Alison does what Pele says

Sports journalist Alison Walker is learning Portuguese – because the famous Pele told her to! This was one of the many things she revealed to around 100 Glasgow Business Club members at their lunch meeting today in Firhill Stadium.

Introduced by President Norman Ferguson, Alison recounted her rise to fame despite the frequent, chauvinistic attitudes of her male colleagues. ‘I’d never admit I’d two children,’ she said.

She reeled off a list of eminent sports people she’d interviewed and told delightful, insightful tales of incidents along the way. At the 2012 Olympics, Pele was one of her interviewees – along with David Beckham, Henry Kissinger and the King of Spain. She told Pele she’d love to report on the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. ‘He advised me to learn the language. So that’s why I’ve spent the last six months at Glasgow University learning Brazilian Portuguese!’ she recounted.

Recently she set up her own media training company. ‘I’ve time to spend with my children now. But as they’re teenagers, they don’t want to spend time with me!’

Next month the guest speaker will be Margaret Curran, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. Known until recently as Glasgow South Business Club, the organisation now holds meetings in a wider geographic field than it did before. Therefore the meeting on May 21 will be at GTG Training Centre in South Street, G14 0BJ.  For futher details check the Glasgow Business Club’s website.

 

 

 

Picture the welcome to Glasgow

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: 1^st – Surjit Paul for his ‘Geometric Impression’ of the Riverside Museum. 2^Nd – Bobby Borland’s ‘Take a Seat’ at Glasgow University. 3^Rd – Chris Bonnington for an interior shot of Glasgow City Chambers. 4^Th – 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

 

World festival on human rights includes local experiences

Maryhill Integration Network’s dance piece ‘Lullaby Spirit’ is one of the events to be seen in

DOCUMENT – the ten day festival on human rights issues in Glasgow starting on Friday 19 October.

The beautifully choreographed piece by Natasha Gilmore, centres on sleep and is interpreted by people from around the world who have arrived in Maryhill for a multitude of different reasons. Those different reasons are seen and understood even without one word being spoken. Produced by award winning author Remzije Sherifi, the dance is skilfully shown by adults and children who are touching on their own experiences.

That is just one of the stunning events and 85 films on offer at DOCUMENT which celebrates its tenth year now.

Another local contribution will be the special screening of ‘Roma of Govanhill’ with a guest audience of Govanhill residents.

Most of the films and events take place at the Centre of Contemporary Art (CCA) at the Charing Cross end of Sauchiehall Street but some are scheduled for Glasgow University’s Gilmorehill Centre at the foot of University Avenue near Kelvin Way.

Festival Director Mona Rai said: “A visit to DOCUMENT Film Festival is like time-travelling through a decade of world events from the comfort of an armchair.”

A special award presented by an international jury has been created for the best film. In the form of a glass sculpture featuring Glasgow’s Duke of Wellington statue, complete with his famous traffic cone ‘hat’, it will be handed over during the final gala night on Sunday 28 October in the CCA. The winner will be one of the 11 films which have already won a category at the Festival. All of them will be screened in Glasgow. On the same evening Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh will receive the Festival’s DOCUMENT Lifetime Achievement Award. His films explore the state of Cambodia in the aftermath of years of genocide.

Other events include ‘Harry Horseplay’ a tribute to cartoonist and social commentator Harry Horse performed by actor Tam Dean Burn.

The festival programme will also feature a debate on Israel and Palestine, with a screening of films made by B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, in association with The Guardian newspaper.

Other film highlights include ‘The Redemption of General Butt Naked’, about former Liberian warlord Joshua Milton Blahyi who reinvents himself as a Christian evangelist preacher.

‘The Sisterhood’ tells the story of Hope, Rollie and Pietie, South African vineyard workers and drag queens.

