BHA Conference June 2005 - Gateshead
by Ariadne Tampion

Once again John and I with Sophie (11) and Isobel (5) were the only family at the BHA Conference, despite the facts that the Springfield Hotel had several family rooms and BHA Membership and Development Officer Jemma Hooper had put out a last minute special offer for the children of the next five families to book to be included free of charge. This was a shame, because of the five BHA Conferences I have attended with at least one child in tow, this venue was by far the best for this purpose.

The hotel was in the middle of Gateshead, on the old Durham Road. Just across the road one way was an art gallery and leisure centre with swimming pool; the other way led to a super park, with infant and junior playgrounds, boating lake, tennis courts, maze, indoor visitor centre with cafe and lots of space for running around. An easy bus ride would take you into Newcastle- Upon-Tyne with its myriad attractions, but I was pleased to have sufficient in the immediate vicinity to fill my daughters' weekend. If it is necessary to travel too far from a conference venue to access amusements for the children, then it is harder for the parents to share out the conference sessions fairly. Also, if the children are off site for long periods of time they miss out on the meals and tea breaks during which they can meet the other delegates and feel part of the event.

On Friday afternoon, after settling into our spacious room, we joined other delegates for the opening welcome and a session called 'Why do it?', meaning 'Why promote Humanism?'. Promoting Humanism was the theme of the conference. Delegates were asked to split into groups of four. John and I decided to join different groups but both girls wanted to come with me into a group which eventually acquired six members. Both girls contributed well, although Isobel needed a little encouragement; and in the reporting back session our group was praised by Hanne Stinson for being the group which best addressed the brief!

At dinner, Jemma made Sophie feel welcome by discussing their joint interest in science fiction; particularly, of course, Star Wars Episode III! After dinner it was time for Isobel to go to bed. John took her up as I had a little role to play in the conference. It was my birthday, and back in the meeting room I made a short speech to present to the BHA my 'birthday bequest' of a small number of Centrica shares originating from the original British Gas privatisation. Our main evening speaker followed: this was David Boulton, former Head of News and Current Affairs at Granada TV and author of a book called 'The Trouble with God'. Sophie stayed with me but secured an aisle seat from which she could easily escape if the speaker proved 'boring'.

David Boulton proved far from boring. He drew Sophie in with a vivid account of his childhood in a Plymouth Brethren family, but then rather sadly left her to become bemused by the surfeit of 'long words' later in his talk. I subsequently reassured her that it is not uncommon for adult Humanists to feel the same way about some speakers at BHA conferences! For me, I found he gave a very informative description of the Sea of Faith position.

Saturday morning offered four speakers to provide an international perspective on promoting Humanism followed by panel discussion. John attended this, accompanied by Sophie once she had established that the hotel had no internet access, thereby depriving her of her preferred option of meeting her school friends in their favourite chatroom. Isobel and I went out to find a Post Office to despatch my share certificate and associated paperwork to Centrica's registrars so that my birthday bequest could proceed. Then we spent the rest of the morning exploring the park.

After lunch Isobel returned to the park with John. She had seen the boating lake and wanted to go out on it, but I was not too keen to take her. John has vastly more experience of boats than I, and was more than happy to do so. Meanwhile Sophie opted once again to attend the conference, this time with me. The early afternoon covered national perspectives. Professor Sir Bernard Crick kicked off. A Vice President of the BHA, he proved the epitome of the sage who expects his audience to concentrate on his wise words and feels no obligation to be entertaining. The effect on Sophie was predictable. Professor Frank Furedi was quite the opposite. He infuriated me with his attack on environmentalists as anti-Humanist. Sophie, too, began silently to deconstruct his arguments as he expounded this philosophy, and was primly unimpressed when I whispered in her ear: "I wonder how much George Bush paid him". In the panel discussion which followed he became unavoidably more reasonable, whilst Bernard Crick contributed good sense with crystal clarity. After all, it is scientists who are at the forefront of trying to persuade governments of the urgent need to address the challenges posed by global warming.

After tea John and the girls joined the coach tour of Newcastle and the quayside, leaving me to join the discussion on how the BHA does, could and should promote Humanism. This tour proved an exciting and memorable event: getting up close to the Angel of the North, crossing the Millennium Bridge and sampling the chocolate ice cream available on the other side.

Saturday dinner was served in the room where we had been meeting, with round tables set out cabaret style in readiness for the auction. The auction was to raise funds for the BHA and the Nigerian Humanist movement. Nigerian Humanist representative Leo Igwe had been flown over for the conference and had contributed to the International session. British Humanists moan about the super-religious Blair Government and the power of the Archbishop of Canterbury, but in Nigeria they have to contend with horrific traditional customs of ritual human sacrifice which have been incorporated into a muscular brand of evangelical Christianity.

Wine had flowed freely during dinner, so it was not surprising that the bidding went crazy on some of the more desirable objects. Isobel had contributed three A4 sheets onto which she had stencilled outline pictures of assorted transport vehicles for somebody 'to give to their children or grandchildren to colour in'. The bidding for these was particularly furious and they eventually went for £15. After a while I took time out to settle Isobel in bed. When I returned there were not many items left. When two hours' coaching in quantum physics or maths was offered by Professor Ian Dunbar, John secured this on Sophie's behalf, ignoring his daughter's wails of "No, no!"

There were a few dopy Humanists around on Sunday morning, including Yours Truly, who had difficulty spelling her name for the hotel receptionist when booking a taxi to the station. Fortunately my intellect was equal to the demands of the first session, working with Sophie and Isobel to transform the chaos in our hotel room into a collection of neatly packed bags. Meanwhile John enjoyed a series of brief talks from Humanist group representatives on what they were doing to promote Humanism in their communities.

After coffee, John took over 'Isobel duty' and I went to hear Peter Cordell talk about working with local radio, dumping Sophie in the Education Forum on the way. She had not fully appreciated that there would be no parent to hold her hand in the session and was a bit unhappy to discover this would be the case but attended anyway. Another delegate revealed that although she had said nothing, "her presence was felt."

Then everybody gathered together briefly for the closing speeches and votes of thanks. Yet another BHA Conference had passed in a whirl. Many, including John, stayed on for the AGM in the afternoon, but I took the girls straight home. We needed to catch the second and final BBC3 repeat of the weekend's episode of Doctor Who.

There are general issues surrounding the presence of children at Conference which I covered in my report on the Birmingham Conference in October 2003. I consider these as valid now as they were then. I live in eternal hope that one year we will turn up and find that we are not the only young family there. But a hint that we have some way to go in transforming British society in general and the BHA in particular was given by a comment from BHA Vice President Jane Wynne Willson. "I don't think other children would be as contented as yours to be here," she said.

I disagree with that. In his TV series 'The Human Body', Professor Robert Winston said that children are naturally drawn to complex things to optimise their brain development. And the most complex thing they will ever find is another human being. For me this explains so much, starting with why babies love buses. Many parents are nervous of circulating their offspring in wider society, because, they say, they have a tendency to 'play up'. But I suspect that this is because in their children's everyday life the limited contacts of parents, teachers and peer group are insufficient for proper social development of the brain. In its extreme form, angry rebellion turns to lasting inadequacy. I strongly suspect that the generational apartheid endemic in contemporary British society is at the root of our problems with 'yob culture'. I firmly believe that the best way to work towards a different and better society is to conduct one's own life as though that society already exists. This includes continuing to take my children to BHA Conferences.

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