The ties that bind an Alliance
April 14, 2013 by Grace Franklin · Leave a Comment
SUNDAY 14 April 2013
Tomorrow, more than 100 kinship carers and VIP supporters will meet in Glasgow City Chambers to launch a Scottish Kinship Care Alliance.
They will campaign for the rights of the children – often their own grandchildren – in their care.
Chair of the Alliance and a Kinship Carer from Dumbarton, Anne Swartz, says: “We are sick of seeing the children in our care suffer because of the lack of basic support from local authorities. Kinship children are routinely written off and discriminated against while foster placements have access to a wide range of support and services. Enough is enough. We have come together to put a stop to this institutionalised discrimination and to fight for the rights of our children.”
She adds that large charities had been tasked with representing and supporting Kinship Carers. “We do not feel that these agencies represent us. We want direct access to policy makers and politicians. We are the experts with the best knowledge of the issue and it’s solutions. From now on, we should be the first port of call on Kinship Care for all service managers and policy makers.”
According to Buttle UK – a leading children’s grant-giving charity – as many as one child in every 77 in the UK was being brought up by grandparents or other relatives in 2001. The charity considers that figure is higher today and in Scotland currently estimates one child in 71 is cared for by relatives who are not their birth parents.
At the Alliance launch, Buttle UK will deliver their most recent study of the true cost of Kinship Care in advance of publishing it in London. It will reveal the correlation between Kinship Care and poverty as well as give up-to-date figures and details of the impact on the caring relatives.
The move will coincide with negotiations on the new Children and Young People’s Bill later this month. The Alliance proposes a number of changes to Kinship Care provisions and will press to have them taken into full consideration.
The launch will be attended by a range of MPs, MSPs, Councillors and civil servants as well as heads of Social Work, Police, Scotland’s Human Rights Commission and the Children’s Commissioner.
Thousands say ‘Axe the bedroom tax.’
March 31, 2013 by Grace Franklin · Leave a Comment
Wheel chair and mobility carts headed the march from Glasgow Green.
The biggest protest rally Glasgow has seen in years had more than 3000 people marching from Glasgow Green to George Square, united in their opposition to the bedroom tax.
Seasoned campaigners, families with their children and baby buggies, trade unionists, people in a wide variety of mobility carts and folk walking their dogs, took more than an hour to wend their way to the city centre. Many of them shouting: ‘Axe the tax.’
Facing the City Chambers, a series of speakers explained why their campaign was part of a wide strategy to protect the most vulnerable in the community.
Labour MP Ann McKechin, MSP Frank McAveety and Glasgow City Councillor George Redmond were among the group who marched. Arriving in George Square, Westminster MP Ann McKechin said to this website’s reporter: ‘I’m not surprised at this turnout. People are shocked by the scale of this unfair and unjust tax. The Westminster government doesn’t understand the full impact it will have.’
But Labour politicians were castigated by different speakers. Said one: ‘They might have marched near the front but it is inconsistent with what they are doing to the families they are victimising in the learning disability community in Glasgow. Glasgow City Council has these families on its hit list by closing three of the seven day centres they use.’
Campaigners against the closure of Glasgow's day centres were out in force.
Another speaker put it more bluntly: ‘Glasgow City Council should be ashamed of themselves. They have influence and power. They should tell all Housing Associations in Glasgow and Glasgow Housing Association that there must be NO EVICTIONS in the city. We need to know who’s side they are on.’
The same speaker highlighted the £100 billion cost of the Trident refit and warheads for Faslane nuclear base. She urged people to support a March on Easter Monday from Glasgow to Faslane which they intended to shut down for the day. ‘All these things are connected. They say there is no money, so attack the poor. But they can spend billions on weapons which can wipe out half of humanity. If we stand together we have the power, strength and determination to stop evictions and end this bedroom tax policy.’
Alan Wyllie of the West of Scotland Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation summed it up for most of the speakers: ‘I’m an ordinary guy and don’t see this as a political fight. I ask what is right and what is wrong? I believe it is wrong that the most vulnerable people are the hardest hit. It is wrong that fuel and food costs are rising while wages and benefits are going down. It is wrong to have this tax on bedrooms when millionaires are having their taxes cut. We are all in this together and must stop evictions. I urge Labour and SNP to protect all Scots. It is your duty!’
