Glasgow church will remember those lost to addiction and suicide

Springburn Parish Church minister Brian Casey will also lead a silent walk after the event, which aims to raise awareness of deaths relating to drugs and alcohol and suicides in the area.

He said: “I think it’s important to, first of all, show the families that we care. That we support them.

“But also to send a message to politicians that even though the number of drug deaths has slightly come down, they are still too high and the church will hold them to account as much as possible.

“It’s about the fact that it is Christmas and people will be really hurting. It’s a chance to be there with them and for them.

“During lockdown, I probably did three times my annual number of funerals in a year, 376. And so many of them were people who have already been in recovery but they were isolated from their friends and their recovery programs and found it really hard to be on their own.

“That was shameful that they were left on their own. This is my way of doing something now that we finally can."

Reverend Brian Casey (Image: Newsquest)

Springburn Parish Church (Image: Archive)

Drug death campaigners planted 200 memorial crosses outside the church in 2020 (Image: Jamie Sipmson)

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The service will take place at Springburn Parish Church at 4pm on Thursday, December 22 and anyone is welcome to join.

Among the attendees will be the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields and several local politicians, as well as representatives of Police Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

The 51-year-old reverend and former policeman added: "That knock on the door you have to do when someone dies, is a horrible thing.

"I think it's important to tell police and ambulance on the front line that we appreciate them and pray for a quiet Christmas with fewer deaths."