Kieran Turner
Kieran joined the Evangelical Alliance Scotland team in 2012. Prior to this he worked for MSPs at the Scottish parliament for three years, with spells in both Edinburgh and Inverness. Before this he spent a number of years working in youth and community work in the housing estates of his native Glasgow. Kieran helps the Evangelical Alliance connect with politicians in Holyrood and local government, connects with national and local media, and also provides support and encouragement to churches, organisations and individual Christians trying to engage with wider Scottish society.
Scotland: Emerging from Lockdown
21 July 2021Gatherings and activities The following rules apply in relation to gatherings and activities in Level 0: Eight people from four households can meet in a private home.Ten people from four households can meet in an indoor public place, such as a café.Fifteen people from 15 households can meet outdoors.Under 12s do not count towards total number of people meeting.Social distancing is not required in a private home or outdoors within those group numbers (eg, the 15 meeting outdoors). Almost all…
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Investing in young adult leaders for the public square
10 June 2021As an engineer running his own business, Peter was ideally placed to respond. Working in collaboration with other local companies, they designed and built face visors to supply their local hospital. More than 1,000 were made in the early days until other supply routes were established. They made the technology open source so anyone could use it. What made Peter step forward in that moment? What was it that made him forget about his own business needs in that crisis moment and think…
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Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill: final update
11 March 2021As you will have seen from previous updates, debate around the Act’s controversial attempt to balance protections against hatred whilst safeguarding freedom of expression has been, at times, fierce and hotly contested. Much discourse ensued, and this concluded this week with debate stretching through Wednesday and Thursday’s parliamentary sessions before the parliament finally voted the Bill into law. So, what is the final form of the Hate Crime and Public Order Act, and does it adequately…
Read more... Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill: freedom of expression update
25 February 2021As mentioned in our previous update on the Hate Crime and Public Order Bill, the Scottish Government had recently decided not to move some of its own amendments on the controversial bill; MSPs only have a few weeks to come to agreement on some of the bill’s most contested areas. See this update for a more comprehensive summary of how the bill has progressed and why it is so controversial. Last week the Evangelical Alliance met with Humza Yousaf, the cabinet secretary for justice, and then…
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Lockdown latest: Scottish Government September update
24 September 2020This last month has seen some significant opening up of activities that many churches undertake with guidance published for a variety of sectors including youth and children’s work, community learning and development (that incorporates education), outdoor events and running meetings for the recovery community. It can be a confusing and fast changing picture. The key distinction being made by government just now is between informal social interaction and formal, organised activities in what…
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Hate crime and public order (Scotland) update
24 September 2020We want to encourage engagement with this bill and would encourage you to contact your MSPs to raise any concerns. However, in a highly charged media and social media environment it is also important to be clear about the what the bill does and does not do, where the concerns are, and how to most usefully get involved. What the hate crime bill does Hate Crime is any crime that is committed against a person that relates to a ‘protected characteristic’ for example race, religion, sexual…
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Emerging from lockdown in Scotland – August update
24 August 2020However, there have also been a number of recent announcements that are of relevance to churches in relation to face coverings, Sunday schools, recovery meetings, advice services and youth work as restrictions continue to lift. This article should be read in conjunction with relevant Scottish Government guidance for each area as well as the Evangelical Alliance’s emerging from lockdown guidance and FAQs. Face coverings Face coverings are now mandatory in almost all indoor settings in…
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Emerging from lockdown in Scotland
20 July 2020This week saw the biggest step yet to reopening church buildings in Scotland as places of worship were permitted to reopen for corporate gatherings of up to 50 people from Wednesday 15th July. This is very positive news and is earlier than originally planned by the Scottish Government. Following some significant engagement with the government (from the Evangelical Alliance and others) this brings the date for churches broadly in line with other indoor buildings in sectors such as hospitality,…
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Scottish Government Route Map – Phase 3 planning update
30 June 2020On 24th June Nicola Sturgeon announced a series of indicative dates in preparation for moving into Phase 3 of the Scottish Government route map out of lockdown, due to begin on 9th July. With new cases of coronavirus now at a very low level in Scotland, potential dates for Phases 3 & 4 have been significantly accelerated. This has included plans for schools to now open full time in August with no social distancing requirements. We are writing this piece to keep our members informed…
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Scottish Government supporting communities funding
20 May 2020With more details here and here, this is a summary of what has been made available: £350m fund to support welfare and wellbeing £95m to local authorities: £50m in Barnett consequentials from the UK Government’s hardship fund directly to local authorities; £45m added to the Scottish Welfare Fund (for community grants and crisis grants available to those in immediate need)£70m Food Fund for organisations in public, private and voluntary sectors to address food insecurity especially for older…
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Scottish Christian charities offer support to Scottish Government
17 April 2020Working with the local church in communities across Scotland, the charities which include Christians Against Poverty, Glasgow City Mission and Bethany Christian Trust, expressed willingness to work strategically in partnership with the Scottish Government and agencies at every level to ensure the best possible national response at this time. The twelve signatories work and resource the church in a variety of different areas including dealing with poverty and personal debt, delivering food and…
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