He said he’d read all the 2010 election manifestos. ‘There was no mention of the bedroom tax. The Westminster government has no mandate for this,’ he claimed to loud applause from the crowd. ‘We didn’t ask for this. We don’t want it. But the Government is attacking the most vulnerable in our communities. Mark my words: We will unite and we will win.’
He led the way for many different groups to work together against the bedroom tax, by launching a Facebook campaign several months ago.
More than 3000 people were estimated to have marched against the bedroom tax.
Speaker John McFarlane said the first round of the battle had been won by Dundee City Council declaring there would be no evictions in their city as a result of the tax. ‘Every council should do the same. MPs and MSPs are supposed to represent us but we have to ask – do they stand for us or do they stand for the Tory bankers? If they do we must remove them!’
Black Triangle speaker David Churchley said: ‘This bedroom tax is unworkable and unmanageable. It’s better for us to get off our knees and fight than not to fight at all.’ Calling for a 24 hour strike he added: ‘It is up to us to keep what has been ours for 100 years. We didn’t cause this crisis but we’re being made to pay for it.’
Daniel McGarrall from the Glasgow against ATOS campaign said that 73 people die each week after being found fit to work by ATOS. He invited listeners to join the demonstrations on the last Friday of each month outside ATOS offices and the Commonwealth Games offices because ATOS is a sponsor of the Glasgow 2014 Games.
He outlined how he and another campaigner face a court trial for campaigning. ‘We are defending the right to protest. And we will not be beaten.’
A spokesman from Govan Law Centre said that the bedroom tax was bringing misery to 100,000 people in Scotland. ‘Around 80% of those affected are disabled. It is wrong that the Government is targetting the most vulnerable people,’ he said, voicing his support to axe the tax and for no evictions.
Mary Lockhart reminded people of the Govan women who fought against the rent increases in 1919 when their menfolk were fighting in the war. ‘They fought the landlords so that their children wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor. They took a stand, got the shipyard workers on their side and said: ‘I will stand by you, if you will stand by me.’ Everyone today needs to be ready to protest and take action and stand by each other.’
As the marchers assembled at Glasgow Green, David Churchley was proudly holding the leading banner with his one good hand – the other being unusable because of a stroke. He said: ‘ I’m on the march because of this appalling, vicious vindictive bedroom tax. If you thought Thatcher’s poll tax was bad; Cameron’s is worse.’ A former IT worker, he has been unable to work since his stroke. He added: ‘My benefit will be reduced by £12 a week. I use my spare room for equipment like my treadmill so that I can do the exercises that keep me reasonably fit.’
Said worker Michael Collins with son Finn (8): ‘We work and pay our taxes so that people can get help when they need it. We don’t want our money to be given to bankers.’
Said student Jennifer Dornan: ‘We must fight to oppose the injustice of the bedroom tax and convince people to do something about it. This attack is on the most vulnerable. We should be gunning for the people in government who can afford it.’
Paul McLaughlin of Glasgow West GAP which has been providing welfare support and advice for 13 years, said: ‘We have to show our real anger and opposition to these charges. People of good conscience can’t let this happen. Everyone must stand up and be counted because individuals are being isolated and made scapegoats. We’ve got to waken people up to the need to organise.’ The advice centre is now located at Kinning Park Complex, 43 Cornwall Street, near Kinning Park underground.
Frank Doyle of Glasgow Against Atos said: ‘This is an unjust society. The bankers get off but there is an assault on the most vulnerable.’
A 23-year-old banner last used in protest against the poll tax, was dusted down and on display by Dundee Fintry fighters.
The Fintery fighters recycled their old banner.
Said Albert Mitchell: ‘I’ve got a two bedroom house. My benefit of £141 will be reduced by £41 a fortnight. By the time I pay things like my gas and electricity I’m left with £10 a week to live on.’ Colleague Michael MacGregor, who brought the banner out of his cupboard, said: ‘We have the same threat of evictions and bailiffs now as we had in the days of the poll tax.’
