The charity also supports humanist and non-religious ceremonies in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Crown dependencies and maintains a national network of accredited celebrants for humanist funeral ceremonies, weddings, and baby namings, in addition to a network of volunteers who provide like-minded support and comfort to non-religious people in hospitals and prisons.

[12] In this period, the Ethical Union's projects focused on addressing legal and social barriers to non-religious people, as well as the needs of the urban poor, racial minorities, and elderly.

Such projects included the Humanist Housing Association founded in 1955 (which exists today as Origin Housing),[13] the Agnostics Adoption Society, later known as the Independent Adoption Society (IAS) founded in 1963 (made obsolete in the 1980s by non-discrimination laws),[14] and the Humanist Counselling Service in 1960 (partially subsumed by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy),[15] and the umbrella network Secular Organisations for Sobriety (providing evidence-based, non-religious alternatives to the twelve-step programmes).

Faith to Faithless was founded by ex-Muslim humanists to provide specialist support to people leaving high-control religions and cults, who are sometimes labelled apostates and subjected to shunning and honour-based violence.

[21] Throughout the period, it told the BBC that its policy banning non-religious people from appearing on the Thought for the Day slot in Radio 4's Today programme was discriminatory.

[21] In April 2009 a "breakthrough" in the BHA's campaign saw Andrew Copson invited to participate as a humanist representative in the BBC's short-lived Standing Conference on Religion and Belief when it replaced the Central Religious Advisory Committee.

Humanists UK also counted other wins around organ donation registers across the UK,[32][33] same-sex marriage and legal abortion in Northern Ireland[34] (later itself conducting the first same-sex marriages),[35] legal changes to allow early stage at-home terminations of pregnancy,[36] and the creation of Safe Access Zones around abortion clinics in response to rising levels of harassment experienced there.

They believe that "all pupils in all types of school should have the opportunity to consider philosophical and fundamental questions, and that in a pluralist society we should learn about each other's beliefs, including humanist ones".

In 2019, the charity backed two parents to take a human rights challenge to those laws, arguing that the state had a duty to treat non-religious pupils equally and by effectively isolating those who withdraw from compulsory worship, discrimination occurs.

[57] Humanists UK has supported the rights for those who need assistance in ending their own lives, and lobbied parliament for a change in the law,[58] on behalf of Tony Nicklinson and Paul Lamb, in their 'Right to Die' legal cases.

[67][68] In 2013, it secured an amendment to the same sex-marriage bill to require UK Government to consult on letting humanist celebrants conduct legal marriages.

[71] After campaigning to legalise same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, it celebrated its success with a promotional billboards across Belfast emblazoned, 'Love wins for everybody', advertising humanist ceremonies.

It was also among the first organisations to protest Section 28 in the late 1980s, and was one of the most vocal and longstanding advocates of a ban on gay conversion therapy, which it denounces as "religious pseudoscience" with harmful consequences.

[80] The BHA's thorough research helped many of us to make informed and better-argued contributions to debates, particularly on complex ethical issues which arise in this House by the year.

[82] In February 2008 journalists Bryan Appleyard and Deborah Orr criticised both Humanists UK and the National Secular Society for the (ultimately successful) campaign to end discrimination against non-religious children in the Scouts' Oath of Allegiance.

[83][84] In April 2008 Jonathan Petre, The Daily Telegraph religious affairs journalist, countered this position pointing out that the Scout Oath of Allegiance was discriminatory.

[86][87] In the 2020s, Humanists UK was one of the charities at the forefront of campaigns to defend the Human Rights Act and the freedom to instigate judicial review from threats of being watered down or repealed.

[88] It assembled a large civil society coalition of charities, trade unions, and human rights organisations speaking in defence of the present settlement.

On 8 January 2009 Christian Voice announced they had made an official complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority asserting that the Atheist Bus slogan broke rules on "substantiation and truthfulness".

Spending cuts don't make a cohesive society, but generous actions do.In 2014, Humanists UK launched two public awareness campaigns.

", was an Internet-based campaign revolving around four videos on humanist responses to ethics, happiness, death, and the scientific method, as narrated by its distinguished supporter, Stephen Fry.

The campaign intended to be a positive introduction to Humanism for commuters, as well as to highlight the exclusion of humanist voices from BBC slots such as Thought for the Day.

After announcing that it intended to replicate it in other UK cities,[103][104] the campaign moved to bus posters in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool for four weeks in November and December 2014, this time depicting humanist responses from Jim Al-Khalili, Jawaharlal Nehru, Natalie Haynes and Russell once again.

[117] However, in June Humanists UK announced that Professor Grayling had decided not to take up that position, because of what he described as "controversy generated by activities in another area of my public life."

These officers are in turn supported by national committees of volunteers whose advice assists the charity's service delivery in those countries, strategic litigation, and lobbying on devolved issues at the Northern Ireland Assembly and Senedd.

[131][132] Humanists UK maintains a network of roughly 150 trained and accredited volunteers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland who go into hospitals, hospices, prisons, universities, and other settings to provide like-minded comfort and support to non-religious people during times of distress, much like a traditional religious chaplain.

[137][138][139] Numerous prominent people from the worlds of science, philosophy, the arts, politics, and entertainment are publicly aligned with Humanists UK, including Professor Alice Roberts, Tim Minchin, Stephen Fry, Matty Healy, Sandi Toksvig, Philip Pullman, and Dan Snow.

[140] In the 20th century, key members of Humanists UK's "advisory council" included Karl Popper, Vanessa Redgrave, Harold Pinter, E M Forster, Bertrand Russell, John Maynard Smith, Harry Kroto, Ludovic Kennedy, Jacob Bronowski, and Barbara Wootton.

Some of these groups are formally partnered with Humanists UK, which entitles them to added staff and promotional support, while others maintain a looser affiliate agreement.

Past speakers at these events include top scientists, authors, and academics, including Steven Pinker, Brian Cox, Richard Dawkins, Robert Hinde, AC Grayling, Natalie Haynes, Bonya Ahmed, Bettany Hughes, Alice Roberts, Nick Cohen, Ludovic Kennedy, Michael Foot,[148] Lawrence Krauss, Eugenie Scott, Adam Rutherford, Tom Blundell, and Jerry Coyne,[149] Anne Glover, Angela Saini, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore,[150] Jim Al-Khalili, Owen Jones, and Kate Pickett.