15 Christian Aid Week Livelihoods and migration If you are a farmer (whether subsistence, or growing cash crops) and there is a drought so that your crops, and maybe livestock, die, or you have floods that wash away your crops, what do you do? You might be able to survive for a couple of years, […]

14 Food security People in Dumbarton and West Dunbartonshire may grow food for fun in the garden or allotment, but in order to live, we buy what we need in shops or supermarkets. We notice when some of our favourites are not available, and we may notice if the price goes up significantly, but otherwise

13 Ascension It is now 40 days since Easter. Taking literally the phrase that Jesus left his disciples to return to his father’s side, the church has designated the Thursday 40 days after Easter as Ascension Day. We celebrate Jesus’ return to glory, and the completion of his work on earth. We also acknowledge that

12 Christian Aid Week  Wildlife and habitats Here in Dumbarton we are very fortunate with the variety of habitats that we have (hill/ crag/ moor, woodland, salt water shoreline, fresh water shoreline/ river/ burns) and the variety of wildlife (foxes/deer/rabbits/otters; gulls, oyster-catchers, herons, egret, dippers, ravens, house martins, finches, sparrows, crows etc etc). But so

11 Christian Aid Week  Rainfall and drought We love to talk weather, which usually means that we have a wee moan about it. There were some pretty heavy showers yesterday, but it is supposed to be dry today. We get irritated when the media go on about how lovely the weather is in the South

10 Christian Aid Week (10-16) Rising sea levels Christian Aid Week this year is focussing on Climate Change and Climate Justice. One of the effects of Climate Change is the melting of the polar ice caps, and rising sea levels. Countries like the Maldives and some of the Pacific coral atoll nations are worried about

8 Maternal mental health awareness week (3-9 May) Over the past year we have become more used to people talking about mental health – although that is still a long way from addressing the issue, and from eradicating completely the stigma that tends to go with it. Many of the issues have been around for

7 Usually at this stage after an election there has been a flurry of overnight activity as results have been announced and commentators have dissected them in fine detail. But this year the count has only just begun. We will get some results today, and others over the weekend. It fits with the spirit of