Another marcher, called Sarah, of the West of Scotland Anti-bedroom Tax Federation said: ‘There are an awful lot of people worried about the consequences of this terrible tax. A separated couple with joint custody and where the woman receives the child benefit, will find that the man will be penalised for having a bedroom for his own child.’
Fighter Margaret Jaconelli, who was evicted from her East End property because it was in the way of Commonwealth Games development and who wouldn’t accept £30,000 compensation for her home of more than 20 years, was also on the march. ‘This bedroom tax will mean that people will be evicted – just like me. I’m still fighting for justice two years on and haven’t received one penny of compensation.’
Mum Sharon with her two-year-old, was protesting on behalf of a friend who also has a two-year-old. ‘My friend has the wee one and a 14 year old. The two children will have to share one bedroom. Their dad, who is in a new relationship, will have to move into a one bedroom place from his present two bedroom house. He’ll need to sleep on the sofa when his kids come to stay. But where is his new partner expected to sleep? Families aren’t static today and there is no thought given to that.’
Lots more campaigns to march for too.
Another woman in the crowd told this website’s reporter: ‘I’m not paying the bedroom tax. I’ll put the money by and hope that stops them evicting me. But I’m not paying it.’
Supporters were urged to turn out ‘in your hundreds’ at every local council chambers and Housing Association headquarters on Wednesday 10 April. ‘Give them holy hell,’ said the speaker. ‘Tell them in no uncertain terms we say ‘Axe the bedroom Tax’ and ‘NO’ to evictions.’
- Seasoned campaigners included former MP Marie Fyfe (centre)
Picture the welcome to Glasgow
March 7, 2013 by Grace Franklin · Leave a Comment
Thursday 7 March 2013
Winning photographs of Glasgow were unveiled at Glasgow Airport this week.
The twenty amateur photographers took up a challenge from Glasgow Doors Open Day last year to produce images of the city’s landmark buildings.
The competition winners were: 1st – Surjit Paul for his ‘Geometric Impression’ of the Riverside Museum. 2Nd – Bobby Borland’s ‘Take a Seat’ at Glasgow University. 3Rd – Chris Bonnington for an interior shot of Glasgow City Chambers. 4Th – Bill Crookston for an ‘Unusual view of the front of the Sir Norman Foster & Partners’ Clyde Auditorium.’ Some of them are pictured at the unveiling (above) at Glasgow Airport.
Run in conjunction with the Creative Mackintosh Festival, the competition attracted 150 entries from members of the public. The final 20 photographs will now highlight Glasgow for visitors arriving at the airport.
Said Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau: ‘These wonderful images capture the breadth and wonder of our city’s architecture. They offer a fitting welcome to Scotland’s most stylish city and greatly complement the friendly welcome, for which we are world-renowned. When visitors step off the plane and witness this photography display, they will instantly know they have arrived somewhere special.’
Steven Marshall, Marketing Manager at Glasgow Airport said: ‘We are very pleased to have such high quality images showcasing the city’s leading attractions to welcome international visitors and those returning home.’
Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, which runs Doors Open Day and Glasgow Mackintosh Group which promotes the work of architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh will continue to collaborate to promote the city. Glasgow’s Doors Open Day will take place on 21 and 22 September this year.
All the photographs can be seen on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.294938167278305.56740.238112722960850&type=3
More protests on asylum seekers’ evictions
May 17, 2012 by Grace Franklin · Leave a Comment
A sizeable crowd protested outside Glasgow City Chambers today (Thursday 17 May) at the eviction of asylum seekers from their homes in the city, leaving them to sleep on the streets.
Councillors from all parties spoke out, just before they attended the first full Council meeting of the new administration.
The crowd listened intently to many speakers who all said it was unacceptable that asylum seekers should be made homeless .
One of at least six people left destitute is Ako from Kurdistan. He explained how he returned to his accommodation provided by Ypeople, to find the lock had been changed without any warning. ‘This was a most stressful and dangerous situation for me,’ said the human rights activist and journalist. ‘I can never forget this. It has destroyed me. It is important to press the system and the government because this should not happen again.’ He says he was lucky and got to sleep in a church hall which is being used as a temporary night shelter for destitute asylum seekers.
