https://druidnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TDN-10-years-Charity.pdf
October 5th 2020 sees the tenth anniversary of The Druid Network (TDN) receiving notification that it had been successful in its application to the Charity Commission of England & Wales in getting its status as a charity approved.
This outcome was based on the acceptance by the commission that Druidry was a legitimate religion. This was not achieved easily. The definition of a religion in English law very much held an anthropomorphic viewpoint that legally a religion be based on an assumed necessary central premise for the need for a God / creator / prophet for it to be legitimate.
TDN’s basic premise was that Nature itself expressed the power of divinity and this tangible experience is what Druids would then go on to craft into a religious honourable relationship. This divinity within Nature meant that, for the members of TDN, nature itself was worthy of religious reverence. Everything within nature was sacred and thus a valid religious outlook.
This acceptance at UK national level was significant but would have unexpected consequences internationally. Religious groups outside the UK then had access to a legal precedent which could then go on to be used to challenge the definition of what constitutes a religion within the laws of their own countries ( especially significant for the indigenous
populations ). The ruling also had positive consequences for the wider pagan communities within the UK.
Four years later TDN successfully challenged presumed religious definitions used in the membership entry criteria of The Interfaith Network of the UK (IFN) and was admitted as a probationary member. Two years later in 2016 TDN was ratified as a full voting member of IFN and has gone on now to engage fully within the remit of IFN. In October 2019, TDN provided the first Druid to be voted in as an IFN official, another UK first.
October 2020 sees TDN as a thriving online community and provider of information on the Druid tradition, fully involved in the UK and international pagan scene and a proactive and interactive member within IFN (UK). A lifetime of achievements in a decade.
TDN is supported in its work through a subscription model which offers supporters membership which is annually renewed, affirming their continued active relationship. TDN also makes grants to support Druid activities and teaching. Members discuss a host of subjects in a secure environment allowing community even when physically disparate