Govanhill is a good place to start. As this weekly ENEWS LETTER goes out to more than 1000 subscribers (email us to receive it – free!) that community is preparing for the official opening of their new offices and meeting space INSIDE the Govanhill Baths.  Just over ten years ago the Baths were shut dramatically by Glasgow City Council after they evicted some sit-in protesters.  Immediately, local people took to the streets in anger. Police horses were used to quell the raging crowd. Steel shutters went up on the building and it was left in limbo with many groups of folk left bereft of the community meeting place, healthy exercise and water therapy.

Since then, with love at the heart of it all, local people have found a new way to bring the baths back into use. They have devised a plan to make it a Health and Well-being Centre – using all three swimming pools. The plan has attracted funding from a variety of sources and it has even got the genuine support of Glasgow City Council. Love can conquer all!

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has sent his personal thanks to each mosque which answered the call to action and contributed to the Pakistan Recovery Fund (PRF) and they will be presented with a limited edition medal produced by the Queen’s own mint makers. The Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP will host the ceremony in the House of Commons on Wednesday 8 February and the medals will be presented by HRH’s senior representative and Chairman of the PRF, Mr John O’Brien.

MP Khan is the first cabinet member of Pakistani descent. He said: ‘The work done by the Pakistan Recovery Fund has been quite simply incredible. I travelled to some of the flood-affected areas and met dozens of victims who had lost friends, family members and their livelihoods. I am extremely proud of the hope the British public gave to thousands of people through such generous donations. Many people feared that the tough economic climate would limit the amount donated to the Pakistan Recovery Fund, but we saw just the opposite – despite the difficult times the British public faces at home, they haven’t lost their sense of humanity.’

The fund was convened by the British Asian Trust which is one of Prince’s charities. It has been operating with local partners in the Punjab and the Sindh regions to provide homes, education, health support and livelihoods to those who lost all. Westminster MP Anas Sarwar who was elected for Glasgow Central seat and followed in the footsteps of his father Mohammad Sarwar who was the first Muslim MP at Westminster said: ‘As a member of the House of Commons International Development Committee, I saw the devastating effect the floods had. In the weeks and months that followed, I also saw the tremendous generosity of the British people – especially those from the British Pakistani and British Muslim communities. They worked tirelessly to raise funds and send emergency supplies to help the victims of the floods. The Pakistan Recovery Fund is a fantastic initiative led by HRH to support the people of Pakistan after the greatest natural disaster ever to have hit that country.It is a huge honour and privilege for the organisations and the individuals involved – including Madrasa Taleem ul Islam from my own constituency – to have their efforts recognised in this way.’

A spokesman for Madrasa Taleem ul Islam said: We had collected some donations before this appeal but decided to make another appeal to join the efforts of HRH. We may not feel the heat of hunger or homelessness in the UK, but the flood in Pakistan was devastating. We thought we had to try again to collect a little more. So we made another request to worshippers. We are sure that even this little help will make a big difference to the people affected by the flood. We are committed to providing support to people in natural disasters and always stand with other people when needed.’

Ford has selected 12 leading UK universities to award 100 students scholarships worth a total of £1 million starting in the 2012 academic year.

The aim is to encourage the next generation of engineers, scientists and innovators to make careers in British industry.

Said Joe Greenwell, Ford of Britain chairman: ‘Ford is encouraging students to choose courses which deliver the highest quality science and technology skills which are fundamental to our future industrial base. This programme will help rebalance the UK economy and ensure long term economic success.’

Each Ford Blue Oval Scholarship will provide £10,000 per student over a three-year period on courses ranging from science to automotive engineering and computer technology.

Professor Jim McDonald, Principal of Strathclyde University said: ‘Strathclyde has a long and successful track record of working side-by-side with business to develop ‘industry ready’ engineers, scientists and innovators of tomorrow. We’re delighted Ford has chosen to invest in our talented students who will go on to support industry and fuel its future economic growth.’

At Strathclyde, the scholarships will be open to students in the University’s Faculty of Engineering – the largest in Scotland. It is renowned internationally for research and for strong links with industry.

More info: http://www.strath.ac.uk/engineering/scholarships/fordblueovalscholarshipprogramme/

Pupils from Beaconhurst School in Bridge of Allan run for LEAD 2014: Christie Malcolm (15) Millie Dillon (7) Anand Cheema (15) and Gregor Rodger (9) photo by Bill Fleming

Sports festivals could be developed in local communities to promote involvement in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. Keen young athletes will lead the way to create this interest with support from the LEAD 2014 Campaign. The campaign is a youth leadership and volunteer mentoring programme aimed at university students and high school pupils across Scotland as part of the Games build-up.

Triathlete Grant Sheldon and swimmer Cameron Brodie – who are working towards competing in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games – were among the top young sports people who launched LEAD 2014 at Stirling University on Friday 3 February. The campaign will hone and develop leadership skills among the young generations. This could include LEAD 2014 protegees helping run sports events in their own communities. Organised by sportscotland, the Youth Sport Trust and Glasgow 2014, LEAD 2014 the main idea is to inspire a real interest in the Games and support for them so that volunteers will come forward at the right time and young people will be enthused to take part in sports.

Saturday 4th February

Buchanan Street/Gordon Street

12 noon assemble

Rally and Speakers around 12.30 pm

Following a number of attacks on labour movement stalls in Glasgow over the last few weeks, Unite Against Fascism is organising this rally in Glasgow.

We believe that these attacks are part of a fascist strategy to widen the targets of their violence in an attempt to indimidate people off the streets. We cannot allow this to happen.

We are inviting organisations to bring banners and provide a speaker to join a short rally near the spots where the attacks took place.

Unite Against Fascism
www.uaf.org.uk

Open mic

RALLY

People against the Bankers

outside RBS Gordon Street,

Glasgow

11am

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Have your say. All welcome.

Info from: 07948010959

Supporter John McCann shows off the Baths during Doors Open day last year.

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

Open Doors day guide showed hundreds of people around Govanhill Baths.

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

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.’

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)

Debby shows the width of the new damp patch which reaches almost from ceiling to floor.

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.