A few days later, after long negotiations with Ypeople, he was given a key to the new lock and allowed back into the flat where all his possessions were. Others are not so lucky and still wait for their personal things to be returned to them.
Margaret Wood of the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees said: ‘Some of the most vulnerable should be eligible for help from the Social Work Department. It is indecent this is happening at all,’ she said. ‘We will continue to fight.’
A massive demonstration had been planned for Saturday 9 June but will be postponed as that is the day the Olympic torch is due to go through Glasgow. Said Margaret: ‘That is not a disaster. It gives us time to build and have a nationwide demonstration.’ She added: ‘We should be asking the serious question – is this the kind of society we want in Scotland? Do we want to provide a safe haven for people who have had to flee terrible treatment in their own country or do we want them to be treated like rubbish and dumped on the street? This has been a most disgraceful episode but we will fight on alongside the trade unions and the inspiring destitute asylum seekers themselves. We have to win for this society will not be worth living in until we do.’
Protesters target Maryhill Burgh Halls opening
April 27, 2012 by Grace Franklin · Leave a Comment
In true Maryhill style, the official opening of the £9.6 million revamped Maryhill Burgh Halls, attracted protesters.
The Lord Provost stood in solidarity with the Kinship Carers before he went in to the official opening of the Maryhill Burgh Halls.
A crowd of local schoolboys, complete with bikes and skateboards, marched into the invitation only evening on Thursday 26 April. And the VIPs arriving had to walk past an array of banners held by determined grannies demanding justice for Kinship Carers.
They, and the official guests, were serenaded in proper Scottish style, by professional piper Chris Waite at the door. He was one of the Jim Jam Ceilidh Band musicians who entertained, later, inside.
The boys with bikes boldly go where the VIPs went.
The boys told this website reporter earnestly:’We should be allowed in,’ said Rhys McNally (14). ‘It’s discrimination that we are not.’ His pal Mitchell McGowan Ross (13) added: ‘We’re normal people. We deserve the right to go in. The place should be open to the whole public.’ They were politely, but firmly, shown the door by courteous door stewards and trundled back outside.
Choosing to remain outside with their placards and banners were the Kinship Carers. All local women who look after children – usually their own grandchildren – when the parents cannot; they had lobbied earlier in the day outside Glasgow City Chambers. ‘If we fostered a stranger’s child we’d get £300 a week to look after them. Because the children are family, we get £50 a week and none of the important psychological help,’ explained Liz Lynch. In a campaign co-ordinated across Scotland, Kinship Carers met candidates of all parties to demand they sign up for the Kinship Carers’ national manifesto.
It asks for pledges from incoming councillors to:- end the postcode lottery across Scotland for Kinship Care support to ensure that every child had a fair and equal chance.
To:- create a one-stop shop approach to the necessary financial, health, psychological, educational and social work support. ‘Getting any one of these can be a huge struggle for Kinship Carers,’ said supporter Miriam Rose of the Poverty Truth Commission.
To:- recognise the hard job Kinship Carers do and how well they do it and to support them with respite and legal advice among other issues.
Would be councillors were also called on to work with the Kinship Carers when making policy so that funds are used wisely to benefit the children.
On arrival, Lord Provost Bob Winter stood and chatted with them while he put on his chain of office and was happy to pose with them. ‘I saw them earlier today at the City Chambers and support them,’ he said.
The date of 26 April was chosen for the re-opening of the Maryhill Burgh Halls because it was on that date 134 years ago they were originally opened. Already major events have been held in the beautifully re-furbished suites of rooms which include a business centre, a nursery, a cafe a recording studio and exhibition and halls space. Performing the opening this time, was Culture Secretary MSP Fiona Hyslop.
Pride of place in the Halls are original stained glass windows which – uniquely – depict workers in Maryhill in those far off days. They show men working with wood and metal and women working with dyes. Descendants of glass artists Joseph Miller and of the Provost of Maryhill in 1878, were also present at the 2012 opening.
