Devoted pair bid farewell after 20 years
After 20 years of service to the community, leading The Salvation Army in Stirling, Denise and Billy McMurray are moving on.
Here’s a ‘thank you’ poem specially written for two special people:
Goodbye - and God be with you,
In all your coming days. For countless acts of kindness,
We offer thanks and praise: For work and prayer and worship,
Through many hectic years;
Your service freely given In laughter, toil and tears.
Farewell! We face a future Perplexing and unknown. Relying on God’s mercy In former blessings shown. Take hold of His assurance And prove it ever true: ‘Fear not for I am with you, My mercies ever new.’
Then welcome, change and challenge!
A busy chapter ends.
You love us and you leave us
To find and serve new friends.
Do deeds of kindness vanish?
God treasures every one. Faith, hope and joy inspire us
To say ‘Well played! Well done!’
John Coutts Poet in Residence The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum Dear Editor Councillor Neil Benny contends that “it is folly to start believing your own propaganda” then goes on to do just that.
Nobody in the SNP is claiming that everything is wonderful; of course there are challenges which must be met, but on education it is worth noting that a record number of students enrolled at Scottish universities in 2018/19 while record numbers of students from our most deprived areas started university, helped to do so because unlike students in England, Scots students don’t pay tuition fees.
Regarding health, patient satisfaction is recorded at 86 per cent and Scotland’s A&E services are the best performing in the UK, with more than 14,000 more staff employed in our NHS, an increase of over 11 per cent since the SNP came to power; and while in England patients pay £9 per item for their medicine, Scots patients benefit from free prescriptions.
However, Councillor Benny is really scraping the bottom of the barrel when he blames the SNP for the closure of the Queensferry Crossing bridge due to ice.
At the same time, several bridges down south were closed and the Oresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark also closed; no doubt that, like Storm Dennis, was the fault of the SNP.
Ruth Marr Grampian Road Stirling I am a regular visitor to Stirling from Ayrshire and tend to travel by rail.
When I travel from Ayr, the electric multiple units are clean, fast and tend to be very punctual.
From Kilmarnock to Glasgow Central, the trains are all Class 156 Super Sprinters. These diesels are now over 30 years old and showing their age. They should be replaced by brand new diesels.
Better still, we need through commuter trains through from Ayrshire and Renfrewshire to Stirling, even Perth if we see further electrification beyond Glasgow.
These would also encourage long distance tourism within Scotland. Ayr to Stirling and Gourock to Edinburgh journeys could be direct.
One change at Stirling could feed into/out of trains to Inverness and Aberdeen.
What is Transport Scotland waiting for? Glasgow Crossrail!
G. Land St George’s Road Ayr