Castlemilk Pool Re-Opened

Castlemilk Swimming Pool has re-opened following a £5m renovation. The building closed over two years ago when it was discovered that the 1970’s-built structure was deteriorating. The facility now features three new pools with a 120-seat viewing gallery, a dance studio and a fitness suite.

Councillor Archie Graham said: ‘The re-opening of Castlemilk Pool after its refurbishment will delight the local community. The new layout of the pool, alongside the revamped health suite, provides the people of Glasgow with another first-rate sports facility.’

The pool officially re-opened on Monday 2 February. Councillor John McKenzie told the Local News: ‘I intend to visit in the very near future with my 3 year old grandson. I am totally delighted that at last the pool is open. After so many false dawns I know that the people in the area will also be delighted. I have had a constant stream of people asking when the pool would be re-opened.’

The closure of the pool left Castlemilk residents with a 5 mile journey to the nearest swimming pool at Gorbals Leisure Centre or a 6 mile journey to Bellahouston. Eastwood Pool is a similar distance but there are no direct public transport links between the two locations. Holyrood Sports Centre offers swimming facilities but only 2 evenings a week and on Saturdays.

 

Castlemilk Wind Turbine

Cathkin Braes will soon be home to the world’s first community-operated, stealth technology, wind turbine which will generate hundreds of thousands of pounds for local community groups.

 

Castlemilk and Carmunnock Community Wind Farm Trust are in the final stages of leasing the land from Glasgow City Council. The turbine will be erected next year, will generate £100,000 of income annually and, when the loan for the project is paid off in 10 years, this will rise to at least £450,000.

They have worked tirelessly for six years to get to this stage and feel their achievement could be a blueprint for future wind power throughout the world. Off their own backs, they have raised a staggering £300,000 for the project.

Margo Smith, the Trust’s driving force, told the LOCAL NEWS: ‘Sheer determination has got us to where we are now. I think most people thought ‘we will believe it when we see it’. All along, we have wanted to help community groups and this aim has really kept us going.’

The 2 megawatt stealth turbine employs state of the art technology developed in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to be invisible to radar. The use of this technology for the turbine arose from initial rejection of the turbine idea by Glasgow airport because the model planned would have interfered with the airport’s radar. Margo scoured the world to find a suitable material to build a turbine that would not interfere with radar and she found it in the stealth technology developed by the MoD.

The turbine will feed into the Castlemilk grid generating enough energy to power 1,000 homes – the equivalent of Carmunnock twice over.

The turbine has a 25 year life span and can be effective at low wind speeds.

Ken McCready, Chair of the Board of the Trust said: ‘We have overcome a lot of hurdles and the difficult part has been in getting to this point. We have undertaken practically every survey known to man to ensure suitability.’  Contact Margo on 0141 630 2235 or email margo.smith@gsera.org.uk .

Sunday Jeely Piece

For the first time in 35 years, jeely will be on the menu in Castlemilk on a Sunday.

From November 2 the Jeely Piece Club, which started in 1973, will open seven days a week providing a play service for children both locally and across the city.

Grace Lamont, depute director for services for five to 12 years at the club said: ‘Till now, the only place open on a Sunday in the area was the sports centre as our local swimming pool has been closed for three years. Anyone looking for a play service for children on a Sunday had to travel to the city centre, The Fort or East Kilbride.’

The fun is open to youngsters from age 0 up to primary 7 at the club on 55 Machrie Drive and the team intend to run the popular Saturday birthday parties across the weekend.

For parents, the Jeely café is a perfect place for some time out. Grace said: ‘Just sit back and let us do the work.’

For more information call 0141 634 7305.

Awards for Castlemilk Martial Arts Club

 

Castlemilk Martial Arts Club is celebrating the success of its young members after they received special awards at the Junior National Course at Inverclyde Sports Centre in Largs. Kerri McCullock,14, Megan Fitzpatrick, 13, Jodie Loughlin, 10 and Kayleigh Ferns, 9 were awarded trophies for their skills. Only 12 out of the 130 students taking part were recognised, which makes it a special coup for the four girls from Castlemilk. Chief instructor Paul Hanlon told the LOCAL NEWS: ‘I am very proud of them. They had to show many skills  including takedowns, throws, self defence attacks, as well as sparring, groundwork and pad routines to be selected for one of these prestigious awards.’ Paul has been involved in Martial Arts for over 20 years and runs five clubs in total, including two adult classes in Balornock.

