A church that was banned from a university’s freshers event has successfully defended its right to book a stall there.
Grace Church Greenwich had been attempting to reserve a place at Goldsmiths University’s Freshers’ Fair, but were told by Native – the external company responsible for the booking process – that “due to a recent update in our company policy, we are no longer able to facilitate bookings for religious groups at these events”.
Good News for Everyone, formerly GideonsUK, reportedly experienced similar problems at multiple universities around the UK.
The church has paid for a stall at local freshers’ fairs for several years, with the aim of connecting with Christians and interested unbelievers alike as they start university, offering them free coffee and speaking about Jesus.
Minister Andrew Sach said: “Some of these campuses have no Christian Union, so stalls like ours are the only gospel witness to the thousands of students who attend.”
The Christian Institute's legal department moved to deal with the problem, writing to Native to point out that the ban constituted “direct discrimination on grounds of religion or belief contrary to sections 13 and 29 of the Equality Act 2010”.
He argued that both Grace Church and Good News for Everyone “have grounds for a claim under the Act”, but that legal action could be avoided if Native agrees to allow all future bookings from Grace Church and other religious groups.
Following the letter, the company suspended its policy of restricting bookings from religious organisations with immediate effect, but did not make any admission of liability. As a result, both Grace Church and Good News for Everyone are now in the process of booking their Freshers’ Fair stall for September 2026.