Graduation time in the East End!

Monday 23 August was Bellrock Nursery’s big annual graduation day.
Parents, grandparents,carers and all family members from Cranhill and beyond were welcomed along to the school to join in the celebration.
Nearly 30 children performed for the audience and are now off to school in August.
The staff in the nursery and everyone at LOCAL NEWS GLASGOW wish them and their families all the very best for the future – enjoy school!

Young carers head east for day of fun

A chance for the young carers to relax and enjoy themselves

Over 100 young carers from Glasgow joined in the celebrations at the third annual Scottish Young Carers Festival held at the Broomlee Outdoor Centre in West Linton last weekend.

Organised by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and funded by the Scottish Government, almost 500 young carers from across the country – who look after a sick or disabled family member – enjoyed drama, comedy and animation workshops run by BBC Scotland.

There was also dancing at a silent disco and a talent show judged by former Miss Scotland Katharine Brown, all of which gave them a break from their commitments at home.

One young carer who attended the Festival was Sarah, 15. Sarah cares for her mum who has MS. She said: ‘I love coming to the Festival as everyone here is in the same boat and you don’t feel different. I can’t speak to my friends about being a young carer, but everyone here understands me. The silent disco was awesome! I think the Festival should be on for a week next year.’

The young carers also had a chance to speak Health Minister Shona Robison and Children’s Minister Adam Ingram about their lives and the support they need.

Louise Morgan, Young Carers Services Development Manager at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, said: ‘We are pleased that hundreds of young carers enjoyed the Festival this year and are grateful to the Scottish Government for funding it.

‘We are also pleased that the young carers had a chance to speak to MSPs who all agreed that young carers’ services need to continue and expand.’

 

 

 

 

Pots of fun deadline nearing

It’s not long until the registration deadline for this year’s Daffodil Schools Challenge and Mini Pots of Care fundraising activities.

Daffodil Schools Challenge and Mini Pots of Care are Marie Curie Cancer Care run educational activities that encourage creativity and industry in young people of all ages.

The scheme tasks pupils, aged 11 to 16, with designing, planning, and creating a visual display based on the Marie Curie’s daffodil emblem, either at school or elsewhere in the community. They are also challenged to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care in the process

For Mini Pots of Care, children aged 3-11 receive a free pot and a daffodil bulb to plant in the autumn term. The children then care for their flower over the winter months to reflect the work of Marie Curie nurses.

In spring, when the daffodils bloom, the children have fun on Mini Pots of Care Day by painting their pots before taking them home to someone they care about, in return for a donation for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The funds raised through both activities will help Marie Curie nurses care for terminally ill people in their own homes at the end of their lives, surrounded by loved ones.

Registration for both activities close on the 30th of September 2010, so to find out more – including free downloadable lesson plans and activity resources for youth groups – please visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/schoolsandyouth or call 08700 340 040.

Kids shine ray of light for Gaza

Words and picture: Erik Geddes

A flick through the papers or news channels gives the impression that the troubles in the Middle East are never ending.

However, an inspiring exhibition of children’s art from Gaza, titled Loss of Innocence,  gives a glimmer of hope for the future. The exhibition was curated by Rod Cox and shown for one day only at Renfield St Stephens, Bath Street, on Tuesday 17 August.

Rod  first went to Israel more than 20 years ago to work in a kibbutz.

But he didn’t discover the socialist utopian dream he was chasing. Instead he was repulsed by the inhumanity of man to man, and in particular the terrible treatment by the Israeli security forces of Palestinians.

More recently,  Rod has been helping to organise aid to and highlighting the plight of the Palestinian people.

He explained why this exhibition was so important: ‘I wanted to bring something back and they have hardly anything to sell, so I brought back some ar,’ he explained.

‘The kids use art as a way of expressing the trauma they have suffered. It has a healing quality for them.

‘If you are traumatized you need to dump it somewhere.

‘These kids don’t have therapists – and often they don’t have parents. Even when they do, the parents  are very often traumatised too.

‘I realised that bringing this out, and showing the Gazans that people in Britain cared about their plight, actually helps the people.

‘It also shows people here in Glasgow, and across the UK, what it really feels like to be a child in Gaza – which is like being a caged animal behind bars and quite worthless.’

Although outraged at the recent flotilla boats being halted by the Israeli blockade, Rod argues aid is only a short term solution to a long-term issue.

He said: ‘Gaza and West Bank need trade, not aid.