Full details can be found at http://documentfilmfestival.org/doc10/

All screenings are free for OAPS and asylum seekers / refugees. Since visiting international film directors from Germany, Poland, Italy, South America and elsewhere will be attending DOCUMENT is a Festival where there is a lot going on. Don’t miss it! See their website: www.documentfilmfestival.org

 

 

Glasgow Amnesty group’s ball wins award

Glasgow University’s Amnesty International group is one of the winners of the organisation’s prestigious Human Rights Champion 2012 award.  Presented by Amnesty’s  Dan Jones on Sunday 15 April 2012 in Manchester the University team was recognised for their Secret Policeman’s Ball in the Queen Margaret Union (QMU) in February. ‘We raised more than £2000 for Amnesty – £300 more than last year – and the venue – which can hold 500 – was sold out,’ said Elena Soper who is the group’s Vice President. ‘The awards ceremony closes the annual conference and rewards top groups and individuals. Our group won the award for services to justice and dignity beyond the limits of human endurance. We’re all very proud.’

The group has 11 committee members and between 20 and 50 student supporters at any one time. This was the fourth Secret Policeman’s Ball and is organised as a good night out with stand up comedy. Since the committee had spent months organising the affair, they agreed to dress smart – see the photograph here!

Amnesty International fights for people around the world who are unfairly and often inhumanely treated or even killed because they have spoken out against harsh regimes. Their motto is ‘better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.’

Repairs under way after the storm

Glasgow is picking up the pieces after the storm. Teams of workers have been called back from holiday to deal with the hundreds of damaged buildings.

Winds of more than 90mph swept across the city in the first few days of 2012. Rail services were suspended and people advised not to travel. Two high sided vehicles were blown over on the Kingston Bridge causing it to be closed for the first time in most people’s memories. More than 180 trees were damaged as winds up to 95mph hit. The city’s Christmas Tree in George Square was blown over causing the square to be closed to the public for safety’s sake. The River Clyde broke its banks around the George V Bridge.

Many residents in the West End, in particular, woke to find their chimney stack blown off. In most instances debris fell to the ground and damaged cars below. In many cases, huge holes were left in the roof.

Workers were called back from holidays by David Hunter which is part of the long established Glasgow company Hugh Scott Builders and Slaters. Said Callum Hunter: ‘We have had between 500 and 600 calls to repair the damage done by the storm. We will get around to everyone but we have to prioritise and first make each place safe and make a temporary repair. Then we will have to come back.’

He said the properties most affected by the storm were traditional West End flats where the chimney heads had collapsed and flat roofed buildings from the 1970s and 1980s. ‘Often they were shoddily built and of poor design,’ he said. ‘As for the tenements; one top flat in the West End has a four metre square hole in the roof where the chimney head has been blown in. It will be at least three months before the owner can return home and he’s not alone in that situation.’

American student, Bill Baehr from St Louis, Missouri stopped to ponder one of the fallen trees in Kelvin Way as he walked to Glasgow University. He said: ‘I come from Missouri and we have tornadoes. We don’t associate Scotland with storms like this!’ But he added that it hasn’t put him off the city.

If you have experiences of the storm you’d like to retell on this website or if you have  good pictures of the storm damage you’d like to show, please email this website : franklinfeatures@gmail.com  The website is:www.localnewsglasgow.co.uk

White feather approach to charity fund-raising

Business woman Eileen Hogg has set up a charity to address some of the issues she has witnessed, personally, having recovered from cancer and also having raised thousands of pounds for good causes.

‘I don’t think it is right that sometimes as much as 80% of money raised for a charity goes towards its running expenses,’ she said. So this week she is the proud founder of Scottish Charity No. SCO42693 which is The White Feather Charitable Aid. This charity with a difference will raise funds

to buy equipment or items needed in health care and support concerns. Said Eileen: ‘Now we can make sure every penny we donate is spent on what we wish as opposed to going into the ‘big pot’ of some organisation.’

Her management committee will meet this week and a fund raising event in Wellcroft Bowling Club on Friday 11 November is already sold out.

