Chief Executive – Andrew Copson
Andrew is Chief Executive of Humanists UK. He became Chief Executive in 2010 after five years coordinating Humanists UK’s education and public affairs work. Andrew is also current President of Humanists International. Together with A C Grayling, Andrew edited the Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Humanism (2015) and he is the author of Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom (Oxford University Press, 2017). He has written on humanist and secularist issues for The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, and New Statesman as well as for various journals. Andrew has represented Humanists UK and the humanist movement extensively on national television including on BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky, as well as on programmes such as Newsnight, The Daily Politics, Sunday Morning Live, and The Big Questions. He has also appeared on BBC radio programmes such as the Today programme, You and Yours, Sunday, The World Tonight, The World at One, The Last Word, and Beyond Belief as well as on other local and national commercial radio stations. Andrew served for many years as a director and trustee of the Religious Education Council, the Values Education Council, and the National Council for Faiths and Beliefs in Further Education. He is a former director of the European Humanist Federation (EHF) and is currently a trustee of the International Humanist Trust. He has previously served as head of the IHEU delegation to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and has represented humanist organisations at the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He has advised on humanism for the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Authority, the Department for Children, Schools, and Families, the BBC, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Office for National Statistics. For ten years, Andrew was a member and then Chair of the Westminster Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education. He was a member of the Advisory Group for the Humanist Library at London’s Conway Hall and, in a previous post in the office of Lord Macdonald of Tradeston in the House of Lords, he provided the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG). Andrew is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Associate of the Centre for Law and Religion at Cardiff University. |
Director of Public Affairs and Policy – Richy Thompson
Richy represents Humanists UK on the steering groups of Voice for Choice, the Accord Coalition for inclusive education and the Fair Admissions Campaign. He is formerly a member of the advisory group of the Sex Education Forum, i Treasurer of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, and the humanist representative and Vice Chair of Lambeth Standing Advisory Council on RE. During his time at Humanists UK, he has proven himself as a formidable campaigner, achieving widespread media coverage and policy change. |
Director of Operations – Catriona McLellan
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Director of Community Services – Teddy Prout
He is now responsible for the strategic development of the services Humanists UK offers: in education, pastoral support, and ceremonies, and in other aspects of support in the community in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. He is also responsible for development of research and pilot projects to promote the value of Humanists UK’s services and ensure their continued success.
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Head of Ceremonies – Isabel Russo
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Director of Humanist Care – Simon O’Donoghue
Whilst working for a mental health charity, Simon set up many support groups across the UK for service users and carers, and he helped campaign on a number of initiatives related to mental health equality. He then went on to be the first male employed by a domestic violence organisation in Cheshire, where he established a refuge for male victims and a voluntary CBT programme for abusive men. After a year living and working in Berlin as a content writer for an education start-up company and teaching English to school children, he became Humanists UK’s first full-time Head of Pastoral Support in early 2016.
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Director of Understanding Humanism – Luke Donnellan
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Acting Director of Communications and Development – Liam Whitton
Prior to joining Humanists UK, Liam studied English literature at the University of Oxford before working in publishing and as a copywriter and researcher working with not‑for‑profits.
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Director of IT – Andrew West
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