The beauties of the windows and the well-thought-out interior will be available for the public to enjoy on Saturday 28 April from 10am till 4pm. There will be free tours of the buildings, talks, entertainment and samples of what activities will be available, regularly, in the Maryhill Burgh Halls. The boys will be back! And the Kinship Carers might even bring their children too.
Banned for life for listening to the budget debate
February 10, 2012 by Grace Franklin · 1 Comment
Grace Harrington believes she has been banned for life from Glasgow City Chambers.
While the drama on the floor of the City Chambers was going on, one member of the public in the packed and very small public gallery, claims she was huckled out of the building and told she was banned for life.
Grace Harrington along with other parents whose adult children use the Accord Centre in the East End, was attending Glasgow City Council’s budget meeting on Thursday to hear if the budget included any hope for a new centre for them.
The last time she sat in the public gallery she was driven to shouting down to the Councillors below. ‘They were telling a pack of lies,’ she later told this website.
And because she had been removed from the public gallery on that previous occasion, she believes she was targeted on Thursday. ‘I was doing nothing but listening. Then the attendant came over and said I was disrupting the meeting,’ said a stunned Grace. ‘He also told me I was not a model citizen and would never be allowed back in the City Chambers again.’
The Accord Centre users are adults with special needs such as Downs Syndrome, autism and other complex conditions. In Dalmarnock, the Accord centre is scheduled to be demolished to make way for a bus park for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. This week the first person has been told the centre will be closed, finally, on Friday 24 February.
This will leave more than 50 families and their adult children without a day centre to attend. Following a visit by First Minister Alex Salmond, last May, the centre was stripped of all the facilities that had been provided to make it a useful and appealing place for people to use.
‘Now we’re being told that we’ll need to go to the Banbury community centre where a room has been hired and a fire exit has been made into a door with a ramp.’ said another parent. ‘That’s all we’re getting and it’s ‘take it or leave it’ as far as Glasgow City Council is concerned.’
The Accord families had high hopes that accommodation would be provided for their special needs within the plans of the Tollcross Acquatic Centre which is being improved for the Commonwealth Games. ‘We’re still waiting to hear what a feasibility study has suggested,’ said Grace. ‘We’ve always believed we were promised a ‘like for like’ building and centre but we’re still waiting and hoping.’
City budget in the balance
February 9, 2012 by Grace Franklin · Leave a Comment
The City debating chamber before the historic vote winning the Labour administration's budget by only two votes.
Thursday 9 February
The Labour administration in Glasgow City Chambers was nearly paid-off today when its budget scraped through by only two votes. Till recently, the Labour group had a comfortable majority of 15.
A stout defence of the Party’s record by the group Leader Councillor Gordon Matheson may have swayed the day. And bringing in sick Labour Councillors by taxi to increase the vote, was also effective. But opposition Councillors said the narrow win illustrated Matheson had lost the confidence of his colleagues and that he should resign.
Combined opposition parties of SNP, Scottish Lib Dems, Scottish Green Party, Independent Councillors and the solitary Conservative Party Councillor on the City Council presented their alternative budget. This included improving Council tax collection by 1.5% to bring in £1,250,000; capital expenditure of £58 million on education and roads and lighting infrastructure and a 10% reduction in parks maintenance budget saving £1,270,000
Rebel Labour councillors who defected on the eve of the vote included Southside Central Councillor Anne Marie Millar who said: ‘I’d been thinking of resigning for some time. Then at a meeting recently an item was removed from the agenda and I was told it would be discussed later among the others. I was made to feel like a second class citizen – isolated – and that I didn’t belong.’ At the end of the dramatic meeting, she freely told reporters that she had felt intimidated when another Labour Councillor was asking her to re-consider her decision in order to gain her vote for today’s vital budget meeting. ‘I asked him to give me a good reason why I should do that. He then talked about one of the programmes to get people into work and commented that my son had gone through that and was now working for City Building, where, incidently, that Councillor was on the Board. I stopped him there and asked him ‘Is my son being threatened with losing his job? I felt intimidated.’