Seriously under consideration as their first purchase is a special machine – a QPCR – used at Glasgow University in the Biomedical Research Centre. Said Professor Gerry Graham FRSE, of the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation: ‘It would be enormously helpful to us for our research. This machine is essential and any contribution to the cost would be invaluable.’ The standard price is £60,000 but he believes his department can purchase a suitable one for £6000. Said Eileen: ‘It would be awesome if we could raise £6000 and that would buy a machine worth ten times that!’

This is what the White Feather Charitable Aid charity will do. Raise funds and buy some necessary, tangible item which is presented to the people who need it and which will help the health and well being of others. Eileen’s White Feather is going to tickle a lot of cash into good causes.

Student President forced to resign

Stuart Ritchie, the  Student Representative Council President at Glasgow University,  resigned on Wednesday 2 November following pressure from the students and the Council.

This followed revelations by qmunicate [1], a student magazine, that Ritchie had argued for the introduction of £9k fees for Rest of UK students in a university working group on the issue, despite publicly claiming to be against this.  In the eyes of many students this led to his position as President being untenable. Within three days a petition of almost 600 names had been presented asked for his resignation.

The information was uncovered by asking a Freedom Of Information (FOI) question. A previous FOI request revealed that Ritchie had sought to exclude another member of the SRC executive from important discussions with the university.

After hearing of the resignation, Megan Cowie, a 4th year Glasgow University student, said: ‘I hope this resignation is a step towards greater transparency, democracy and accountability in the SRC.  Stuart Ritchie has consistently failed in his duty to represent student interests at Glasgow University and the mood on campus was that he had to go.’

Glasgow University Coalition of Resistance welcomes Ritchie’s resignation, and will continue to campaign for greater democratic accountability on campus, and for student representatives to fight university fees, cuts to courses and reductions in student services.

Bully-off with da Vinci expert

The world’s leading authority on Leonardo da Vinci comes home to Glasgow to share his latest findings.

Martin Kemp, Emeritus Professor of the History of Art at Oxford University, is combining his latest work with one of his great passions, hockey, in a bid to raise the profile of both.

For one night only, Professor Kemp will deliver an exclusive lecture on his latest book, “Christ to Coke: How Images Becomes Icon”. His lecture will discuss two of the most critical discoveries in over one hundred years, Leonardo’s paintings La Bella Principessa and the Salvator Mundi.

The lecture, entitled “Leonardo da Vinci’s Saviour: Art, Icon and Science in the newly discovered painting”, will afford anyone with an interest in art the opportunity to hear a globally recognised authority discuss everything from renaissance art to the cultural logos of today.

A former stylish midfielder who played at Auchenhowie, Milngavie, with Western Hockey Club, Professor Kemp will donate the proceeds of his lecture to the club to assist with the cost of installing a new state of the art artificial hockey pitch.

Professor Kemp’s talk will take place on Friday 11 November at 7.30pm in Bearsden Baptist Church, Roman Road, Bearsden. Tickets cost £8 and can be purchased from Western Hockey Club, Milngavie and Bearsden Sports Club, Auchenhowie Road, Milngavie or by email to Fowestern1@gmail.com

Previously based at St Andrews University and Glasgow University, Martin is a former British Academy Wolfson Research Professor and has held visiting posts in Princeton, New York, North Carolina, Los Angeles, Montreal and Harvard. He has published extensively on Leonardo da Vinci. His most recent book, “Christ to Coke: How Image Becomes Icon”, will be published by Oxford University Press this month.

Martin’s latest book is the first on Leonardo to include two newly discovered works – the most important discoveries in over a hundred years. Kemp has research to substantiate now known origins of these paintings – La Bella Principessa and the Salvator Mundi – to tie in with PR for the extraordinary National Gallery (London) Leonardo exhibition this November.

The famous notebooks are the key to understanding the secret of Leonardo’s success and genius, as they clearly reveal the workings of his mind and display the true innovative and investigative nature of his creative vision. Over 20,000 pages of drawings and notes detail his incredible discoveries and inventions – from the workings of the human eye to designs for flying machines and giant crossbows.

Bringing the story up to the present day, Martin Kemp considers what Leonardo means to us today, investigates the ‘Leonardo industry’, and speculates what he would be doing if he were alive today.

