The National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies (AHS) has this week launched a JustGiving fundraising initiative which aims to expand the reach and capability of student societies across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
The AHS is led by students and is reliant on a team of volunteers to provide its vital support to its societies. The current fundraiser aims to raise £60,000 in donations to recruit dedicated staff support over two years so that the AHS can develop into a self-sustaining organisation and carry its longer-term and strategic goals.
AHS President Rory Fenton, who launched the campaign, commented, ‘What I hear from non-religious students around the country is they feel they could do with more support than the AHS is currently capable of providing. Nothing makes this clearer than the recent controversies we’ve seen in our campuses. You don’t have to look much further than what happened at the University of Reading in 2012, or at the London School of Economics last year, or this February at London South Bank University, to realise this is a serious and ongoing problem. Time and time again, groups of non-religious students are censored, penalised, and restricted by university officials and overzealous student unions who are terrified of causing offence to religious groups, and so unfairly punish non-religious student societies and their members.
‘A stronger, self-sustaining AHS is urgently needed. This initiative will allow our organisation to grow and come closer to matching religious student societies in terms of scale and capability. We believe that this will in turn help produce the next generation of non-religious activists, in addition to enabling more non-religious students to become leaders as they move into business, charity work, and politics.’
BHA Chief Executive Andrew Copson also commented, ‘We have always been proud to support the AHS, as we have done in each of the campus controversies its members have endured in recent years. This newest initiative will mean a great deal to current and future non-religious students in the UK and Ireland, and I hope the fundraiser is successful so that the AHS can become an even more robust voice for students than it is today.’
Notes
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief.
The National Federation of Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Students Societies (AHS) is a network of 51 student societies and is a section of the British Humanist Association.
You can donate to the campaign at www.justgiving.com/AHSappeal.
Read how the AHS and BHA won an apology for students following the London School of Economics controversy: https://humanists.uk/2013/12/19/triumph-reason-welcome-lses-apology-jesus-mo-controversy/
Read how the AHS and BHA won an apology for students following the London South Bank controversy: https://humanists.uk/2014/02/12/london-southbank-university-issue-full-apology-flying-spaghetti-monster-censorship-issue/