Three horizontally aligned images show activities for World Humanist Day. There are people serving a range of world foods from a long table to the left, part of the Pollokshields event. In the centre are cubscouts designing community gardens with pen and paper on the floor of their scout hut. To the right is a group of humanists on a walk in Edinburgh at the foot of Salisbury Crags.

Looking back on World Humanist Day

Lara Cellini, Community Engagement Manager

June 29, 2023

Our Community Engagement Manager Lara looks back on another successful and wide-ranging set of events held for World Humanist Day.

World Humanist Day is celebrated every year on 21 June and we’ve been celebrating it since the 1980s. It’s an opportunity for humanists all around the world to publicise and celebrate the positive values of humanism and to share the global concerns of the humanist movement. This year Humanist Society Scotland offered individuals and groups in Scotland the opportunity to apply for small grants of up to £250 to help fund activities to mark and celebrate World Humanist Day in Scotland.

Since the 21 June is also the summer solstice for the northern hemisphere, it presented the opportunity to take the celebrations outdoors, which a number of groups did!

Argyll Humanists organised a picnic in Glencruitten Walled Garden in Oban, which also included the planting of a fruit tree which in time will supply fruit for a community kitchen that supports the homeless.
Dundee Humanists organised an informative and engaging evening on the subject of humanism at the University Chaplaincy Centre, with updates on Humanist Society Scotland’s campaigning work from Chief Executive, Fraser Sutherland. The event was chaired by Robbie Sharpe, Honorary Humanist Chaplain at the University of Dundee.
Edinburgh Humanists organised a geologically inspired walk for those interested in the deep-time aspects of geology and its relevance to humanism and jumanists, as well as a picnic in Holyrood Park.
Dumfries Humanists held a screening of the 1997 sci-fi drama Contact, based on the novel by the late scientist, astronomer, and humanist Carl Sagan at the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre.
In Fife, we supported a Scout group with their planting project at Abbeyview Community Garden.
In Glasgow we supported the Picnic and Play Family Fun Day at The Hidden Gardens in East Pollokshields. This included imaginary play, delicious food, discovering nature’s secrets and family workshops where participants created window-ledge planters, and lavender pouches. There were also guided tours round the gardens, recipe sharing sessions and culinary creations.

None of these activities would have been possible without the time, energy, and commitment of our volunteers, so a huge thank you to everyone involved for making these events possible. If you’d like to get involved next year, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to be kept informed.

Image: a community lunch at The Hidden Gardens, Glasgow; cub-scouts design community gardens in Fife; humanists get a tour of Salisbury Crags in Edinburgh

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