North East Humanists

The Tyneside Group of the North East Humanists (NEH) was founded on 17 September 1957, although organised secularism in North East England had been active from the 1860s. The group adopted the name North East Humanists in 1997, after merging with the Teesside Humanist group.

NEH is a registered charity, consisting of over 200 members, and is the largest regional Humanist group in the United Kingdom. The group is involved in a wide range of activities including: working with school teachers to deliver lessons about Humanism in the RE curriculum, providing pastoral support in local hospitals and prisons, hosting events where invited speakers talk about a wide variety of topics, and numerous social events for members.

In common with the basic principles of Humanism, the NEH is concerned with values and moral issues from a non-religious viewpoint and with the achievement of a more open, just, and caring society.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the NEH, the group held a joint lecture with Newcastle University. On 4 October 2007 A. C. Grayling gave a lecture on 'Reason and the Good', in which he explored the view (rooted in Aristotelian thinking) that reflection and choice, both expressions of the exercise of reason, are essential to the good life, underlying both the meaning we give to it and the value we find in it.