What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • We are marching in the light of God

    We are marching

    So proud of St Mary’s folk and friends yesterday. A very happy Pride parade through the streets of Glasgow giving out invitations to the Cathedral and generally having fun.

    A whole rainbow of people connected to the congregation made it onto the street including church wardens, vestry members, young church folk, readers, LGBT group members and me.

    A good time was had by all.

    Here are some of the marchers by the stall in the marketplace:
    Pride

    The People’s Warden getting ready to mingle with the people of Glasgow
    Franny

    Kennedy Fraser, the dioesan rep on our Vestry and Lay Reader in Bishopbriggs
    Kennedy

     

    One of the Young Church members of St Mary’s teaching us how to do mission.

    young church

     

    The afternoon crew at the stall in between answering questions and chatting to people in the crowd:

    stall team

One response to “Reaching the Unconnected”

  1. David Kenvyn Avatar
    David Kenvyn

    The way the story has been presented in the press is somewhat misleading. What Glasgow Libraries are offering is not a new service. ICT equipment and training has been available in libraries throughout the UK, since the Blair government made the funding available in 1997.

    One of my first tasks in East Dunbartonshire was to write the successful bid for government funds from what was then known as the People’s Network. PCs, because that was the cutting edge technology at the time, were installed in libraries across the UK. Buddies were recruited for training programmes. People were taught, and can still be taught to use the appropriate technology in classes run through the various library services.

    Unfortunately, once the initial tranche of funding was exhausted, libraries were required to have their own sustainability programmes, but no funding was ring-fenced for this purpose.

    It is hardly surprising that there are differences in digital uptake between Dowanhill and Possilpark, or between Shawlands and Cardonald. Glasgow Libraries are now trying to deal with that digital difference, without any funding from the Scottish or UK Governments to do so. It is my view that they should be applauded for this initiative, which is an extension of the work that has been done over the last 18 years.

    You are quite right to say that this is a social justice issue. It is also vital to the success of the economy of the country. Perhaps we need to think about the creation of a new tranche of funding so that libraries can offer the cutting edge resources in ICT that people across Scotland need.

    Reply

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