It comes after new research has revealed more students are taking out payday loans to fund their lifestyles.

The study by Moneysupermarket found a 136 per cent rise in the number of students taking out the costly, short-term loans.

According to the survey, one-in-four current students borrowed from a payday lender compared to 11 per cent 10 years ago.

The loans are being used for social activities like clubbing and holidays as well as gym memberships and healthy food.

Christian financial planner Ron Mbakwe told Premier the loans’ high interest rates can have long term implications for students.

“They could end up paying back significantly more than they borrowed. And in a worst case scenario, if they default on payments, this could leave a black mark on their credit file making it much more difficult to obtain credit in the future.

“They need to consider what they really need to spend this money and to think carefully about the consequences of getting into debt at such an early stage of their life.”

Ron said that peer pressure can lead many students “living outside of their means” and suggested budgeting, avoiding impulse purchases and opting for low cost activities such as university provided interest groups to stay out of debt.

He went on to say that the Christian community has a role to play in preparing soon-to-be students to be ‘good stewards’ of their money.

“The…

St John’s Parish Church in Largs has launched The Living Room – a drop in space where people can have someone to talk to.

22 suicides were recorded in the area last year.

Rev Jonathan Fleming told Premier’s News Hour the church felt they needed to take action.

He said: “Local services across the United Kingdom are increasingly oversubscribed.

“Lots of money is being provided and services are trying to be enhanced but unfortunately demand continues to grow.”

38 people have now been given training on a range of topics from bereavement to how to spot signs of suicidal thoughts.

Rev Flemming said while this kind of support is the focus – they will when appropriate share the reason for their hope.

“We hope that people know that it is our motivation and our call from Jesus Christ to love our neighbour and that people will hear the good news that he offers,” he said.

“We hope to journey with these people for a long time to come.”

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Kardashian-West was asked about Kanye West’s Sunday Service on US talk show The View.

She said people have questioned if the heavily music-focused service has a Christian foundation. She affirmed that it is Christian and described it as a musical ministry.

She said: “People always ask, ‘What are you worshiping?’ It is a Christian service, like a musical ministry. They talk about Jesus and God.”

Kardashian-West explained that the services started out as a personal project for Kanye, but they morphed into something that he wanted to share with others.

“Kanye started this to really heal himself and it was a really personal thing, and it was just friends and family,” she said.

“He has had an amazing evolution of being born again and being saved by Christ.”

When asked if ministers were part of the Sunday Services, Kardashian-West said sometimes Kanye’s friends who are pastors preach, but the focus of the service is always on music.

“Sometimes, in the one in Calabasas, he’ll have friends that are pastors that are in town get up and speak. But for the most part, it’s just a musical ministry,” she said.

Kardashian-West, who was on the show to promote the 17th season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, said the Sunday Service isn’t official in terms of it being a registered charity but it is “for God and a Christian church”.

Kanye is expected to release an album this…

Metal detectorist Derek McLennan uncovered the 10th-century hoard, which includes silver bracelets and brooches, a gold ring, an enamelled Christian cross and a bird-shaped gold pin, in a Dumfries and Galloway field in 2014.

National Museums Scotland raised £1.98 million to acquire the treasure trove of items for the nation.

Rules on discoveries in Scotland mean only the finder receives payment, differing from the rest of the UK, where awards are split with the land owner.

But it was reported at the time the church would share in the proceeds.

Undated handout file photo issued by Galloway Viking Hoard Campaign of a bird pin from a Viking hoard found in Dumfries and Galloway. The Church of Scotland is taking legal action for a share of a Viking hoard worth almost £2 million found on land it owns.

Church trustees are now taking legal action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

A Church of Scotland spokesman said: “It can be confirmed the general trustees of the Church of Scotland have raised an action against Derek McLennan.

Undated handout file photo issued by Galloway Viking Hoard Campaign of a pectoral cross from a Viking hoard found in Dumfries and Galloway. The Church of Scotland is taking legal action for a share of a Viking hoard worth almost…

Colonel Michael Elcomb served in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, serving in the Second World War in Malta, Sicily, Germany and North Africa, where he was wounded.

On Saturday, he decided to support his local church St Mary’s, a Church of England parish in Codford in Wiltshire, by joining in with a sponsored cycle and walk on his mobility scooter. The church has been there 750 years and requires repairs every now and again, usually paid for by locals.  

Colonel Michael Elcomb said: “Churches are such important historic buildings and do so much to keep communities together.

“That’s why we must keep them in good repair. Good luck to the many people around the country who will be Riding and Striding and raising funds to keep England’s churches in shipshape condition.”

‘Ride+Stride for Churches’ is a sponsored event in which people walk or cycle between churches. The money raised helps fund repairs and the installation of modern facilities at historic churches, chapels and meeting houses.

Last year the event raised over £1.3 million.

St Mary’s Codford, that seats 120 people, added a digital organ a few years ago and the congregation, described on its website as “a pretty straightforward and ‘conservative’ lot”, try to keep up to date with modern styles of worship whilst maintaining some tradition. 

Before Col. Elcomb even started he had raised…

The Augustinian Church Choir, from Erfurt, are visiting next month for a nine day tour to mark the partnership between the Diocese and the Erfurt Kirchenkreis in central Germany. 

The choir will visit churches and cathedrals across the county including the cathedrals of Bradford, Wakefield and Ripon, alongside Leeds Minster, Halifax Minster and St Margaret’s Church in Ilkley.

There will also be stops to visit York Minister and Ilkley Moor. 

The choir will perform work by Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Flor Peeters, Gustav Holst, Arvo Pärt and John Rutter.

The partnership between the two countries began formally on the 1st November 1997, growing out of an earlier link between Bradford and Erfurt that began in the late 1980s.

Rosalind Beeson, chair of the Diocese’s Erfurt and Leeds link group, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Augustiner-Kantorei to perform in venues across West Yorkshire.

“It will be wonderful to hear this massed choir perform sacred choral music from a wide range of composers from the 15th to the 21st centuries.

“This visit builds on two recent choir tours to Erfurt from the Bradford area in 2013 and Bradford Cathedral Choir’s centenary tour earlier in 2019.

“We are very glad to be able to reciprocate and to strengthen our partnership with Erfurt, recognising our shared musical heritage.”

Alex Berry,…