{"id":2897,"date":"2026-02-17T10:06:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/?p=2897"},"modified":"2026-02-17T10:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:06:59","slug":"striving-for-a-world-worth-growing-up-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/?p=2897","title":{"rendered":"Striving for a world worth growing up in"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Celebrating the appointment of writer, broadcaster and former Blue Peter presenter Jane Ellis as Humanists UK president. Ilford Recorder and Barking and Dagenham Post January 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A recent announcement came as a tonic, to me at least, amidst much gloomy news. Hopefully it will resonate with others looking for calm, reason and hope in a world seemingly stuck in a doom loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m talking about the appointment of Janet Ellis as the new President of Humanists UK. Her name won\u2019t be familiar to everyone, but she is a prolific broadcaster and writer. Many will remember her as a presenter on BBC\u2019s Blue Peter<\/em>, the longest running children\u2019s TV show in the world, first broadcast in 1958.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janet once described Blue Peter<\/em> as offering \u201c\u2026a view of a world worth growing up in.\u201d Those words alone encapsulate a Humanist vision.  She intends using her presidency \u201cto help more people navigate these increasingly tumultuous times, seeing the way through to a better, kinder world, by helping them explore their non-religious beliefs and connect to one another.\u201d She also wants to \u201cchampion humanist values as an antidote to rising fear, distrust, and alienation across society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janet is the latest of a string of Presidents who have in their different ways promoted non-religious ideas embodying social progress, compassion, reason and a joie de vivre. They include Ramsay Madonald, later to become Prime Minister, George Melly, the jazz singer, and Claire Rayner, renowned \u2018Agony Aunt.\u2019 Janet takes over from Adam Rutherford, geneticist and broadcaster, whose best-selling book \u2018How to Argue with a Racist\u2019 demolishes the unscientific ignorance underpinning racial bigotry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are up against it. The \u2018Unite the Kingdom\u2019 rally in London last September provided a platform for extreme Chistian nationalism, including a banner denouncing Humanism. Elon Musk spoke via video link, echoing messages from the US Christian right. In October a mob calling itself the Kings Army marched blackshirt style in military formation through Soho\u2019s Old Compton Street shouting \u2018Jesus Saves\u2019 and anti-gay slogans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this comes as US evangelical organisations pour millions into funding campaigns here against women\u2019s rights, LGBT rights, and others. The aim is to dismantle universal human rights in favour of a xenophobic religiously motivated social order. Danny Kruger, newly defected to Reform from the Tories, called for a Christian revival during a speech in Parliament, asserting that \u2018to worship human rights is to worship fairies.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are all the Blue Peter generation. We have our work cut out to secure Janet\u2019s vision of \u2018a world worth growing up in.\u2019 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Kaufman. Chairperson East London Humanists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celebrating the appointment of writer, broadcaster and former Blue Peter presenter Jane Ellis as Humanists UK president. Ilford Recorder and Barking and Dagenham Post January 2026 A recent announcement came as a tonic, to me at least, amidst much gloomy … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9c4oP-KJ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2897"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2897"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2899,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2897\/revisions\/2899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}