Asbestos clean-up after school fire

Demolition of the disused St Mark’s Primary School in Glasgow’s East End will start on Saturday 26 May. The building was torched earlier this week and white asbestos revealed.

The clear-up operation is being handled by specialist contractors in the immediate area and around Tollcross Park where the suspect debris will be dealt with.

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said there was no immediate risk to public health. ‘Air quality is being monitored and is well within acceptable limits,’ he said. ‘The Council has written to residents in four streets beside the former school to give advice and explain how the clean-up is being done.’

Local people have been warned to leave all the clearing to the asbestos specialists and not to attempt to do any of the work themselves. In addition, residents have been asked not to cut hedges or lawns until work is complete and to limit use of their gardens. Plot holders at Tollcross Allotments have also been advised not to use their plots until the clear-up is complete.

The work will be carried out between 7am and 10pm each day until it is finished with atmospheric and ground level monitoring continuing till the completion of the job.

The process for removing the debris has been agreed with the Health & Safety Executive. The work is being carried out by specialist contractors – Hunter Demolition – and overseen by Glasgow City Council. Anyone finding material they are concerned about should not interfere with it, but notify Glasgow City Council immediately on 0141 287 0999.

The fire, which happened on Tuesday 22 May in the afternoon, was started deliberately. Strathclyde Police are appealing for information and ask people who can help to call 0141 532 4800 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

 

 

Ballot results in new stock transfers

 Tenants in three areas of Glasgow have voted to transfer ownership of their homes from Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) to community-based housing associations.

The ‘yes’ votes will result in the transfer of 2336 homes under the process known as Second Stage Transfer (SST).

 The results were:

• Tollcross – 72.1 per cent of the tenants who voted supported the transfer of 1619 properties to Tollcross Housing Association. The turnout was 51 per cent.
• Blairtummock, in Easterhouse – 83 per cent of the tenants who voted supported the transfer of 275 properties to Blairtummock Housing Association. The turnout was 57.1 per cent.
• Halfway in the Southside – 82.2 per cent of the tenants who voted supported the transfer of 442 properties to Southside Housing Association. The turnout was 50.4 per cent.

 If Scottish Ministers give their consent, the legal transfer of homes could take place as early as the end of June.

 The latest ballots, in which tenants voted by post, text, phone or online, began on 20 April and ran for 21 days.

 GHA Chair Gordon Sloan said: “Our Second Stage Transfer programme has already seen more than 12,000 tenants transfer to community-based housing associations with thousands more ready to transfer in the next few weeks.

 “This means our agreed programme of transfers is due to complete by the end of June. I wish all the tenants who voted in these latest ballots every success in the future.”

 Bill Dougan, Chair of Tollcross Housing Association, said: “We are looking forward to working with our new Committee and staff colleagues, getting our sleeves rolled up to deliver the promises we made to our tenants during the campaign.“

 Catherine Black, Chair of Blairtummock Housing Association, said: “I am delighted at the support shown to our Association by the people in Rogerfield. We will now get down to the hard work of delivering on our commitments to them.”

 Jimmy Hobbin, Southside Housing Association Committee Member, said: “We are delighted with the positive result for community control and want to build on the investment success to-date.  On behalf of everyone at Southside Housing Association, my sincere thanks to all the Halfway tenants for putting their faith in us.”

Famous East End photographer Tom Fitzpatrick dies aged 76

Tom Fitzpatrick
Press photographer
Born April 5, 1934
Died November 24, 2010

Proud Garngad man, Tom Fitzpatrick, who died aged 76, was an intrepid press photographer during Scotland’s golden age of journalism in the 1960s and 70s. Then the country’s leading newspapers sold in excess of 700,000 copies a day and competition for exclusive stories and pictures was at its fiercest. The Scottish Daily Express and the Daily Record, both edited and printed in Glasgow, battled headline to headline and picture to picture for the coveted title of Scotland’s best-selling popular newspaper. Photographers, like Tom, fought for the “scoops” that would propel their title to the top of the circulation league table.
Working for the Express, Tom twice won the title Press Photographer of the Year and also Sports Photographer of the Year in the Scottish Press Awards.
Born at 487 Garngad Road, his house is still standing despite major redevelopment around it.
He was the youngest of three sons and attended St Philomena’s primary school where he excelled academically before going on to St Mungo’s Academy. He was also an altar boy at nearby St Roch’s Church in Garngad.
Aged 15, he started as a lift boy in the Daily Express building in 1949. He moved on to be a copy boy in the darkroom before becoming a photographer with the Daily Express and Evening Citizen.
A Requiem Mass was celebrated by Monsignor Noel Woods, in St Joseph’s Church, Tollcross, Glasgow, when Tom’s son, Robert, gave the eulogy.
He said: ‘Few of the journalists of that era could be accused of soft-heartedness or sentimentality. They made their name by sheer hard work.’
Reporters who worked with Fitzpatrick included big by-line people such as Stuart McCartney, David Scott, William Allsop and Andrew McCallum.
Fellow photographers included Ronnie Burgess, Ray Beltrami, Jack Middleton, Harry Turner and, occasionally, Fleet Street stars like Reg Lancaster, father of singer Rod Stewart’s glamorous wife, Penny, who flew up from London on royal visits.
Another good friend was the New York-based celebrity photographer Harry Benson who originated from Gorbals.
While hard news stories were the lifeblood of the Express, Fitzpatrick’s greatest love was photographing football matches.
An avid Celtic supporter, he always covered the Parkhead club’s matches, including all their European games. He was entrusted with the opposition’s banner by Celtic captain Billy McNeill to take back to manager Jock Stein in the dugout. Fitzpatrick was hugely proud to have been behind the goals in Lisbon, taking photographs, when Celtic won the European Cup in 1967.
After national service with the RAF in Germany between 1952 and 1954, he returned to the Express until the Beaverbrook operation was shut down in 1974 making 1,800 journalists, photographers, engineers and print workers, redundant.
Following this calamity, Fitzpatrick invested a great deal of time, effort and money in the ill-fated Scottish Daily News workers’ co-operative, in the Albion Street printing plant. When that failed, he freelanced before joining the Evening Times’ picture desk where he worked with distinction until his retirement.
He met his wife, Elizabeth, at the dancing and they married in 1957. When Tom died following a short illness, they had been together for nearly 60 years and had had four children; Thomas, Robert, Lisa and Mark and had 16 grandchildren.

