Baths warriors have War Horse director opening offices

There will be a big splash of VIPs on Saturday 4 February 2012 at the opening of the first phase of Govanhill Baths in Calder Street.

War Horse director Peter Mullan, local MSP Nicola Sturgeon and City Councillor Archie Graham who is responsible for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, will all be there at the historic launch.

The formal opening of the front part of the building as offices is the first tangible sign that the Govanhill Baths Trust will be able to re-vamp the entire building into a Community Wellbeing Centre. And with Historic Scotland, this week, confirming their support with funding, the next phase of work can get under way.

Said Andrew Johnson who has led the fight to retain the Baths in community use: ‘There is a great sense of relief and of achievement that we’ve managed to get this far – there has been so much support and work from so many people over the years. The Govanhill community’s return to the baths is the result of 11 years of hard work and commitment by many people in Govanhill, the Trust and the Friends of Govanhill Baths.’

A complex cocktail of funding from a wide variety of sources, support in kind by sponsors NORD Architecture and trojan efforts by local supporters see the dream beginning to come true: the Baths will return to public use. As the motto of the Trust says: ‘United We Will Swim!’

The listed Edwardian building has three pools, sauna and Turkish suites and was a major community hub till it was closed dramatically by the City Council after a long sit-in by protesters more than ten years ago.

Saturday will see the formal opening of the front part of the building. This houses the Headquarters of the Trust and its Centre for Community Practice. The Centre provides a series of community based programmes including healthy eating (Govanhill Grub) Create (an Arts programme) and dedicated learning and leisure facilities for local people.

The proposals for the next stage include the reinstatement of the learners’ pool, the ladies’ pool, the sauna and Turkish suite and the installation of a cafe, an arts suite and a greenhouse garden. The Historic Scotland funding has to be matched and ownership of the building has to be transferred by Glasgow City Council to the Baths Trust.

Said Andrew Johnson: ‘The ownership is a condition of Big Lottery funding and we’re negotiating with the City in the hope that that

can be achieved.’

The pool is making waves in other directions too. In October the National Theatre of Scotland will take one of the pools over for a three-week production. The legacy from that is expected to be a refurbished pool. In November a massive UK Sports injury exhibition will be located at the Govanhill Baths.

Meanwhile the Baths Trust is looking for photographs and memories of events held in the pool in past times. Contact them via their website: www.govanhillbaths.com

 

Glasgow goes for Olympic gold to host 2018 games.

Glasgow is bidding to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The city declared its interest today to the British Olympic Association. That body has a deadline of 1 March to submit a bid for the UK to host those games and Glasgow is the only UK city to express interest.

Should the bid be made and should it win, around 3,600 young athletes aged between 15 and 18 would take part in 28 summer Olympic sports over 12 days of competition.

The first Youth Olympic Games was held in Singapore in 2010 and the first winter YOG Games was held in Innsbruck earlier this month.

From now until the deadline the British Olympic Association and the City’s representatives will work together to develop a submission. Ultimately, the International Olympic Committee will produce a short list of candidate cities in January next year. The winning host city will be announced in the summer of 2013.

The athletes will not only compete at the highest level of international youth sport, but will also take part in a Culture and Education Programme, which is a core element of the Youth Olympic Games.

Glasgow City Council Leader, Councillor Gordon Matheson, said: ‘Our submission for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games is a strong one; reinforcing our credentials as hosts of world-class sporting events and underlining our continuing determination to ensure Glasgow has an enduring legacy which will benefit the city for generations to come.’

The Dear Green Place will play host to some of the Olympic football events this summer when the Games are centred in London. And it hosts the Commonwealth Games in 2014 as well as the World Artistic Gymnastics the following year. All of this is alongside top international meetings and athletics and gymnastics events.

Said Councillor Matheson: ‘The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will soon show a global audience what we can do in terms of hosting one of the world’s biggest celebrations of sport. Winning the right to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games would be another outstanding achievement for the city.’

Fighting personalisation cuts

This meeting is open to workers, service users, families and campaigners affected by the issues around personalisation and self-directed support. While it will focus on what is happening in Glasgow, it is relevant beyond the confines of the city.

 

Personalisation Networking Meeting

 

UNISON / Defend Glasgow’s Services Campaign / Social Work Action Network are hosting a joint meeting to discuss the impact of personalisation on people who receive support in the community.

 

 This meeting comes at a key time as Glasgow plans a further £10 million in cuts to those with disabilities in its budget this month.

 

 

 

Tuesday 7 February 2012

 

10am

 

UNISON Glasgow branch office, 84 Bell Street, G1 1LQ

 

(Tel: 0141 552 7069)

Recent rain has brought a recurring nightmare to a tenant in Maryhill Housing Association property built less than two years ago.

Before Christmas, water brought down the ceiling in the stairwell of the building in Ruchill Street, G20. It also penetrated the bedroom of Debbie McKenna, a top flat tenant, and caused her to move into her living room to sleep.

It took weeks of determined effort from residents to get the Housing Association to remedy the problem.

But after the rain experienced this week, water would appear to be coming into Debbie’s bedroom again.

