'Community Humanism' was previously called Pastoral Services. 

Our Programme for Change initiative brought into clearer focus, three major areas of social commitment in Scotland in which our members can make a positive difference.  These are: in Health, in Education and in Equality and Human Rights.  We used the term ‘Applied Humanism’, as a means of describing active community involvement by humanists, locally, across the Country.  What modern secular humanism stands for, is above all, the recognition that community matters, that people, fighting together for justice and fairness is important in this age of corporate and institutional power, often with widespread inequalities and prejudice.

The CH Sub-committee (CHS/c) is the dynamic centre of our applied humanist involvement in these three primary domains of Society. .the HSS resource that engages with the Community in the same way as the ‘Ceremonies S/c’ does with ‘Rites of Passage’.

With Health, we are building on the work already in place, by which our volunteers are connecting with hospital chaplaincy, with healthcare governance, and with a pattern of involvement in public issues that daily is raising our humanist profile in Scotland.  Nationally, we are active in the revision of NHS spiritual care policy and in its competencies and standards.  It moves slowly, but the direction is aligned with the ‘Common Humanity’ of humanism.

Our Schools, Colleges and Universities are opening their doors to our humanist ethos. Education at all levels needs humanist input to curriculum design, with its place in religious, moral and philosophical studies or equivalent, via the Scottish Qualifications Authority and other statutory bodies. As a result, humanists will become involved in their locality, at school assemblies and in educational talks that embellish humanist understanding for all, teachers and parents included.

The third area is vital and strategic – a formal HSS connection with the new Equality and Human Rights Commission. We can apply for funding from the EHRC to finance initiatives for campaigning on issues of inequality or building local humanist group training projects designed to equip our volunteers as local champions of diversity and human rights. We already have an input into the consultation process of this new body.  This Sub-committee is the structure for involvement in these opportunities.

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