North Glasgow Fun Run

The London Marathon may be bigger – but North Glasgow’s 5k was definitely more FUN! Over 2,600 kids, mums, dads, grannies and granddads, and even canine friends pounded the streets around Ruchill Park for a record-breaking fourth year of the NG5K!

The party styled, free, event saw runners wearing fancy dress and pushing prams, buggies and wheelchairs. ‘We had an overwhelming demand this year,’ said Lyndsey Murison, Health & Wellbeing Worker for North Glasgow Healthy Living Community. ‘Registration had to be closed a week early and we had a waiting list!’

M.C. Greg Summers invited special guests MSP Patricia Ferguson and Depute Lord Provost Allan Stewart to formally welcome the crowds. Then local fitness instructor, Carol Goodwin and the Devil’s Angels cheerleaders led the warm up.  

Along the route there was music and entertainment including a five piece jazz band and a local belly dancing group. Residents hung out of windows or stood in their gardens to watch while bumper crowds cheered on participants at Ruchill Park.

A free sports massage was available afterwards to those who needed it.

Robert Graham, 43, from Sighthill said, ‘I loved the idea of running a 5K just for fun and it was right on my door step. It got the people of North Glasgow out of their sofas!’

Participant Mark Barrow added, ‘I usually run 10k and half marathons for charity but I decided to do the ng5k with my wife and 6-year-old daughter. She had so much fun it really was a special occasion.’

 

 

 

 

Carmunock Highland Games

Gregor Edmunds (pictured) is one of the world professional competitors who will help launch the new Carmunnock Highland Games on Sunday 31 May.

Current Scottish caber champion, Gregor has just returned from the U.S. where he was ‘warming up’ for the event. Brought back to life by Carmunnock activists and the expertise of Gregor’s parents Linda and Douglas who have organised Highland games around the world, the Carmunnock Highland Games will be the only ones held in Glasgow and will offer fun for all the family!

 

 

Schools Closures – The Final Reckoning

On Thursday 23 April 2009 when Glasgow City Council voted to close 11 primary schools and 9 nursery schools, the LOCAL NEWS had reporter Martin Graham inside listening to the debate and reporter Elyas Hussain outside with the crowds of Save Our Schools campaigners.
Here are their accounts of these historic events which were ratified by the Council Executive the following day. Since then, parents have agreed to seek legal advice on whether they can appeal against the decision which they consider will take the heart out of their communities.

OUTSIDE by Elyas Hussain
It all ends in Tears
Parents and campaigners were left in floods of tears as, one by one, the decisions to close schools were announced at the full Council meeting.
The Council’s plan to close 23 primary and nursery schools across the city had attracted widespread opposition including sit-ins, people chaining themselves to railings and rooftop demonstrations.
Despite more than 7,200 responses and around 96% of people in the consultations objecting to the closures, the Council went ahead to confirm the Labour Group’s prior agreement to close 11 primaries and nine nurseries.
Nithsdale Nursery School in Pollokshields, Shawbridge Nursery School in Pollokshaws and Ruchill Primary School were the only ones saved from closure.
On the day before the full Council met, protesters started a 24 hour vigil outside the City Chambers.
On D for Decision day, between 800 and 1,000 people gathered outside the building. There was a strong police presence and metal crowd control railings fenced in the protesters. The demonstration was organised by Save Our Schools campaigners. Councillors such as David Meikle, the sole Conservative Party member on the Council and Danny Alderslowe, Green Party, spoke with people in the crowd. Said Danny: ‘They are playing games with people’s lives and splitting up communities. We are opposed to the closures. At the next election, Labour will not be re-elected.’
One of the first schools to be confirmed for closure was St Agnes in Cadder.
Diane Beat, who has a 5 year old daughter there, came out of the meeting close to tears. She said: ‘This was a complete sham because they had decided in advance to close our school – even although our school role is at 66%. This was not even taken into account. And our children are going to be transported in un-roadworthy buses to get to their new school.’
Brenda Begley who has a daughter at Victoria Primary burst into tears as the news came through of that school’s closure: ‘We are absolutely shocked and really angry that they have closed Victoria Primary. However, we will continue to fight and will start an appeal to the Scottish Government.’
Parents from Wyndford and St Gregory’s primaries told the LOCAL NEWS they felt ‘betrayed’ and had been ‘lied to’ by Labour councillors who did not get a totally free vote. They plan to keep on fighting by appealing to the Scottish Government.