On discovering the new water marks on the freshly painted bedroom walls, a distraught Debbie said: ‘This is endless! The nightmare never seems to end.’

She had just moved her bed back into the bedroom after camping out in her living room for several weeks. ‘I don’t believe the problem has been fixed properly,’ said Debbie. She showed where large gaps existed in the masonry around her window frames. ‘That’s like a very wet sponge in there,’ said Debbie putting her fingers along the space.

The red brick, flat roofed property was constructed by Bellway for Maryhill Housing Association. Both have been asked for comments which will be put onto this website when they are received. 

Fear of the Unknown are out to win.

Dance group ‘Fear of the Unknown’ from Glasgow’s Southside is the only group from Scotland to get through to the UK semi-finals of the ‘Got to Dance’ programme on Sky 1 HD. From the initial 30,000 auditioned in Glasgow, London and Dublin, the Gorbals dancers are in the final 30.

From the Sunday 29 January the public can vote, week by week, on the best acts. The two winning groups from each week will then compete in the finals on March 4 when the champion team will walk away with a cool quarter of a million pounds and the crown of Got To Dance 2012.

Lorna Munn who is one of the senior dancers in ‘Fear of the Unknown’ at 24, said: ‘It was the biggest emotion when we were told we’d been selected and were the only ones from Scotland. I was so happy I wanted to cry.’

Based in Gorbals from Robert Hamilton School of Dance, the ‘Fear of the Unknown’ is an invited group of the School’s best dancers. He describes their ‘Got to Dance’ routine as: ‘Theatrical, technical, original.’

Said Mum Kim Carr, whose daughter Jay, aged 10, is one of the team: ‘We are all so very proud. It is really exciting and we’re keeping our fingers crossed ‘Fear of the Unknown’ will win. But everyone in Scotland needs to be voting for them on Sunday 5 February when they dance live on the programme.’

Not only do they rehearsal several nights of the week, they make all their own costumes which are stunning. See their audition performance: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DurvxAbSB-gQ&h=mAQH5012yAQEmPLHu-v8souU1sx9qLq-0rOkJLwSwgOicgw

And take a look at their Facebook fan page for updates – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fear-of-the-Unknown/269468063113061

In addition the dancers do a lot of charity work and have raised more than £200,000 for a variety of good causes. ‘We give up our school holidays and free time to dance at lots of these events,’ said Jay.

Commented her Mum Kim: ‘We are telling as many people as we can about ‘Fear of the Unknown,’ and hopefully Scotland will support us.’

 

 

Shawlands shows the way in Town Centre planning

Shawlands is a step closer to becoming a vibrant town centre, thanks to an Action Plan which was up for public scrutiny  on Monday 23 January.

After several in-depth surveys on different aspects of the area, Glasgow City’s Development and Regeneration Services drafted proposals to re-vitalise the neighbourhood of around 21,000 people.

For businesses, lack of free, convenient parking is a handicap along with a decline in consumer spend as people drive to more modern centres with better facilities, to shop. For local residents, the aim is to make the district the Heart of the Southside by balancing the needs of people, businesses, the sense of ‘place’ and sustainable living.

Said Tim Mitchell, senior Planning Officer with Glasgow City Council: ‘This has been a very productive and useful day. We’ve had a lot of input to get to this point and have confidence that the final version of the Action Plan can come from this within the next two or three months.’ Between 50 and 60 people visited the Action Plan exhibition in Langside Public hall and at least as many sent online comments which will all be considered for the final Plan. Individuals have till the end of January to submit their comments on the Action Plan.

David Dunlop of the Development and Regeneration Services of the City, who has been involved in developing the Action Plan and attended the day-long consultation said: ‘We are really delighted with the turnout. Many people have taken the time to share their thoughts on the draft proposals and ideas and some really interesting ideas have come forward.’ One was that people driving along Kilmarnock Road couldn’t get back into Shawlands because of lack of turning junctions. Pedestrians said there were not enough crossing points along Kilmarnock Road for them. Other thoughts were to turn the Arcade into an amusements centre or knock it down.

Said Norman MacLeod who has been selected to be a candidate for Glasgow City Council election on Thursday, said: ‘This exercise has been done in exactly the right way – community consultations first and from that a draft Action Plan which everyone can look at.’

Visitor Roger Guthrie who is a director of the Alexander Thomson Society, proposed that the Martin memorial Fountain which was recently re-located on Glasgow Green and had been removed from the front of the Langside Hall many years ago, should be brought back to Shawlands where it belongs.

John Dunn of AWG Property which owns the Shawlands Arcade,  attended  the consultation and read the many -mostly negative – comments on the site. ‘We are pretty open to what to do in the Arcade. If the concept is right we will support it. There have been quite a few sparks of interesting comments made on these draft plans.’ He said that a licencing application was due to be heard in February which, if granted, would fill one major unit. In addition, two new tenants had been signed up recently and should be opening soon.

