Cambridge Humanist Group Programme of events 2006

Monthly meetings
Monthly meetings are held in and around Cambridge, sometimes at the Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, sometimes in members' homes, usually in the evening. Typically there's an invited speaker and always an opportunity for conversation and discussion.

Visitors are welcome at meetings. Please enquire about time and location from the appropriate contact.

Informal social gatherings
Informal gatherings (not listed below), are currently at held at the Free Press pub in Prospect Row at 8 pm, (currently the first Tuesday of the month)

Social events
As well as the monthly informal gatherings, two or three social events are held each year. Recently these have been picnics, garden parties and winter weekend lunches in a pub.

Here are the events that were organized for 2006. A different page shows events for the current year.

(Different pages show previous events for years 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000)

Month	Title, topic or activity	Speaker or organizer	More about the speaker, organizer or event
January	AGM & yuletide meal	Meal organized by Gavin Moulton	Meal at CB2 followed by AGM at same venue
February	Mindfulness and mental health	Dr John Teasdale	John Teasdale worked for more than 30 years as a research clinical psychologist, supported by the Medical Research Council. The focus of his work has been the investigation of basic psychological processes and the application of that understanding to the relief of emotional disorders. For more than a decade he has been involved in the development, delivery and evaluation of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), a programme that integrates mindfulness training with cognitive approaches to reduce relapse in recurrent clinical depression. This work is described in the widely acclaimed book "Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse" published in 2001. Dr.Teasdale described his ideas for his CHG talk as follows: . . . the background to mindfulness in the Buddhist tradition (briefly); what mindfulness is; why, as a research clinical psychologist developing new approaches to the prevention of relapse in recurrent clinical depression I became interested in the possibility of a mindfulness-based intervention; what that intervention (MBCT) looks like; two clinical trials that suggest this intervention is effective and efficient (on the strength of this evidence, it's now included in the NICE guidelines); and how, more generally, mindfulness fits into new developments in treating emotional disorders.
March	Civil Partnerships -- where are we now?	Brett Lock	Brett Lock is a frequent writer on gay issues and a campaigner with OutRage!, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights group. He's a committee member of the Gay & Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) and is editor of the recently launched Gay Humanist Quarterly magazine. During the run-up to the introduction of the Civil Partnership Bill, Brett debated the issue on a number of occasions -- in the media and in public arenas -- with The Christian Institute and other evangelical groups opposed to the introduction of legally recognized same-sex partnerships. He coordinated the Coalition for Marriage Equality, which united a number of leading gay campaigning groups (including GALHA) to argue that while civil partnerships are a positive step forward, true equality would only be achieved when there's one law for everyone: both marriage and civil partnership should be open to all, regardless of sexual orientation.
April	God and the Equator, or The Importance of Not Being Something	Fr Alban McCoy	Father McCoy, SJ, is Cambridge University Catholic Chaplain and lectures on theology and philosophy. The subject of this talk concerns Fr Alban's redefinition of objectivism and his views that objectivism has nothing to do with objects. He will endeavour to explain one of the most extraordinary, and to us incredible, systems of dogma in the modern world.
May	Exercise through the ages	Joshua Weis	Joshua Weis is a practising physiotherapist at Addenbrooke's Hospital and Kelsey Kerridge Sports Centre. Joshua is a widely experienced physiotherapist and he has undertaken extensive research into exercise and well being for the elderly. His website is at www.myphysiocambridge.com.
June	Yoga: exercise or religion?	Rod Mulvey	Rod Mulvey came to Cambridge in 1973 to work at the MRC Lab of Molecular Biology and, after a short spell in secondary education, was at Cambridge University Press until 2004. He has taught yoga since 2000. He is a long-term member of the CHG and was previously secretary of the group. His talk will compare the Indian origins of yoga with its modern development in the west and will consider reasons for its increasing popularity and recent proliferation of yoga schools and classes. The twentieth century progress of yoga will be traced in relation to developments in psychology, views on stress, health and fitness, and the growth of new age religion.
July	10^th Annual riverside picnic at Cam Sailing Club & short sailing trip (weather permitting)	Organized by Dr John Harris	John is a member of both the CHG & CSC. Members receive an information sheet about this event. If you want to come and haven't received one, please contact John Harris.
August	Annual Summer Garden Party	Edith Schlossmann & Gavin Moulton	Once again CHG member Edith has very kindly offered her hospitality for this year's summer garden party. Members and friends wishing to attend this event please contact Gavin Moulton in advance so that we can give Edith an idea of numbers to expect. On the day, please bring sandwiches, cakes or/and drinks.
September	Inaugural "Bit of a do and Bar B Q"	Chris Davies	Please bring something to drink and a selection of grub for the BBQ.
September	When Harry met Brenda -- a personal experience of dementia	Brenda Driver	Brenda is a CHG member. She will talk on dementia, including her personal experiences of people with dementia
October	Global warming, the counter view	Graham Oram	The vast majority of climate scientists now accept the evidence that human activity is at least a large part of the cause of global warming. Graham will argue that the scientists are wrong and that global warming is a natural phenomenon.
November	What is a Humanist and what is a Humanist not?		Discussion. Come along to hear the views of others and to express your own
December	Curry Night	Gavin Moulton	The Maharajah Curry House, Castle Hill, Cambridge. Meet at the Castle pub, Castle Hill before moving across the road to the Maharajah. Confirmation of attendance is required by Gavin before 30^th November. Order and pay for yourself on the night.
	Prearranged for 2007
January 2007	CHG Yuletide lunch, AGM	Gavin Moulton	Lunch and AGM at The Unicorn pub, Church Lane, Trumpington. If you intend to attend the lunch, please inform Gavin as soon as possible and let him have a cheque for £12.50 payable to "Cambridge Humanist Group". Peggy Simmons will also give a talk: see immediately below.
January 2007	Experiences of "The Weakest Link"	Peggy Simmons	After the AGM formalities are over. Peggy, a CHG member, will give 15-minute talk about her experiences as a contestant on the TV show "The Weakest Link". Peggy's talk has been cancelled as she needs to be elsewhere that day. Robin Martlew, Humanist Chaplain at Cambridge Regional College will talk on the CRC's Multi-Faith Chaplaincy.
February 2007	Global Warming	Dr William Connolley	Dr Connolley is a Climate Modeller at the British Antarctic Survey and an administrator of the Wikipedia. This talk has only recently been arranged and these details about the talk will be expanded later.

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Page updated 9 October 2006