Because of snow storms, grid-locked roads and abandoned rail services, many of Tom Fitzpatrick’s colleagues could not attend his funeral so a gathering will be held to raise a glass in his memory at the Press Bar in Albion Street, Glasgow, on Friday, December 10, at 1.30pm. All former colleagues are welcome to attend.
BILL HEANEY

Glasgow Textile designer unveils new collection

by Lynsay Keough

Claire McInally, a textile designer from Tollcross,  showcases her latest collection at the New Designers Show in London from 1 July 2010.

She will unveil her latest collection of silk printed scarves and a silk and chiffon mix pleated dress. A continuation of her graduate collection, which was snapped up by high street store Oasis last year and is in store now, the new range is inspired by architectural forms and three dimensional design.

The scarves and dress incorporate delicate pleats and folds to create a 3-D effect in the print while the fabric still remains delicate and feminine.
The 24 year old has celebrated great success over the past year and hopes this exhibition will enhance her career even further. Said Claire: ‘The last year has been amazing. Working with Oasis on my collection has helped me focus on the direction in which I want to take my career. At this event I will unveil my new collection of embroidered scarves and will also show my Oasis range so people can see how I have developed.

“Scotland has a long tradition of producing international respected designers and products and I am proud that I have created my own unique style – a mix of traditional weaving with contemporary design – which will add to this already established heritage.”

Now in its 25th year, New Designers has established a longstanding reputation for bringing young design talent and business together, helping thousands of graduates and young designers propel their careers.

Cathy Black, head of textiles, Scottish Enterprise said: “This is an excellent opportunity for Claire to showcase her newest collection and how far she has developed as a designer in just one year. Claire’s use of traditional weaving techniques with modern aesthetics has established her with a signature, unmistakeable style which has already brought her great success. It is encouraging to see young designers using the long established textiles crafts, for which Scotland is famous, in contemporary design. Claire is an inspiration to all up and coming designers in Scotland and we hope many more will follow in her successful footsteps.”

New Designers 2010 will take place at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, from 1 to 11 July. With a host of industry, media, trend predictors and buyers as well as the general public, this show is seen as an invaluable springboard for all who exhibit.

Apprenticeships Lead to Housing Jobs

Twelve young people from the East End have successfully completed Modern Apprenticeships in Housing Administration. Milnbank, Parkhead, Tollcross, Shettleston and Thenew housing associations all took part in the scheme organised by the East End Housing Regeneration Forum. The Apprenticeship offered paid employment and the chance to learn about working for a housing association.
During the apprenticeship, John Wheatley College kept in close contact with them to make sure the arrangement was working. The young people who successfully completed their apprenticeships have graduated and have now found work.
Cheryl Burns, one of the apprentices which Thenew Housing Association took on, has found work with a housing association on Glasgow’s south side, while Sheree Greenhorn is now employed full-time at one of  Thenew’s offices in Green Street in the East End.
Cheryl said: ‘The Modern Apprenticeship programme is a great way of finding work and at the same time provides an opportunity to learn about what it is like to have a rewarding career in housing. I am very pleased to have found a job at Thenew.’
Charlie Turner, Chief Executive of Thenew Housing Association said: ‘We are proud to take part and share in the success of this programme. It created real job opportunities for young people from the East End and 11 are now working full-time.It is a great example of partnership working and we look forward to developing more opportunities like this in future for our young people.’
The East End Housing Regeneration Forum secured funding of £262,000 for the Modern Apprenticeship initiative and readily acknowledges this generous financial support from the European Union Social Fund, the Scottish Government, Glasgow Community Planning Partnership and Glasgow Housing Association.