‘The only way to get Gaza on its feet again is to let it behave like every other city on the planet by letting them act as ordinary human beings and trade.

‘Israel has an opportunity now. How the Gazan children are treated determines the next round of peace negotiations. If they get treated like human beings and get given full rights and freedoms then they might grow up peacefully. If they don’t they won’t – it’s really that simple’

August Editorial

Students start to trickle back to town this month. with nine colleges and three universities in Glasgow, the city has a very large population of temporary residents. They are all welcome!
After all, Glasgow is a Caring City. We pride ourselves on being friendly towards strangers.
It is also a matter of good economics to keep our guests happy so that they will continue to spend their students funds in local businesses.
But things change when the visitor is here by default rather than choice or when that incomer is poor because he or she is legally prohibited from working to earn a living.
Our caring reputation wears a bit thing if we don’t have the patience to understand what someone is trying to say in less then perfect BBC English or if their main concern is where do they get their next meal or do the clothes they have protect them from our weather?
Labelling these individuals – asylum seekers – permits us treat them differently from students. But Scots are a thrawn lot! That permission is not often taken up. Long may we believe that ‘Man to man the world o’er shall brothers (and sisters) be for a’ that!
That theme recurred throughout the wonderful eulogies at Jimmy Reid’s funeral. The grand finale had the wonderful bass voice of Paul Robeson singing: Ode to Joy ‘all men are brothers.’

Greener by Design

by Lynsay Keough

Glasgow-based Alienation Digital, the web design and digital marketing specialist, is celebrating another year of tremendous growth by committing the entire agency’s services free for a day, to a good cause.

The agency’s 15 strong staff will work with Woodlands Community Development Trust (WCDT) to deliver a new logo, a content managed website, training, some digital marketing work and even get their hands dirty by helping out in the local community gardens.

WCDT aims to encourage the redevelopment and revitalisation of Woodlands and neighbouring areas in Glasgow for the benefit of local residents, businesses and organisations.

Their Woodlands Community Garden and Energy Awareness Hub on West Princes Street aims to transform a derelict gap site into a community garden, backed by the Climate Challenge Fund. The raised beds in the garden are being rapidly constructed and filled up and
there is also a plan to plant up the lane and continue making the terraced tyre wall while landscaping and constructing various parts of the garden.

The past year has been Alienation’s most successful ever, with a long list of prestigious new clients such as Condor Cycles, Scottoiler, Strathclyde Fire & Rescue, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

Neil Barr, Alienation MD, said: ‘This year has just been incredible. The team has worked really hard to ensure our continued success in what has been a tough time for some agencies.

‘We are very much committed to using our success to help others. This year we are very excited to help a local cause that is close to our heart and reinforces our green credentials.’

Mark Hesling, of WCDT said: ‘We are delighted to be partnering Alienation Digital, who we believe will provide a quality website with a high standard of design, function and accessibility. We look forward to working with a company that places great emphasis on the environmental and ethical aspects of their business.’

Residents pipe-up over unwanted chimney

Words and picture: Erik Geddes

 

Residents in the East End are up in arms claiming they have been kept in the dark over plans for a 50-foot chimney at the site for the proposed Athletes Village for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The plans they were shown, dating from September 2009, didn’t mention any energy centre.

Now a special meeting between Glasgow City Councillors, the planners and Belvidere Village Residents Committee has been arranged.

City Legacy, the consortium behind the plan, has applied to build more than 750 homes and a care home in Dalmarnock, to be used by athletes during the Games.

The development is to be powered by a state-of-the-art energy centre where the chimney will be located.

Angry residents feel it is being dumped right outside their homes.

Angela Phillips, 32, a member of the Belvidere Village Residents Committee, was at the meeting in Glasgow City Chambers.

She said: ‘Our objection is not with the planning application but with the location of the energy centre and its chimney.

‘What annoys me is that the developers keep saying that energy centres are often in the middle of developments.

‘But this one isn’t. It’s on the boundary – almost in our back garden. And why were we not told about this from the start?

‘I feel like they have dumped it in the corner nearest us. It’s just not on.’

The Council’s Planning Committee met on Tuesday August 17 and approved the proposal but it has yet to be rubber-stamped by the full Council.

As a graduate from Caledonian University in MSc Real Estate Management, Angela knows how housing developments work.

Following the session in the City Chambers, LOCAL NEWS GLASGOW caught up with Angela at home with her husband Lee and two-year-old son Reggie.

