferred pronouns: they/them)

George, co-creator of eff-able, is the nominee and winner of multiple awards, bringing their first-hand experience to today’s celebration of queer disabled lives.

Our singalongs

As usual, there were four pop songs performed by our Sunday Assembly London band and reflecting today’s themes. All four songs were originally written and/or recorded by LGBTQ artists:

• I Only Want To Be With You – Dusty Springfield (1963)
• Good Luck, Babe! – Chappell Roan (2024)
• It Must Be Love – Labi Siffre (1971; in the style of Madness, 1982)
• Grace Kelly – Mika (2007)

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

About Sunday Assembly London

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

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

→ Our next assembly: Adult ADHD: Beyond the Label, 19th July
← Our previous assembly:  Ending Racism in Science is Everyone’s Business, 21st June

Science shapes almost every part of our lives, from the technologies we use to the resources we depend on – yet many scientific spaces still remain shaped by exclusion and racism.

Speaker: Chris Jackson

Chris Jackson is Technical Director at WSP, Visiting Professor at Imperial College London, and an internationally recognised geologist whose work explores how we can safely and sustainably use the Earth’s subsurface to access critical resources and store hazardous waste.

Drawing on personal experiences from his own career alongside a wider look at the culture of science, Chris reflected on why representation matters, what is lost when voices are excluded, and what it might take to build a more open, inclusive and human scientific community.

Our singalongs

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

• Wonderful World – Sam Cooke (1960)
• Rhinestone Cowboy – Larry Weiss (1974; made famous by Glenn Campbell, 1975)
• Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan (1963)
• Radioactive – Imagine Dragons (2012)

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

→ Our next assembly: Queer Disabled Joy!, 5th July
← Our previous assembly: Words & Therapy: The Healing Power of Poetry, 7th June

Guest poets have always been a mainstay of our assemblies. At this assembly, we explored how poetry can become a powerful tool for expression and healing.

Guest speaker & poet: Claudia Colella

Claudia is a humanistic-integrative counsellor and somatic therapist. She drew on her work using poetry within therapy to help give voice to experiences that are often hard to put into words.

Via insights from contemporary neuroscience and practices such as trauma release exercises (TRE) and sophrology, we found out how poetic language can engage both mind and body – supporting nervous system regulation, deepening self-awareness, and opening up new ways of connecting with ourselves and others.

While often we have a guest poet after our talk, this time we were the poets! Our Community Lead Tanya led us in a collaborative poetry writing activity, using sensory metaphors to tell a story of bad experiences becoming good.

Our singalongs

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

• Everybody’s Talkin’ – Fred Neil; covered by Harry Nilsson
• Talk – Coldplay
• More Than Words – Extreme. Watch our performance!
• Unwritten – Natasha Bedingfield

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

About Sunday Assembly London

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

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

→ Our next assembly: Ending Racism in Science is Everyone’s Business, 21st June
← Our previous assembly: Woodshop of Recycled Delights, 17th May

How can creativity, skills and community tackle waste and reimagine the spaces we share? The Woodshop of Recycled Delights (WoRD) is answering that question – and it’s based in East London, our neck of the woods!

Guest speaker: Harry Morgan

Based at the Garden of Earthly Delights in Hackney, WoRD is a community project making woodwork accessible to everyone – particularly those historically excluded – while building confidence and skills. It’s part of a quietly radical shift away from consumption towards resourceful reuse.

As co-founder of WoRD, Harry told us how it’s tackling waste timber across London, using surplus materials can in innovative and joyful ways.

Guest poet: Joe James

We welcomed Joe back to the Sunday Assembly London stage. We certainly wouldn’t accuse him of coming out of the woodwork…

Our singalongs

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

• This Ole House – covered by Shakin’ Stevens

• Black Horse and the Cherry Tree – KT Tunstall

• Top of the World – The Carpenters

• Driftwood – Travis

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

About Sunday Assembly London

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

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

→ Our next assembly: Words & Therapy: The Healing Power of Poetry, 7th June
← Our previous assembly: This Party’s Dead: a Journey to Seven of the World’s Death Festivals, 3rd May

→ And later this year: Queer Disabled Joy!, 5th July

Guest speaker: Erica Buist

To mark Dying Matters Awareness Week 2026 (4th-10th May), writer and journalist Erica Buist invited us to look at death differently.

After a personal loss brought her face to face with how awkwardly we react to dying, Erica set out to explore how other cultures approach it: with ritual, openness, and even joy.

Her journey took her to death festivals (deathtivals) in Mexico, Nepal, Sicily, Thailand, Japan, Madagascar and Indonesia. We got to see and hear what she experienced: reminders that by facing endings together, we can live more fully, and maybe even find moments of laughter along the way.

Guest poet: Kay Scorah

The ideal complement to any Sunday Assembly London speaker, our own Kay Scorah gave us her own reflections on this challenging but important topic.

Read Are you still there?, Kay’s opening piece

Our singalongs

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

• A Whiter Shade of Pale – Procol Harum
• I Just Died in your Arms Tonight – Cutting Crew
• Who Knew – P!nk
• The Dead Dance – Lady Gaga

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

About Sunday Assembly London

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

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

→ Our next assembly: Woodshop of Recycled Delights, 17th May
← Our previous assembly: Mind the Gap: Why Intergenerational Connection Matters now more than Ever, 19th April

Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear an age-based label. Boomer, Generation X, Millennial, Gen Z… might these be blocking connections, understanding, better living? What becomes possible when we work to bridge these divides?

Guest speaker: Dr Judith Ish-Horowicz MBE

With Global Intergenerational Week 2026 coming up (24th to 30th April), we welcomed its England lead Judith Ish-Horowicz. Judith shared the story of founding Apples and Honey Nightingale (AHN), the UK’s first co-located nursery and care home.

‘In our own bungalow within the grounds of Nightingale House, a care home for older people, the children develop a deeper understanding of the human life cycle and respect for others from their daily interactions with their older friends at Nightingale.’

What began as a bold idea has grown into a wider movement, from training practitioners to building networks that connect generations across the country.

Judith is also co-founder of Gen-All, a grassroots network championing intergenerational practice.

Guest poet: Carys Hannah

Continuing the theme of what we can learn from children, Carys read a lovely poem about believing in dragons, based on her experience of teaching abroad.

Our singalongs

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

• When I’m 64 – The Beatles
• Teenage Kicks – The Undertones
• Father and Son – Yusuf aka Cat Stevens
• Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus

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

→ Our next assembly: This Party’s Dead: a Journey to Seven of the World’s Death Festivals, 3rd May
← Our previous assembly: The Power of Love, 15th March