30 October The Job Retention Scheme (‘furlough’) comes to an end tomorrow. Already many businesses have indicated that they will be making staff unemployed. The total figures are not yet available, but each case is a personal tragedy: lost income, lost opportunities, dreams ended, maybe hardship for the individual and their family. Some may find …
29 October We are due to hear confirmation today of the new Tier we will be in from Monday. Strong measures are being imposed in France (‘at least for the month of November’) and Germany, and there is concern in England that the infection rate is racing ahead. Not a happy picture, given that we …
28 October Once again there is a story in the news of migrants (including children and possibly a baby) trying to enter Britain but losing their lives in the Channel, when the craft they were in capsized. The flow of people trying to enter the country without the requisite paperwork and authorisation is persistent over …
27 October There is a major public debate going on in England at the moment about ‘holiday hunger’ and extending the provision of term-time free school meals to the school holidays. Without getting involved in the politics, or the debate about the most appropriate way to eradicate ‘holiday hunger’ (important as that is), it has …
26 October The media over the weekend carried stories about the impact of the pandemic on the health, particularly the mental health, of NHS staff. Although it wasn’t specifically mentioned, it seems not unreasonable to assume that the health of care workers, teachers and other ‘key workers’ has been similarly affected – through long hours …
We pray for families. This week we heard from Jason Leitch, the Scottish Government Public Health Adviser that we should prepare for a digital Christmas. When we consider the pressures that families across our nation have been under with many parents losing income and possibly facing the reality of losing employment; the fact that they …
If you want to donate to Poppy Scotland for Remembrance this year, but haven’t seen anyone collecting, details from their website say: By phone call 0131 550 1542 (Mon-Fri, 9am to 4.30pm) By cheque post to: Fundraising Department Poppyscotland New Haig House Logie Green Road Edinburgh EH7 4HQ Please make cheques and postal/money orders payable …
Church of Scotland in Dumbarton Online Memorial Service We will upload an online Memorial Service to our YouTube Channel on Sunday 1 November (All Saints’ Day) at around 11am If you would like to watch it log on to https://youtu.be/tici4pHNSbY Or search ‘Church of Scotland in Dumbarton’ The Church of Scotland – Scottish Charity Number …
24 October United Nations Day 75 years ago today the United Nations came into existence. The world was emerging from years of bitter warfare, which had also witnessed systematic genocide and cruelty. There were immediate issues about rebuilding the broken world, and establishing peace; there were longer term issues of ensuring that the ‘human rights’ …
23 October Yesterday Jason Leitch said openly that Christmas this year will not be the same as we have been used to. Politicians and the media reacted vociferously. Maybe they feel they have to. But with current levels of infection, past experience of the way in which ‘spikes’ can occur, and seeing the UK government …