A large representation from Shawlands and Strathbungo Community Council visited the consultation to see what had happened to many of their ideas and suggestions. ‘The whole consultation idea was sparked off four years ago when we held the first public meeting in Langside Halls to challenge local City Councillors about the needs of the area,’ said Andrew Montgomery from the Community Council. ‘From that came the Shawlands Town Centre Action Plan steering group which resulted in the publication of Glasgow City Council’s draft Town Centre Action Plan for Shawlands. The draft Plan was the focus of the consultation exercise and will be discussed at the next Community Council meeting at 7pm on Thursday 9 February in Shawlands Academy.’ Said Andrew: ‘We encourage everyone in the area – residents, business owners, people who work or shop in Shawalnds – to have their say.’ It is expected that local City Councillors and MSPs will attend.

 

Fresh investigation to start on Chhokar murder

The Crown Office has instructed Strathclyde Police to carry out a fresh investigation into the unsolved murder of Surjit Singh Chhokar in North Lanarkshire in 1998 following new ‘double jeopardy’ laws.

The waiter was stabbed to death outside his home in Overtown, Lanarkshire on 4 November 1998. No conviction was ever secured despite three men being charged in two separate trials.

Humza Yousaf, MSP for Glasgow who has championed the case, said: ‘I welcome this announcement. It is a big step in the fight for justice for Mr Chhokar and his family. I have no doubt that Strathclyde Police will work tirelessly on the investigation, however, we need members of the public to do their bit too. If you have any information you think may be useful, regardless of how insignificant it may seem, please contact Strathclyde Police who can deal with people on a confidential basis. For 13 years the Chhokar family has been searching for answers. Every time they have left disappointed and despondent. By opening up an investigation into the murder I am hopeful that justice for Surjit Singh Chhokar and his family is closer than it has ever been before.’

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, met with Mr Chhokar’s family on Thursday 26 January to inform them of the re-opening of the murder inquiry.

Solicitor Aamer Anwar, speaking on behalf of the Chhokar family, said afterwards that: ‘significant hurdles have still to be cross. But the family now believes there is a determination to fight for justice.’

The Solicitor General, Lesley Thomson said: ‘The prosecution service is committed to making use of the powers under the new double jeopardy legislation. The Scottish Parliament, in passing the Act, has clearly stated that the passage of time since an acquittal should be no protection for those for whom there is new and compelling evidence of guilt. We hope that our commitment to the new legislation will give reassurance to victims and their families.’ Other cases are under review for possible action under the new legislation which came into effect last November.

In an emotional press conference recently, Mr Chhokar’s sister, Manjit Sangha said all the family ever asked for was justice.

 

Chinese Burns Supper to entertain all nations

Wellington Church INTERNATIONAL WELCOME CLUB and CONGREGATION CHINESE BURNS NIGHT FRIDAY 27 JANUARY 2012 7pm for 7.30pm Enjoy a unique evening of Burns poetry and song with Chinese counterparts in this Year of the Dragon. Meal includes haggis-filled Chinese dumplings! And vegetarian options, of course WELLINGTON CHURCH HALLS 77 Southpark Avenue, Glasgow G12 8LE £3 ticket at the door: £6 family ticket  (only a few left so be on time at 7pm!)

Protest at City Budget cuts

DEFEND GLASGOW SERVICES CAMPAIGN

LOBBY OF COUNCIL BUDGET MEETING

THURSDAY 9 FEB, 12.30PM

CITY CHAMBERS, GEORGE SQUARE

On Thursday 9 February 2012, Glasgow’s Councillors intend to vote through another £43M in budget cuts. This is on top of the £100M+ cut in the last two years which has already led to huge cuts in services and the loss of thousands of jobs in the council, charities, voluntary organisations, contractors, etc in our city.

 Services to our most vulnerable citizens are in the firing line once again with another £10M to be cut from services to the disabled.

 The citizens of Glasgow should not be asked to pay for the mistakes of bankers. Glasgow’s Councillors should oppose all cuts by setting a “needs budget” that protects services while organising a community and trade union campaign to win more money from the Scottish and UK Governments.

 Get to the Lobby – No cuts in services!

 The UNISON Glasgow City Branch co-ordinates the work of the DGS campaign.

Tel: 0141 552 7069 and Facebook/defendglasgowservices

Club enjoys Burns’ lunch

The House for an Art Lover’s music room was full when Glasgow South Business Club President, Remo Pisaneschi welcomed members and guests to their annual Burns lunch on Tuesday 24 January.

Govan High School music students entertained the crowd as people assembled and their Heidie, Iain White, piped in the haggis. Club member, journalist Grace Franklin, gave her usual flamboyant performance of Burns’ Address to the Haggis. The toast to the Immortal Memory of the Bard was given in humorous fashion by Alan Murray who is modest about his knowledge of the poet. In the course of his illuminating and witty speech, he sang one of Burns’ songs and recited verses from several poems. An effective tour de force that was as entertaining as it was enlightening. Alan is a Govanite by birth and early education. He currently runs a new styled, multi uses, community centre in Maybole, Ayrshire.

Honorary Life Member, Frank Bendoris, thanked all the contributors. The Club, which meets monthly, has important guests signed up for future meetings, including Brian Souter and First Minister Alex Salmond. Full information from the Club’s website: www.glasgowsouthbusiness club.co.uk

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