Organisers of a university freshers’ fair have reversed a ban on a church stall after legal pressure raised concerns about unlawful religious discrimination.
The reversal has reopened a gospel presence at Goldsmiths, University of London during one of the most significant points in the academic calendar, when thousands of new students arrived on campus.
Grace Church Greenwich had booked a stall at the university’s freshers’ fair, as it had done for several years. However, Native.fm, the company responsible for managing stall bookings, informed the church it could no longer attend due to a recent update in company policy excluding religious groups.
Native.fm said it could not support campaigns that explicitly promoted specific religious teachings.
Similar issues affecting Christian groups on campuses had been reported by Good News for Everyone, formerly Gideons UK.
The church’s minister, Andrew Sach, challenged the decision and warned Native that the policy could amount to unlawful discrimination.
After The Christian Institute intervened on behalf of the church, arguing that Native.fm’s policy could breach the Equality Act 2010, the company later suspended the policy on religious bookings “without admission of liability”.
Sach said in statement that stalls such as theirs were particularly important on campuses without a Christian Union. “Stalls like ours are the only gospel witness to the thousands of students who attend,” he wrote.
He said the case highlighted the need for churches to defend religious freedoms protected under UK law.
Pro-life groups had previously faced similar barriers to campus access. The Family Education Trust had also warned that sexually explicit clubs, including “kink” and “BDSM” societies, had been permitted to promote themselves at freshers’ fairs.