More student sit-ins

Today, a handful of students managed to get into the Collins building on Strathclyde University Campus and occupy the ‘posh’ board room used by Senate meetings and the like.

‘This is a peaceful occupation,’ said spokesman Ramy Albanna. ‘We are doing this to claim freedom of access, to highlight the hike in fees for students coming here from England and to express our concern at the closure of Community Education, Sociology, Geography and even Music course.’

We will be marching with the STUC and many other people on Saturday 1 October in the People First march from Glasgow Green to a rally in Kelvingrove Park. Because of that, we told the University we’d be out by Saturday.’

Security personnel at the University shut down the Collins Building in a bid to prevent numbers swelling. Two police officers arrived around 2pm after a number of protesters attempted to gain access to the building via a side entrance.

The neighbouring McCance Building in which Strathclyde senior management is housed, including the Principal’s office, was closed to students following the occupation which started around 11.30am onThursday 29 September.

The move comes two days after Strathclyde University announced plans to charge students from England, Northern Ireland and Wales £9,000 a year from the next academic year, taking the cost of a four-year degree to £27,000 after a cap was imposed.

At 4.30pm the University issued a brief statement saying: ‘A small number of protesters are holding a sit-in in one of the University’s administration buildings. The impact is localised and the University is working to minimise disruption.’

When it was pointed out that police were involved and indeed this website had pictures, the response was a promise to get more information.

University of Strathclyde Students’ Association president Charandeep Singh is understood to be in discussions with Principal Professor Jim McDonald.

The People First march and rally on Saturday will be led by the STUC but incorporates a large number of faith groups as well as campaigners in a large number of equality and anti-poverty organisations.

After speeches and music in Kelvingrove Park, groups will disperse to places of worship, student unions, public buildings and hotel in the vicinity to address specific issues.

The day will also feature fund raising for the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal on the famine in Africa.

The day will challenge poverty levels and campaign for re-distribution of wealth across Scotland and the UK. People will also be campaigning to protect the hardest hit by service and benefit cuts and to build and re-connect communities and movements across the country.

Strathclyde University’s fees are now set at £9000 a year for undergraduates from the rest of the UK outwith Scotland. Glasgow University fees are set at £6750 and capped at £26,000 for a four year degree course. The annual fee for Scottish students studying at Scottish universities – which is effectively paid for by the Scottish Government – is unchanged at £1800.

Charandeep Singh, of the University of Strathclyde Students’ Association said: ‘We oppose all student fees and anything that could lead to the commercialisation of higher education. ‘The University Court had a chance to show leadership by minimising the impact of fees at Strathclyde. Instead they have chosen to charge the highest possible fees, proving that they are motivated purely by profit.’

 

STUDENTS OCCUPY BUILDING

Students occupied a Glasgow University building on Tuesday 1 February to protest at cuts by the University and the Government.
They say they will remain ‘indefinitely’ in the Hetherington Research Club premises in University Gardens, opposite the Queen Margaret Union. The place has been closed for a year because it was not viable, said the University. The protesters believe work was due to start this week to convert the space into offices. The Club had been used by post graduate students as a social meeting place and work station.
Susan, an undergraduate at the University, told the LOCAL NEWS: ‘We have re-opened the Hetherington Research Club.
‘Students at Glasgow University have spent the last year trying to negotiate the re-opening of the Club but the University has been unresponsive.’
She claimed between 70 and 100 students were inside the building but a University spokesperson said security staff counted only about 30 people.
Students from across the city were expected to arrive at the Club to support the occupation. ‘The mood here is happy and co-operative. We have electricity and water and food is being brought in,’ reported Susan. ‘Every decision here is democratic. We have re-claimed this space as part of a wider movement to protest at the cuts and freeze, locally and nationally. Our concern is with the overall effect of these cuts on students, young people and vulnerable people. It is a national struggle.’
A University spokesperson said: ‘As long as the protest remains peaceful and does not disrupt the normal business of the University and other students, campus security will not intervene.’

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