INSIDE by Martin Graham
Voting cut and dried
Tension was high when Councillors voted. There was a large group of protesters corralled outside the City Chambers and a heavy police and security presence. Some of the parents took their seats in the public gallery as the Council session commenced. Councillor Jonathan Findlay, the Education convener, started by praising the work of Margaret Doran head of Education, and her staff in arranging the consultation process. He was quickly called on this by the SNP’s Patricia Gibson, who declared that it was ‘A sad day for democracy’, referring to the fact that Labour councillors had been instructed to vote in favour of proposals overall, but were only able to vote against closures in their own ward. Ms Gibson went on to say that the consultation was flawed and that many of the facts in the initial documents were incorrect, including buildings graded wrongly, a non-existent swimming pool at St Gregory’s and the complete omission of the autism unit at Ruchill Primary. The SNP’s Alex Dingwall paid tribute to the campaigners and made an impassioned plea in defence of St Agnes, Wyndford and St Gregory’s school. Lib Dem Christopher Mason stated that he supported the general proposal to reduce waste in the schools estate. However, he thought the approach was flawed because it was dictated from the top down rather than developed with support from the communities and elected officials.
As the voting started, it became clear that the Labour block vote was being wielded, with the vote on each proposal gaining the support of at least 40 councillors. As the decision on St Agnes was voted through, Diane Beat, whose child attends the school, made a distraught cry from the public gallery ‘There’s more than one button you can use’ before being escorted from the building. Labour councillors were asked to press button one on their voting consoles to confirm the closure of each nursery and school.
The outcome was a rubber stamp of the earlier Labour Group plan with only Ruchill Primary School and Shawbridge and Nithsdale nursery schools on the Southside, being saved from closure. Said Tory Councillor David Meikle, ‘While I’m pleased that Shawbridge and Nithsdale are to remain, I am disappointed the Labour group decided to rubber stamp almost all the other the proposals. Some need to be looked at again.’

APPEAL POSSIBILITIES
At least six parents have asked for a judicial review on the grounds that the consultation was not properly carried out. The Race Relations Act as amended in 2000 requires that any consultation processes should provide documents in a person’s own language when they cannot read in English. The parents contend this was not done properly and are seeking advice from an Advocate to determine whether they have grounds for appeal. MSP Anne McLaughlin of the Scottish National Party told the LOCAL NEWS: ‘We know that around 120 languages are spoken throughout Glasgow. We are not expecting the Council to provide the consultation documents in all these languages. However, I believe that in some areas where Urdu is a main language within the ethnic minority communities, the Council should have provided the documents in Urdu. We are in the process of checking out any appeal possibilities so it is still too early to predict what will happen.’ She added: ‘The parents have fought a good campaign and should be thanked for their hard work. The consultation is not fit for purpose and we will try to stop this.’ MSP Fiona Hyslop who is Cabinet Secretary for Education, has put a Bill before the Scottish Parliament which seeks to address some of the concerns about the consultation process for closing schools. If passed, the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Bill would require local authorities to hold at least 6 weeks consultation during term time among many conditions. The new Bill will also contain provision for Ministers to call in any decision where there have been failures in the consultation process. But this Bill will not be in time to save the Glasgow schools as it will only reach Stage 1 in September.

