Our October meeting was a celebration of the ongoing contribution of Denis Cobell. Denis has been a leading Humanist figure since the 1960s and we are particularly proud that he was the SELHuG Secretary for 40 years and, although standing down from that role earlier this year, continues his active work as a committee member.
We held this meeting at a room in the Catford Constitutional Club, which was full to bursting with many regular members and people from further afield that came especially to honour Denis and to enjoy meeting old friends.
After a brief welcome by our Chair Sam, our President Barbara Smoker gave a personal tribute and shared some of her memories with the group. The bulk of the evening was given over to a talk by Denis. This was a fascinating look back over his life and involvement with the humanist movement, with particular emphasis on the history of SELHuG. After long and heart-felt applause Denis was presented with Life Membership of the group and a box of bespoke ciders. The rest of the evening was given over to convivial conversation and enjoying the excellent food and drink provided by the venue, also admiring and then eating the amazing cake (homemade by our Treasurer Hester). It was an excellent evening, full of appreciation and affection for Denis, and greatly enjoyed by everyone.
The full content of Denis’s talk and scans of other interesting items from his archive will be put on the website shortly.
For those of you who are interested, Denis’s Wikipedia entry is here!
