Some of you like dogs, in which case you may appreciate that guide dogs of Team GB for the Paralympics get official photos

I remember once going to an Indian restaurant in the US when I was there for work. The proprietors greeted us cautiously, but as soon as they learned we'd all lived in the UK, they relaxed – apparently the locals often complained about the food being too spicy (it was mild by my standards).

So push down the past injuries.“Thank you for being here.” “I appreciate you listening.” “That’s a good thought.” Kindness. Grace. Compassion. Good humour. It almost never makes things worse, and you never know, it might just work.

I was a teacher for a long time and I’ve been a parent for almost as long again, and if there is one life lesson I wish everyone could magically grasp it would be this: Don’t criticise the behaviour you want to see.

Dudes the key is to start at the *top* of the track and slide *down*.

The anti trans discourse has gotten so bad now, that some friends are starting to look at me like I'm a crank whenever I defend trans rights and viewpoints. The propaganda onslaught over the past 10 years has been devastating 😡

had a dream that I was playing a video game called VICARIOUS where you serve as the vicar of a church called St. Bartholomew's for a year and if you make it to Epiphany you win "your Lenten sermon was too dispiriting. you have lost five parishioners." I blame Kit and @superteadrinker.bsky.social

It's world #pangolin day! One time I crocheted a pangolin - that's like an extreme sport in the #crochet world. littleconkers.co.uk/crocheted-pa... #worldpangolinday

Not the key point, but all the 'Andrew Mountbatten Windsor' coverage shows how quickly and easily the entire UK media complex can switch to someone's new name/title, even after using their old one for decades, when it's an incredibly pampered white male deviant. So, you know, it's not *that* hard...

Can anyone recommend a good book on #Vikings and encounters with/conversion to Christianity? Thank you!

Was this a hate crime? Not legally. Was it a crime of hate? Obviously. So much of the time, bigots are not much bothered about the details of why or how someone is different; they're 'weird', and that's enough. Maybe they're gay or trans, or neurodivergent. Maybe they don't even know themselves! 🤷🏼‍♀️

I used an early word processor to type my English essays at school and had to sign a declaration that I hadn't used the spell-checker (because that would be cheating). My teacher also had to vouch for me.

A service in #LeicesterCathedral on Sunday marked the earliest documented use of #signlanguage in England: a marriage ceremony at what was then St Martin’s, on 6 February 1546 #churchnews #churchtimes

This #LGBTHistoryMonth, our @outatgreenbelt.bsky.social volunteer team are digging through our archives to share LGBTQ+ voices from the festival that still hit home. We’re kicking things off with Sarah’s recommendation. “It's so powerful to hear her ideas about what queerness adds to Christianity.”

ethics professor here, can confirm

the funny part about the phrase "anti-trans" is that the Latin roots break down to "opposed to change" which is the same meaning as "conservative"

H20 is "blue" under our type of sun and as perceived by us humans. Change either and it's not blue. That's the fun thing about colors: they're all in our head.

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

'gen z slang' 😬 If there was ever a time for our paper to come out, it's now... We submitted the revisions in December, here's hoping it's out soon: "Ilbury, C. & R. Walcott. ‘Gen Z language? Y’all mean AAVE’: The appropriation of AAVE as ‘TikTok language’".

calling L1 speakers of British English, please help out my student Emilia on her dissertation study! 🐦🐦 it's a short (<20 min) and fun one on voice recognition, please share! lancasteruni.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

The UK must find ways to harness the wisdom of people who access the social security system. Our CEO Liam Purcell has the lead letter in @theguardian.com yesterday, responding to their editorial on UK poverty.

...horrifying message without context, thank you

I'll be moderating a panel about AI data centres in Scotland on 5 March at St Augustine Church. Interested in hearing from experts, want to ask questions or raise concerns? Come along! aprs.scot/event/data-c... #ai #datacentres

When they say Me Too "went too far," they mean "got too close."

