In an effort to foster stronger links with the voluntary sector and to further develop community empowerment Tayside Fire and Rescue  invite you to attend a :

Volunteer Discussion Session,Tayside Fire and Rescue Headquarters, Blackness Road, Dundee

30 August 2010 - 10-12pm. Tea, coffee and hot rolls provided

Tayside Fire and Rescue recognise the value of volunteering in the delivery of services
to all our communities. The unique contributions from volunteers adds value to service
delivery with one of the most valuable benefits identified through volunteering as being
the reduction in social exclusion. There are currently 22 million people volunteering in
the UK, almost half of whom volunteer every single week. Individuals carry out 90 million
hours of voluntary work across the UK each week and the economic value to the country is
put at no less than £40 billion a year.

We look forward to seeing you on the day.

Please reply to:

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giving notice of your intention to attend and any special dietary requirements.

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We have funding from the Big Lottery Fund for 3 years to train up deafblind people to become trainers in deafblind awareness. What we need are organisations such as Probus, Inner Wheel, Rotary, Church guilds/groups, Brownies, Guides etc.  Initially we send our newly trained volunteers into schools to build up their confidence and then into organisations that would like to have a guest speaker.  There is no charge for this service although donations are always welcome as we are a Charity organisation.

Is there anything you can offer by way of assisting us?

Many regards
John

John Whitfield

Deafblind Scotland
21 Alexandra Ave
Lenzie, G66 5BG
Tel/Text 0141 777 6111
Fax 0141 775 3311
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Web http://www.deafblindscotland.org.uk/

posted August 2010

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Working  with Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Migrants & EU Nationals

Date & Time: 9.30 am – 4.30 pm, 23rd June 2010 :Venue: Glasgow

Course Outline:
This one day course examines the rights of migrants under UK and European Law.  You will be briefed on all the fundamental issues such as barriers faced by different groups and their respective entitlement to services. As a participant, you will be given up-to-date knowledge on the housing, employment and welfare entitlements of refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and EU nationals.

This course is highly participative and the course packs are comprehensive.

Who should attend?

Anyone who works with new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers; anyone who needs a thorough understanding of the barriers faced by these groups in accessing services such as housing, employment and welfare entitlements. It is particularly relevant to people working in social work, housing, welfare,
education, employment, health, community development or the justice system.

Course Outcomes:
By the end of the day you will:

· Understand the barriers faced by refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and EU nationals

· Have an awareness of the relevant legislation that impacts on individuals from these communities

· Have a knowledge of their housing, employment and welfare entitlements

· Be equipped to effectively review and update your organisation’s policy and practice.

Cost:

Non-members: £220

Community/voluntary organization’s: £150-(Dundee Humanist Group members can be funded contact Ron).

Members: £125

To book your place, please contact Ms Suki Sangha, Training Officer,
Positive Action in Housing Ltd, 98 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 1PJ,
Tel: 0141 353 2220, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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LONDON (RNS) A top British judge has ruled that Christian beliefs have no standing under secular law because they lack evidence and cannot be proven. Lord Justice Laws made the declaration on Thursday (April 29) in throwing out a defamation suit by a Christian relationship counselor who refused to offer sex therapy to gay couples. 

Gary McFarlane had protested that he was fired because offering sex therapy to same-gender couples violated his Christian principles.  But Lord Justice Laws said "religious faith is necessarily subjective, being incommunicable by any kind of proof or evidence." He added that to use the law to protect "a position held purely on religious grounds cannot therefore be justified." No religious belief, said the judge, can be protected under the law "however long its tradition, however rich its culture.  We do not live in a society where all the people share uniform religious beliefs. The precepts of any one religion any belief system – cannot, by force of their religious origins, sound any louder in the general law than the precepts of any other. If they did, those out in the cold would be less than citizens and our constitution would be on the way to a theocracy, which is of necessity autocratic. 

The law of a theocracy is dictated without option to the people, not made by their judges and governments. The individual conscience is free to accept such dictated law, but the state, if its people are to be free, has the burdensome duty of thinking for itself.” He added: “In a free constitution such as ours there is an important distinction to be drawn between the law’s protection of the right to hold and express a belief and the law’s protection of that belief’s substance or content.” Laws also dismissed as "misplaced" and "mistaken", former archbishop of Canterbury George Carey's warning that a wave of discrimination against Christians threatens "civil war" in Britain.

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The Board of Trustees had approved the production of a poster to greet the Pope on his visit to Glasgow in September.  There was considerable discussion on the approach and the message chosen was subsequently advised as . . 

‘2 million Scots lead good lives without God’

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HSS – Strategy for the Future

Another good meeting was held with copies of the HSS consultation document, ‘A Strategy for the Future’, being discussed. Members looked at various sections of the document and there was considerable discussion about specific aims and objectives. Submissions from individuals’ were sought and comments were passed on to the Working Group.

We also looked at extending awareness of Humanism  via the the HSS website and Forum. It is available for anyone to look into and to post a comment if registered. There are various topics up for discussion and the greater use of this forum would encourage better management and development of relevant issues.

The next meeting will be held on Monday 17 May 2010, at 6.30 for 7.00 pm, all welcome

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Thanks to Joan Gibson of the Edinburgh Group, there is a new initiative of events for Humanists to enjoy.

Join them for Tea and chat in Dunfermline's Abbot's House cafe at 2pm on the first Sunday of the month, or on a visit to an art gallery – see below:

APRIL 20th
Dundee Mcmanus Gallery
Lunch at a venue, travel by train arriving about 11.30am

MAY *
3 North Fife Open Studios – 60 artists participating: www.openstudiosfife.co.uk
Travel by car and/or 8 West Fife Villages exhibiton of art, photography & crafts in Saline, travel by bus or car

JUNE *
Papua New Guinea art plus permanent exhibition at Kirkcaldy Museum & Art Gallery
Lunch at museum cafe, travel by bus

JULY *
Kinghorn – exhibition of sculture, painting & glass by local professionals
Lunch ?, Travel by bus or car

AUGUST *
Pittenweem art festival
Fish and chips in Anstruther, travel by car or bus

SEPTEMBER *
various minor galleries in the Edinburgh Festival
Lunch in Edinburgh, travel by bus

OCTOBER *
major Edinburgh Festival exhibition
Lunch at gallery, travel by bus

NOVEMBER *
Ferguson Gallery, Perth
Lunch in Perth, travel by bus, arriving 11.30am

*dates to be arranged

If your are interested in any of the events above and require more information then please contact
Joan direct on  [01383 720528 / This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ] or Elaine [01383 738335 / This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ]

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Education - a Humanist perspective

HSS Education Officer Clare Marsh was our speaker for the evening. Clare is working on improving the status of humanism in education.  This raised awareness was directed at helping and advising parents who had concerns as to the religiosity to which their children were subjected, and also through Society members being trained and available to go into schools, to give talks on humanism or to lead assemblies. 

Clare pointed out that children had no rights to withdraw from religious education or observance until the UN Convention (1990), which stated that parties should respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion: the child "should be educated but not indoctrinated". Clare described how, for its education initiative, HSS had compiled lesson plans for teachers and senior pupils, and had produced a booklet, “Education without religion – a Humanist perspective” for wide circulation, to raise awareness among education authorities and teachers, as well as parents. 

Sample letters for parents to use in approaching schools are now available on the HSS website.  Dundee Group volunteer activists are sought for parental support and schools engagement, as the essential local resource for further development of the initiative. 

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