She said: ‘At the special meeting I’ll want to find out why we were never told about the chimney. I also want to find out for the residents exactly how far away it’s going to be.

‘They said roughly 30 metres but have not made it clear if that is 30 metres from the house, the wall or the fence that separates our houses from the land they are working on.’

Councillor George Redmond confirmed that he will facilitate the meeting between Angela who is representing the Belvidere residents and City Legacy.

He said: ‘My role is about trying to find some compromise. I’ll make sure my constituents who have made an investment in the area, get the right support that they need.’

A spokesperson from City Legacy said: ‘The exact appearance and size of the building has still to be finalised.’

They also confirmed that: ‘The chimney will be located at least 34 metres away from the nearest house in the Belvidere housing development.’

And while there was no clear indication as to why the 2009 plans don’t show any energy centre near the residents, the representative from City Legacy confirmed: ‘The Energy Centre has been shown in its current location since our planning application was submitted at the beginning of May 2010, which was available for viewing at Glasgow City Council offices’

Single cell Freedom for Billy

Billy Connolly will be given the Freedom of the City of Glasgow tonight. So from tomorrow he can allow his sheep to graze freely on Glasgow Green and, as he told a vast crowd of journalists in his first ever press conference for years: ‘It means I am entitled to a cell of my own if I’m jailed!’
Clearly delighted with the honour, the tartan trousered troubadour said: ‘I never knew such as thing as the Freedom of the City existed. It’s quite taken my breath away.’
With happy memories of Glasgow past when he worked as a welder in the shipyard before his music career took off, he described the Glasgow he remembered. ‘I can see Renfield Street at Central Station with the rain on the cobbles making them shiny. The neon light had Barr’s Irn Bru with Ba Bru in a turban and the reflection of the light from that on the street with the tramcars. It was beautiful!’ he enthused.
Now living in New York, he says his touring days are dictated by his accountant: ‘That means I don’t know when I might be in Glasgow again for a gig. I was stunned when the last one sold out.’
Glasgow Lord Provost Bob Winter, will host a civic reception tonight (Friday 20 August) for 270 guests including other Freemen of the city – boxer Jim Watt and Arts patron Lord Macfarlane. Freemen unable to attend who have sent messages of congratulations include: Nelson Mandela, Sir Alex Ferguson and Kenny Dalglish.
Broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson has also sent his best wishes to Billy, whose appearance on Sir Michael’s prime time chat show in 1975 was the catalyst that helped launch his comedy career.
The Lord Provost, who proposed the honour and which was unanimously agreed by the council, said: ‘Billy Connolly is arguably the world’s best known Glaswegian and is truly deserving of the Freedom of the City.’
The Freedom of the City is being given in recognition of the distinction Billy has brought to the city through his ‘outstanding contributions in comedy and drama; on consideration of his many charitable works and in recognition of his pride in being a Glaswegian’.
The Lord Provost added: “Billy has been a great ambassador for the city. The ‘Big Yin’, as he is affectionately known, has moved seamlessly from folk music, to comedy and acting.
‘But above all Billy Connolly has presented himself as a proud citizen of the City of Glasgow. In doing so he has shown the world the unique humour, generosity and resilience of Glaswegians.’

The Glenlee heads for a re-fit

Words and Photograph by Stuart Maxwell

 Glasgow’s  world famous Tall Ship has set sail for the first time in ten years. It left her mooring at Yorkill Quay, Glasgow Harbour at 1pm on Wednesday 18 August and headed West in full sail, towards the open sea.

Around 200 people watched as the crew prepared the ship for departure. The barque, built in 1896,  is 245 ft long with a 37.5ft beam. Eventually, to gasps of joy and thunderous clapping, it was ‘up anchor! ‘The Glenlee was released from the quay.

The Tall ship was then towed down the Clyde by two tugboats and was due to reach Garvel dry dock, Greenock, at 5pm. This trip, however, represents only a sabbatical. In Greenock, the lady will receive a £1.5 million renovation and is expected home in approximately three weeks time.

The Clyde Maritime Trust, which owns and maintains the Glenlee, decided a renovation was necessary after it was announced she would tie up alongside the new Riverside Museum, due to open in spring 2011.

Frank Brown, Chairman of the Clyde Maritime Trust, was delighted to see the ship navigating water once more.  Said Frank: ‘This is the Glenlee’s first return to Garvel dry dock since her restoration in 1999 and it is an exciting time as this move has been three years in the planning. The work carried out at Garvel will fit Glenlee for her thrilling new chapter at Riverside’.

