It suggests that the average cost of a funeral in Scotland is £3,537.

Research by Royal London revealed that the average cost of a burial is £3,993 and £3,081 for a cremation.

Charges vary in different parts of Scotland.

Rev Bryan Kerr, the Church of Scotland’s representative on the Scottish Working Group on Funeral Poverty, said: “We are concerned with the findings of this report which states that funeral poverty in the UK has increased by 12 percent with the average cost of a funeral in Scotland standing at £3,537.

“This is having a disproportionate impact on low income families – no one should be plunged into debt in order to bury or cremate a loved one. It can create huge stress and adversely affect one’s ability to grieve and move forward.

“The Church welcomes the imminent introduction of the Scottish Funeral Expense Assistance which will provide help towards burial and cremation costs for individuals on lower incomes.”

The report states that approximately 40 percent more people will be eligible for this payment than were for the Department of Work and Pensions funeral payment.

Rev Kerr said: “Whilst this is good news, people on low incomes will still have a significant shortfall to address. We continue to call on the Scottish Government to ensure that all families have the ability to say goodbye to their loved one without being burdened with debt.

The…

Since it was revealed that staff at Oxfam had hired prostitutes while in Haiti, other missions, charities and NGOs are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of having good safeguarding procedures.

However, Christian safeguarding charity Thirty:One Eight says more research is needed to enable a full understanding of the challenges faced by those in this field, to then ensure that best practice is carried out across the board.

In a questionnaire, Thirty:One Eight will be looking into what challenges those who go on mission trips face when trying to protect children and vulnerable adults and asks questions such as whether those going abroad are required to have a DBS check or not.

Thirty:One Eight, who assisted the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in the Church of England and help churches with their safeguarding practice, will work with the University of Chester’s psychology department to launch an academic study into the challenges and training needs for organisations sending people abroad for mission.

Justin Humphreys, CEO of Thirty:One Eight, said: “We have a strong track record of conducting and commissioning research in the UK and overseas. In order to help with the development of best practice in safeguarding within the faith sector

“We are particularly excited about this study, which comes at a crucial time amidst growing scrutiny of…

Speaking in the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday evening before he was called to vote on MPs taking over the parliamentary agenda, Tim Farron MP said: “We’re in a place where ambition is often very naked and very personal and there’s nothing wrong with people, with Christians, with anybody, having personal ambition”.

Talking about his new book, he said: “I guess I reflect on the extent to which mine [his ambition] was pure and less so.”

Tim Farron was leader of the Lib Dems after Nick Clegg stepped down in 2015 and he resigned in 2017, saying he had been “torn between living as a faithful Christian and serving as a political leader” and he cited the hymn ‘When I Survey’ in his resignation speech. 

Farron, who has been the member of parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005, said that evaluating his own motives “puts in perspective the sense that there is something better to live for, which is essentially why I stepped down as leader, as there are things far more important. I think that hope keeps a lot of people, certainly keeps me, sane in these incredibly troubled times and is a reminder that all empires and all kings – they’re all temporary.

“I can be deeply, deeply troubled by the state of the country. Whatever side of the Brexit divide you find yourself on, always remember that the European Union, Brexit, Britain, they’re all temporary.

Since it was revealed that staff at Oxfam had hired prostitutes while in Haiti, other missions, charities and NGOs are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of having good safeguarding procedures.

However, Christian safeguarding charity Thirty:One Eight says more research is needed to enable a full understanding of the challenges faced by those in this field, to then ensure that best practise is carried out across the board.

In a questionnaire, Thirty:One Eight will be looking into what challenges those who go on mission trips face when trying to protect children and vulnerable adults and asks questions such as whether those going abroad are required to have a DBS check or not.

Thirty:One Eight, who assisted the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in the Church of England and help churches with their safeguarding practise, will work with the University of Chester’s psychology department to launch an academic study into the challenges and training needs for organisations sending people abroad for mission.

Justin Humphreys, CEO of Thirty:One Eight, said: “We have a strong track record of conducting and commissioning research in the UK and overseas. In order to help with the development of best practice in safeguarding within the faith sector

“We are particularly excited about this study, which comes at a crucial time amidst growing scrutiny of…

The former Wallabies star had his multi-million dollar contract terminated earlier this year, after posting “hell awaits” for “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolaters” on his Instagram account.

Ruby Australia dismissed Folau for being in breach of their Professional Players’ Code of Conduct.

According to the news organisation Reuters, the proposed legislation would allow Australians to express their faith outside of the workplace, as long as there is no financial damage towards their employer.

Following the release of a draft of the bill last Thursday, Australia’s Attorney General Christian Porter said: “Australia has a strong anti-discrimination framework with specific protections for people against discrimination on the basis of their age, sex, race and disability.”

He continued: “This draft bill released today extends those protections to provide protection for people against discrimination on the basis of their religion or religious belief, or lack thereof.”

The bill would see businesses with a turnover of more than $50m be unable to enforce limitations on a person’s religious expression in private, unless that company can prove it would cause “unjustifiable financial hardship to the business”.

A business would need to prove that a limitation on their freedom of speech was necessary to avoid this unjustifiable financial…