New Techniques for Teaching Deaf People

Glasgow charity “Deaf Connections” (founded in 1822, and the oldest
established charity for Deaf people in the UK) recently became the first
organisation in Europe to pilot a new method for teaching English-language
reading and writing skills to Deaf people, namely “Manipulative Visual
Language (MVL)”.
The Deaf Connections pilot involved twelve Deaf Glasgow citizens,
all volunteers and all patrons of Deaf Connections facilities. Trials began
in January and at the half-way stage in the pilot-study, results are
immensely promising, and have hugely impressed Literacy Tutor, Lucy Cole (pictured) who oversaw the project.
She said: ‘Basically, it can be very difficult for people who are Deaf to
grasp the grammatical rules underpinning English language. The MVL system
breaks down this difficulty by making use of tactile wooden blocks, all
coded to symbolise different aspects of English grammar. It addresses the
unique learning needs of our profoundly Deaf literacy students. Many people
who are born Deaf and have grown up before learning speech. Deaf use British Sign Language as their first language and this may have huge implications on
their English language development. BSL is very different from English in
relation to grammatical concepts and structures. These shapes are part of a
visual and tactile teaching philosophy: one of which is a far more intuitive
and enjoyable way of learning sentence structure than simply staring at a
page of text.” MVL has been developed over the past decade by Jimmy Challis Gore, a professor at Gallaudet University in Washington State and Rob Gillies, a teacher at the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf in Maine, both have set up a non-profit organisation called “Greenbridge” to allow them to develop the system further. They very kindly provided the materials for the Glasgow study, and are taking a keen interest in the Glasgow Pilot. For more
information about MVL visit the website at www.green-bridge.org

Eco Accolade for St Peters Primary

St Peter’s Primary in Partick was one of the first primary schools in Glasgow to achieve Eco status and a coveted Eco flag. Now the school has achieved its third green flag. Only four educational establishments in the city have reached this impressive goal.
The prestigious award recognises the school’s awareness of environmental issues and continued commitment to developing knowledge of everything green. The major factor in securing their first eco award was the school’s amazing roof garden. Eco assessors on a recent visit were impressed by the PowerPoint presentation explaining what had been done and what the children’s targets are for the future.
Said Sadie Traynor, head teacher at St Peter’s: ‘To get our third green flag is just fabulous especially as our eco school is pupil led. They have embraced the concept beautifully.
Councillor Jonathan Findlay, Executive member for Education congratulated the school. ‘I am very proud of the staff, pupils and parents. They are an example to the rest of us when it comes to environmental awareness.’

Tesco Maryhill – Pie in the Sky?

Tesco has been challenged by local politicians to move on their plans from 2004, to redevelop their Maryhill store. Glasgow North MP, Ann McKechin and Maryhill MSP Patricia Ferguson have called on the company to invest some of its £2.95 billion record profits in the local area.
Patricia Ferguson recently launched a campaign in the Scottish Parliament to get a share of the £60 million Town Centre Regeneration Fund to improve Maryhill. She commented: ‘We are campaigning hard to get the Scottish Government to commit money for this much needed re-development. Now that Tesco has announced huge profits, it needs to show willingness to play its part in Maryhill too.’
Glasgow North MP, Ann McKechin, commented: ‘People in Maryhill have been putting money into Tesco’s tills for years – now it’s time for Tesco to show its commitment to them and invest some of its record profits in redeveloping its Maryhill store.’
The politicians have written to Tesco urging the company to make a firm commitment to the Maryhill development and to confirm a start date.
But all that Tesco would reveal was a re – cycled statement. Maryhill Shopping Centre Corporate Affairs Manager Jennifer Duncan told the LOCAL NEWS: ‘We understand local people’s disappointment at the delay to the redevelopment of Maryhill Shopping Centre.We continue to work towards finding a solution and believe this is an exciting local project.
‘We have been open about the challenges we face and are happy to discuss these.’
Tesco bosses have blamed the delay on technical problems related to part of the proposed site, which lies above a disused railyway line.
However Strathclyde Partnership for Transport said it was keen to work with the company to reach a solution.
Tesco plans show an increase in the size of its current store from 5800sq m to 8260sq m. The new store would be elevated to allow underground parking and would be split over three levels. The 285-space car park will be extended to 515 spaces and staff would be increased from 160 to 300. But it is all in cold storage right now.

