From The Editor

Editor

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AS church buildings reopen and work begins to process the impact of the last 16 months, there will undoubtedly be a raft of necessary and essential fundraising drives.

Income lost from hall lets, offerings and donation boxes, will be carefully balanced against lower fuel and lighting bills and reduced costs and special giving days to allow the local church to sustain its vital mission. Indeed, a special Gift Day over harvest was approved at the General Assembly in May.

Like local churches, Life and Work has not been immune from these checks and balances.

This is why we shall be asking all our readers, subscribers, promoters and followers to work in partnership with us next month to share what they value, like and appreciate about the magazine of our Church to encourage others to subscribe (either in print or digital).

As a church team we do not have vast promotional and marketing budgets of other commercial publications at our fingertips, but rely very much on the goodwill of our dedicated promoters and co-ordinators, our ministers and our readers and subscribers and parish magazine editors to share and encourage others to consider taking the magazine. For anyone who would like to have it delivered direct to their doorstep or digital device, you can subscribe directly to either print or digital at www.lifeandwork.org, call our office or complete the subscription form in every issue. A subscription – short or long-term – makes a great gift for those difficult-to-buy for friends and family.

In the year when Scotland plays host to CoP26 (the United Nations’ climate change conference) we have also made some significant changes to our packaging, in partnership with our printer, Warners Midlands, to switch as many copies as possible to paper wrap and further reduce our carbon footprint as a publication.

We value and appreciate every one of our readers, which is why we are asking all of you now for your help in reaching out to others interested in the wide range of subjects covered within Life and Work.

Some copies will still necessarily have to be supplied in recyclable plastic, but the majority of our copies will be delivered in either cardboard or paper wrap in recognition of the need to reduce plastic usage in a cost-effective and sustainable way.

We value and appreciate every one of our readers, which is why we are asking all of you now for your help in reaching out to others interested in the wide range of subjects covered within Life and Work and on our website. On Sunday August 29, we are inviting all readers and congregations to celebrate the Life and Work story by sharing resources (which will be available soon at www.lifeandwork.org) but also by simply sharing or gifting copies and telling others what they like best about the magazine. It will be a day to celebrate the legacy and all that is good and valuable about the 142-year-old magazine of our Church.