Quite a makeover is planned in Garvel. The ship’s hull will be cleaned- no small task- and the back deckhouse will be altered to resemble more closely the ship’s original blueprint.

Since returning from Garvel in 1999, Glasgow’s Tall Ship has attracted over half a million visitors. In the world, it is one of five ships of its kind originally made on the Clyde, and is the only one tied up in Scotland. Of the other four, three can be found in USA and one in Finland.

The Glenlee was built in at Bay Yard, Port Glasgow, in 1890, one of ten steel vessels ordered by Archibald Sterling, a Glasgow shipping firm. After four trips  around the globe and surviving fierce storms, the Glenlee was adopted by the Spanish Navy in 1922 and dispatched as a training vessel. In 1992 the Clyde Maritime Trust decided to bring her home.

Hamish Hardie, Vice-Chairman of the Trust, was part of the team that towed it over 1,000 miles across the Atlantic after purchasing the ship for 8 million pesetas…. or £40,000. Said Hamish: ‘ I bought her in an auction while she was lying in Seville. It was really fabulous to watch her sail away today and she’s in such good condition. I had a similar feeling when she left Spain. She took up many years of my life and I am very attached, but she’s in good hands. The city of Glasgow has always looked after her’.

The Glenlee was crewed and transported by Henry Abram and sons, a Glasgow shipping  company, established in 1899. As they worked their magic and the elegant ship sailed down the Clyde, memerising all, it was hard not to notice a poem, written on a wall: ‘ A thing of beauty is a joy forever’.

Champions of the South West show their mettle

words Grace Franklin
photographs Stuart Maxwell

Pollokshaws Burgh Hall was the comfortable venue for the latest in the Evening Times Community Champions Awards.
Contenders from the South West of the city from Newlands to Cathcart, from Pollokshaws to Darnley and points in between waited to hear how the panel of judges had made decisons that would have put Solomon to the test.
But as Evening Times Editor, Tony Carlin,  said: ‘There can only be one winner.’
So in the six categories here are the winners as celebrated on Thursday 19 August.
Arden Chillout Centre won the Team Award. It gives opportunities to people from 5 to 15 to keep fit, enjoy games and sport, music and educational projects. Runners up were The Bullwood wood-turning project in Crookston and the Rainbow Care Centre which provides transport, cooked meals and social activities for members.
The Individual award went to Linda Campbell who has worked for Cordia – the city caring company -  for 25 years. She also cares for her own father who has Alzheimers as well as looking after four grandchildren. Runners up were:-Bill Baird of Merrylee who helps provide football coaching for school pupils and is active in Merrylee Local Housing Organisation, Cathcart and District Community Council and is helping develop the Newlands Project and Gordon Millar who is Chair of Pollok Crime Prevention Panel and is involved in Streetwatch Glasgow and other safety initiatives.
The Public Service Individual award went, posthumously, to PC Derek McDowell.  He died, aged 36, earlier this year. The respected community bobby was at the forefront of reducing crime in his patch in Pristhill and Nitshill. The award was accepted on behalf of his widow, Sharon, by PC Mark Allan-Smith.
Runners up were:- Mary Rocks who is a community learning worker with Glasgow Life in Pollokshaws and Christine Stewart a library supervisor at Pollok Library who has extended the joy of reading and learning through books to even more local people.
The Public Service Team Award was won by the Family Early Intervention Unit a partnership unit providing help to reduce domestic abuse and violent crime. Runners up were: – the Greater Pollok Older People and Physical Disability Team who support families to find the best solutions to individual needs and South West Bridging Service in Pollok which assists more than 400 people a year to move forward in education, training or work prospects.
Seniors Award went to Harry McColl who is Chair of Pollokshaws and Eastwood Community Council but also helped found the Pollokshaws Heritage Group. His current initiative is to have the names of soldiers killed in battle, reinstated on the local war memorial.
Runners up were: Brian Beacom who is chairman of the Levern District Community Council and a host of other bodies including the Scottish Health Council and Josephine Docherty who is chair of Newlands and Auldhouse Community Council among many other groups and has overcome cancer to continue her community work.
The Young Award, unusually, was a joint award to Reece Barrie who although only 11 is fighting a rare spinal condition and the Greater Pollok Young Carers project which recently produced a book about their lives as young carers.
All the winners from this evening and the others in all areas of Glasgow, will be invited to a Champion of Champions evening in Glasgow City Chambers in October.

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