Our assemblies & events in July-December 2025

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

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/surrey/box-hill/box-hill-juniper-top-circular-walk

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hear some of Lydia’s poetry on her Instagram.

Our songs:

• 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 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.

When Yvonne joined us in September, she moved us with her imagery and empathy. One of her poems 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 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.