Govan Councillor for 17 years, Stephen Dornan, formally resigned from the Labour Party a few days earlier. ‘I will always be a supporter of the labour movement,’ he said. ‘It is in my blood.’ But his reason for bowing out was that the Labour Party had not given his Govan branch their proper democratic right to select their own candidate for the May election. Despite an appeal, he was de-selected so he chose to vote against the Labour Administration’s budget. After the vote he said: ‘It is a sad day.’
Question marks were put against eight or nine Labour Councillors in advance of the budget debate. But Councillors Anne Marie Millar and Stephen Dornan were the only two who said openly what they had decided.
The SNP Business Manager, Councillor Graeme Hendry of Garscadden/Scotstounhill who helped co-ordinate the combined opposition parties’ budget said after the dramatic vote: ‘It was a great result for us. Labour got their budget through by the skin of their teeth. A week ago they had a huge majority. It shows that their Leader does not command the confidence of his own group.’ He added: ‘I’m really pleased with the outcome. The combined opposition groups worked well together. It shows what is possible.’
On exiting from the Council Chamber immediately after the historic two vote win for the Labour budget, Labour Group Leader Gordon Matheson said: ‘I’m thrilled. This is a dramatic win for Labour’s record, vision and policies. This has helped our renewal and healing.’ During his winding up speech at the end of the debate he accused the opposition parties of ‘exploiting the divisions within the Labour group in a calculated and shoddy way.’ He stridently proclaimed: ‘We stand
Councillors Stephen Dornan and Anne Marie Millar have quit the city's Labour group.
n our record.’
The City’s budget for the next financial year invests in jobs for young people, education, dealing with potholes and tackling dog fouling and litter.
Measures approved include an additional £2m to tackle youth unemployment and provide a new Glasgow Guarantee for all 16-24 year olds; £12m for road repairs; £200,000 for new Youth Enterprise Zones, and £0.71m for more enforcement officers to tackling littering and dog fouling.
Councillors also approved £0.5m to fund a 25% increase in Kinship Care payments, £0.8m for outdoor school play equipment and attainment initiatives, and £300,000 for new community bus routes.
The extra £2m to tackle youth unemployment will be allocated to the existing Commonwealth Jobs Fund to extend it to 16 and 17-year-olds. It will provide employers with a 50% wage subsidy and would also include targeted training support for under-18s.
Training would range from basic literacy and numeracy to more complex support and could include other transferable skills for young people, such as driving lessons.
The new £25m Glasgow Guarantee will include a guaranteed apprenticeship for all school leavers who qualify; £6m for employers who will receive a 50% wage subsidy for each unemployed 18-24 year old they recruit; £10m for employers as a 50% wage subsidy for each unemployed graduate they recruit.
Councillor Matheson added: ‘This is the fourth budget we have set in the shadow of a global economic crisis – and in a term that has seen £210m removed from our budgets. With the proportion of our revenues controlled by government rising and our funding falling harder and faster than the national average, we have had to struggle to protect front line services.
‘We have had to be bold, we have had to be innovative and we have only succeeded because years of effective and prudent stewardship have put Glasgow in the best possible shape to meet these challenges. This year alone, we need to bridge a funding gap of £42.9m. Despite, that, we remain committed to our key priorities, which we share with the people of this city – education, jobs and targeted support for our most vulnerable citizens. We are determined to build on the success we have had over the last five years; for the benefit of every community and every Glaswegian.’
Glasgow City Council has now approved measures to save a total of £42.9m in 2012/13. The majority of these savings – £34.9m – were approved a year ago. On Thursday councillors approved a further £8m in savings for 2012/13.
A rare chance for chefs of the future
November 4, 2010 by localnews · Leave a Comment
Pupils from Cleveden Secondary, on Wednesday 3 November, kicked of a month of culinary excellence as they planned, cooked and served a lunch to an illustrious guest list, including Michelin Star Chef Andrew Fairlie, at the West End’s Hotel Du Vin.
Throughout November, 11 lunches, created by 140 Glaswegian pupils studying hospitality at secondary schools, will be served to celebrate the 15th year of Glasgow’s Culinary Excellence Programme. This programme gives secondary pupils the chance to gain practical experience of the catering industry, offering 12 half-day shifts in 11 hotels and restaurants across the city.
