Treweek welcomes guidance on sentencing

THE Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, who is the Bishop for Prisons, has welcomed the Sentencing Council’s new guidance for courts about sentencing pregnant offenders. The Council issued the new guidance on Monday, to come into effect on 1 April. The guidance introduces “Pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal care” as a mitigating factor “in the majority of offence-specific sentencing guidelines”, a statement said. Bishop Treweek said: “I do not believe prison is a safe and sustainable environment for pregnant women, new mothers, and their babies. Pregnant women should be managed in the community, where they can receive the support needed to address the underlying causes of their offending and give their baby the best possible start in life.”

New Secretary General for Scottish General Synod

Scottish Episcopal ChurchScottish Episcopal Church

DR DEE BIRD (right), chief executive of Edinburgh Napier Students’ Association, has been appointed Secretary General of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC). She will be the first woman to hold the post, which she will take up in the summer. Dr Bird worships at St Mark’s, Portobello, in Edinburgh, where she is the vestry treasurer.

Former Bishop of Guildford, dies, aged 94

A FORMER Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Revd Michael Adie, died on 4 March, aged 94. He was Bishop of Guildford from 1983 until his retirement in 1994, having previously been Archdeacon of Lincoln for 15 years. Before serving in several parish posts, he was, from 1957 to 1960, Chaplain to Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher. Bishop Adie was appointed CBE in 1994 for services to education. His funeral will be held in Guildford Cathedral on Tuesday at 11.30 a.m.

MPs call for change in law on late abortions

Right to Life UKRight to Life UK

PARENTS of children who were born at 22 and 23 weeks were joined by MPs on Monday to deliver a petition to 10 Downing Street (right) calling for the abortion time-limit to be lowered from 24 to 22 weeks. The petition, signed by 102,573 people, asks MPs to vote for an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill — tabled by the Conservative MP Caroline Ansell, and sponsored by more than 30 MPs of different parties — that would introduce a clause to lower the limit by two weeks.

Welsh children encouraged to campaign

A NEW accreditation scheme launched by the Church in Wales and Christian Aid, Global Neighbours Cymru, seeks to promote social activism among the country’s schoolchildren, and is open to all its primary schools. Children will learn about global poverty and take part in activities such as litter-picking and clothes swaps, as well as lobbying supermarkets about single-use plastics. More information is available at: christianaid.org.uk