Cash Boost for Maryhill Burgh Halls

MARYHILL’S historic Burgh Halls have received another boost with a bumper £980,910 grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

It’s the second massive cash injection in just a few short months.

Once restored, the 1878 buildings will become a 21st century community asset. With this new funding and a recent £1million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, work should start on site in August or September this year.

The regeneration project is being overseen by the Board of Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust, which comprises  people living or working within the local community and 3 key partner organisations – Maryhill Housing Association, Cube Housing Association and Glasgow City Council.

Billy McAllister, Chair of the Trust said: ‘The Big Lottery Fund money will allow us to carry on with our important work to hand back Maryhill Burgh Halls to the people of this community and make it a historic yet modern-day asset to benefit the people who live here. This is a project where the local people of this community are firmly in the driving seat.’

A tree grows in Crookston

More than 500 trees were planted at Crookston Wood last month by members of the Scotland Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA).

‘This was done to help protect the eco-system,’ explained Ahmed Owusu-Konadu, Scotland President. ‘World leaders are calling on everyone to go green to help save the world from disaster.’ He added that the Association plant the trees as a reflection of their faith. ‘We want everyone to understand that Islam is a peaceful and tolerant faith, committed to promoting peace – this includes supporting climate change,’ he said. A convoy of cars took more than 35 members and some of their families from the mosque at Yorkhill to Crookston. There Graeme Golding, a chartered arboriculturist officer from Glasgow City Council, demonstrated to correct way to plant a tree. Everyone, including the president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association in Scotland, Mr A. G. Abid and the Missionary in charge of Scotland, Mr Muhammad Akram Malik, followed his example. It was noted that the ladies and the children who took part seemed to show the most enthusiasm for the exercise! The day concluded with refreshment being served to everyone.

 

 

 

Cooking Lessons with Momentum Cafe

Bill Kidd MSP congratulated youngsters from the Kingsway Youth Group after they pulled on their aprons to participate in cookery classes at Momentum’s social enterprise café in Yoker Community Campus.  The MSP presented certificates to seven young people, aged 12-15, from the youth group which is run by Culture and Sport Glasgow. The week long project was funded by Glasgow Housing Association. Cathie Connelly, Community Learning Worker for Culture and Sport Glasgow, said: ‘We were delighted to get the funding to help the community in the Yoker area. This project was a real partnership between GHA, Culture and Sport Glasgow, Momentum and Yoker Community Campus. The young people who took part learned some vital skills and all had a great time. They have all said they hope to come back to the kitchens to take further classes.’ Stephen Kidd, Momentum Manager, said: ‘It was a pleasure to work alongside key partners. We feel that this is the way forward for Momentum and it can only benefit communities such as the Kingsway Youth Group. It was excellent to see the young people enjoying the cooking classes and great to see them being recognised for their hard work.’

Castlemilk Women Wave Goodbye to Violence

AN art exhibition displaying the work of a Castlemilk support group is having an ‘amazing impact’ on women across the city.

People have been flocking to see the reflections of the Castlemilk Women Against Violent Environments (WAVES) group at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery since its launch last month.

On display are paintings, photographs and posters which resonate with the women’s past and how they managed to move on from it.

Community Learning Worker, Claire Bradley, who directed the project, said: ‘The feed back from people is that it has been a very powerful experience and is having an amazing impact on women’s lives. Women are taking heart from it and are being encouraged to seek help themselves. And the women from the group have said that it has been an inspiring experience to see their work on display. They were anxious on starting the project, but over time, their confidence grew and now they are open to trying new ideas.’

The exhibition runs until May 31 at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery. WAVES hope it can be brought to a venue in Castlemilk afterwards.

Women who are interested in finding out more about WAVES should contact the Castlemilk Domestic Violence Project on 0141 634 4053 or via their website on www.domesticviolencescotland.org

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