These restaurants and hotels will be the venue where the hospitality students can show 200 illustrious guest the skills they’ve learned.
For students at Cleveden Secondary, the stakes could not have been higher- cooking for and serving Andrew Fairlie, one of Scotland’s top chefs and owner of a renowned Michelin Star restaraunt in Gleneagles.
As he took his place in Hotle Du Vin’s ornate Bistro, Andrew said: ‘It is so important to invest in our young talent to enable Scottish hospitality to compete on a world-wide scale. The impressive dining experience planned today shows that these kids have learnt a great deal through the programme.’
Michelin Star chef Andrew Fairlie has a peak as pupils from Cleveden put the finishing touches to their culinary creations
Also in luck to be on a guest list is Bailie Jean McFadden, the Council’s Executive Member for Education. Said Jean: ‘I congratulate everyone involved in this year’s programme, and very much look forward to sampling the results of all their hard work.’
The chefs will not be able to hang their aprons for long come the end of November. In December pupils form the programme will again be cooking and serving lunches, this time for Senior Citizens, to be held in Glasgow City Chambers.
Just the baby trinket!
October 28, 2010 by localnews · Leave a Comment
Baby Lucy met the Lord Provost in his office in anticipation of the council's Babies First Christmas event!
It’s that time of year again. Glasgow City Chambers Lord Provost Bob Winter personally welcomed baby Lucy Lambert in to his office in anticipation of her first Christmas and the up and coming Babies First Christmas event ran by the council.
The event has ran since 2005 and has proved a delight for parents and babys alike. On Saturday December 4, the Lord Provost will personally welcome 250 new born babies into the City Chambers banqueting hall. There they will register for the Babies First Christmas event and receive from the Lord Provost a certificate and a silver coloured Christmas tree trinket.
All in all 1000 newborn babies will register for their first Christmas. Those babies not invited will be asked to register at the St Enoch Centre- the shopping centre are the proud sponsor of this heart stirring event.
The Lord Provost was delighted to meet little Lucy Lambert and mum Laura on Wednesday 27 October, in anticipation of the big day. Said Lord Provost: A particular highlight for new mums and dads is the celebrations of the baby’s first Christmas. It’s a wonderful time of year for us all and I’m delighted to be able to offer this exclusive event for all families introducing their baby to their first Christmas.’
Is your baby about to have it’s first wonderful Christmas? Call 0141 287 5064 to register or visit www.glasgow.gov.uk/parks
Centenary glitz for Govan High Oscars night
October 8, 2010 by localnews · Leave a Comment
A showbiz styled centenary Oscars at Govan High School had it all – posh frocks and dinner suits, VIPs, excitement, red carpet and music all the way. Guest speakers were none other than First Minister Alex Salmond and songwriter Bill Martin who coached students to devise a new school song. Written by Tiree McDonald, Jennifer Baird, Jamie Lee Mckenzie and Shannon Foley, it was sung with gusto, by the Govan High Vocal Group. The theme echoed the school motto: ‘nothing without work’ and says: ‘we believe in working hard.’
In the school’s 100th year, ‘Headie’ Iain White was ushered in to the tune ‘I did it my way’ which was reflected in his comprehensive report. He said it had been a great year with centenary highlights including former pupil Sir Alex Ferguson coming to give a motivational talk to the school; a civic dinner hosted by the Lord Provost in Glasgow City Chambers; the Enterprise through Music first commercial CD being parachuted into the sports ground; double the anticipated number of 1949-1950 pupils turning up for a reunio; a ‘fantastic’ sports day now firmly re-established on the school calendar; Bill Martin, a former pupil who is renowned in the music world for songwriting which has won him three Ivor Novello awards, helping devise the new school song; a former pupils’ night held last month attracting 270 people and a major finale event scheduled for December.
A full account of the night will be put onto the LOCAL NEWS GLASGOW website asap.
Caption:
Head Teacher Iain White pictured with guest speaker, Alex Salmond, First Minister and school Dux and Dysart Trophy and Whitelaw Prize recipient: Leigh Probert.
