You might recall that a survey was recently sent to our members as part of a broader initiative linked to the South Central England Humanist Network (SCEHN). We had 198 responses to this questionnaire, which makes its statistically significant at the SCEHN level but less so at the Group level. We had 21 responses from Guildford & Woking Humanists (GWH).

We will discuss the GWH feedback at our next group meeting on the 12th June, but a brief summary of the overall results is given below for those who can’t make it. We’ll update with any feedback we receive at the meeting.

1. Almost half the members found their local group via Humanists UK or via a local recommendation.
2. Most people joined their local group in order to meet like-minded people or to some extent, for talks or discussions. Interestingly, not a single respondent put social events as their top choice, although in the freeform questions members said they enjoyed the social aspect.
3. When asked what they least liked about their group the top answer was the small number of members, followed by cost and venue.
4. When asked what changes they would like to see the top answer was; more young people, followed by different demographics and more campaigning in the community.
5. The primary reason why they stop going to meetings is that they don’t have the time or accessibility issues.
6. We see a heavy weighting to older age groups. This is a major challenge for the SCEHN and we imagine, also for Humanists UK. Engaging with younger people needs to be a specific focus.
7. Respondents were split virtually equally between male and female (not for GWH where female outnumbered male responses).
8. Interestingly, over half of the respondents said they would be willing to contribute time, skills or money to their local group.