Fund announced to protect places of worship from hate crime

The Scottish Government has announced a new £500,000 fund to be made available to protect places of worship from hate crime.

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

The fund will be launched later this year and will be open to all places of worship in Scotland. It will provide funding towards the cost of installing increased security measures to protect them against hate crime.

Any criminal offence can be a religious hate incident, if the offender has targeted someone or a group of people because of their prejudice or hostility based upon religion. Hate crime can take many forms including verbal and physical abuse, bullying, threatening behaviour, online abuse, and damage to property.

Victim Support Scotland welcomes any initiative that tackles hate crime in the community.

If you have experienced or witnessed a hate crime or incident, find out more about how Victim Support Scotland can support you on our hate crime page.

Read the announcement in full here.