We can't win without celebrating what we're fighting for. We fight because diversity makes humans so much more interesting, because there is so much joy to be found in things that some people try to tear down because they don't understand them, and because we all NEED to be allowed to be who are.

There has never been a single occasion in my life where I have heard Somewhere In My Heart by Aztec Camera and not felt instantly happier.

The UK Govt's are ending the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, that covered the whole UK, replacing it with a scheme for England alone. We've had a look at some of the data they used to justify change and blogged on what it means for Scotland 👇 www.scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk/blog/listed-...

This is really interesting. We all bring our preconceived ideas to Bible stories. I admit that I sometimes felt when acting as a school chaplain that I was being asked to use the Bible to just teach morality, when it's really about salvation

On almost everything – fraud, polarisation, radicalisation, misinformation – evidence suggests that over 60s are in much more urgent need of online protection and education than teenagers. But that issue gets zero political attention, and is a total non-starter. Nothing good will come of it.

Lordy. OK. Unsurprisingly, as a tutor, I have thoughts. I'm in a crash, so forgive me if I just splurge them without lots of coherence. I come from a relatively low income home. I received grants to go to university, and, crucially, before that, when I was in sixth form, I received EMA +

🌱 Garden sitting unused? EGP match people who can’t manage their gardens with local volunteers keen to grow food. It’s a win-win: gardens cared for, food grown locally, neighbours connected. They’ve got Leith volunteers ready to go right now. 📧 [email protected] 📞 07704 185 726

Just a reminder that there is zero evidence of sex self-ID being abused in New Zealand after two and half years of it. Nor any evidence of any attacks by trans women on cis women in women’s spaces in NZ, ever. Stop trying to create solutions for problems that don’t exist.

Reminder for all UK dual nationals: As of the 25 Feb 2026, dual nationals will not be able to travel to the UK on their 'other' passport. If, for example, you or your dual citizen children live abroad & currently don't hold a UK passport, you need to get one (for them) in order to re-enter the UK.

Reminder that this is the Telegraph decreeing that cities as human-friendly as like Edinburgh and Paris are "Stalinist". (Signed: a native of Edinburgh who doesn't own a car because *he doesn't need one*.)

Well this is beautiful. Finding things tough? Need some #ReasonsToStay? Read a letter just for you, here: reasonstostay.co.uk

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Perfect example of how to respond as an org when gently prompted to start doing alt text. 👍👍♥️ Other orgs and museums take note pls!

Tip: If you have more bubble wrap than you can use, don't trash or even recycle it – your local Oxfam will be delighted to have it.

An observation test for your inner 8-year-old. You’ll be doing well to spot 12 deliberate mistakes. From Treasure magazine, 1963 Official answers coming soon (Even if you don’t reply, could you please ‘like’ or share this one?)

We are desperately seeking catering volunteers for our Welcome Centre in Edinburgh! If you have or know of a small team who could get together for an evening to cook and serve a meal to our guests we would love to hear from you! Email [email protected] or DM us!

Save the date for the Heart & Soul swing band concert! Free entry. Donations requested for Christian Aid Scotland. @christianaiduk.bsky.social mandwchurch.org.uk/heart-and-soul

for this book project I need to find at least one person who knows Greek and/or is a romance language linguist to make sure I am not totally lying about all of these words. how do I get to linguistic editor craigslist or whatever

Parents & teachers! A good friend of mine works for the Royal Mint & is running a short story competition for kids aged 7 to 11. Stories can be in English or Welsh. Prize is £5,000 for their school or local library & their story illustrated by an artist. www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/learning/sho...

I'm looking forward to helping out at this again!

Are you a Postgraduate Researcher (PGR/PhD) working on language-focused projects related to Scotland and/or Ulster? If so, there's an online event on 25th February centred on methodological approaches and innovations. For more details, and to express your interest: frlsu.org/pgr-event-me...

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