Fund announced for security measures at places of worship

A new £500,000 scheme will give funding for places of worship to install a range of security measures to protect them against hate crime. 

 Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf and Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell  announced the new scheme when they visited Garnethill Synagogue in Glasgow.

 The fund will be launched later this year and will be open to all places of worship in Scotland. Religious groups will be consulted in the coming months to help develop the scheme.

 Mr Yousaf said: “We recently committed to exploring what we could do to ensure safety and security for our faith communities at their places of worship, including developing a security funding scheme. I hope that this scheme will provide reassurance to all faith communities and their places of worship that hate crime and prejudice will not be tolerated.”

Ms Campbell said: “We are committed to ensuring that our communities in Scotland feel free to practice their religion in a place where they feel safe. No one should fear being attacked because of their faith and particularly in their place of worship.

“We are determined that all places of worship should be places of peace and sanctuary and that our faith communities feel safe and secure when they visit them.”