The Castlemilk club has been running for four years and is open to 5 to 16 year olds and they meet at Castleton Primary School. They are currently seeking sponsorship to help develop the club. If you would like to get involved you can contact Paul on 0141 558 2169 or via email at paul.hanlon7@ntlworld.com.

Churches merge

The outgoing and incoming Interim Moderators (centre) and members of the new Castlemilk Church of Scotland.

At a landmark gathering, two churches in Castlemilk amalgamated to become one under Interim Moderator the Revd Iain Goring.

Castlemilk East Church of Scotland in Barlia Terrace and Castlemilk West Parish Church in Carmunnock Road, held their first joint social which attracted a big crowd from both congregations.

Tribute was paid to the outgoing Interim Moderators – Revd Elisabeth Spence and Revd Jeanne Roddick – who were thanked for their hard work. They will return to their own churches. A welcome was extended to the incoming Intrim Moderator. He will be responsible for the pastoral duties and for leading worship at both churches until there is a new building for the combined congregation. From Holytown and New Stevenson churches, Mr Goring will be in Castlemilk for the next two years. He will live in Castlemilk West Parish Church’s manse.

He said: ‘I am happy to be serving the people of Castlemilk. This will be very hard work but I am happy to help bring in the changes that are facing us.’

 

Castlemilk’s Barlia Sports Centre to be Rebuilt

Castlemilk’s Barlia Sports Complex is to benefit from a £500,000 refurbishment programme. The existing synthetic football pitch will be replaced with a modern rubber and mixed playing surface, and the tennis courts will be replaced with three new 5-a-side pitches. The Barlia Sports Complex is managed by Culture and Sport Glasgow. Around £300,000 of capital funding is already in place for the project, with the remainder being sought from other sources. Councillor Archie Graham, Executive Member for Culture and Sport, said: ‘Barlia Sports Complex is a fantastic and well used sporting facility, which has also been identified as one of the community football hubs for the city. This refurbishment, also part of the Council’s sports pitch strategy to upgrade the city’s sporting and recreational facilities by 2014, is a good example of where this money should be invested to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities and encourage participation in sport.’ Work on the refurbishment of Barlia Sports Complex is due to start in January 2009.

Castlemilk Churches Merge

At a landmark gathering last month two churches in Castlemilk amalgamated to become the Castlemilk Church under Interim Moderator the Revd Iain Goring.

Castlemilk East Church of Scotland, in Barlia Terrace and Castlemilk West Parish Church, in Camunnock Road held their inaugural social which attracted a big crowd from both congregations.

Tribute was paid to the outgoing Interim Moderators – Revd Elisabeth Spence and Revd Jeanne Roddick –  who were thanked for their hard work. They will return to their own churches. A welcome was extended to the incoming Intrim Moderator.

He will be responsible for the pastoral duties and leading worship at both churches, until their is a new building for the new combined congregation. From Holytown and New Stevenson churches, Mr Goring will be in Castlemilk for the next two years. He will live in Castlemilk West Parish Church’s manse.

He said: ‘I am happy to be serving the people of Castlemilk. I have been here before but do not know Castlemilk that well so I have a lot of learning to do. This will be very hard work but I am happy to help bring in the changes that are facing us.’

 

 

 

Green Groups Nominated for Awards

Two Glasgow groups who aim to reduce waste going to landfill by recycling scrap material, are in the running for a Scottish Waste and Resources Award.

Spruce Carpets in Govan and Community Can Cycle in Castlemilk have been shortlisted in the Best Community Sector Initiative. They will be up against one other contender, Edinburgh based Changeworks. The awards take place at the Hilton Hotel, Glasgow as this issue of the LOCAL NEWS is being distributed.The awards are led by Eventful Scotland, a partnership which includes the Scottish Government and the Community Recycling Network for Scotland.

Spruce Carpets which was named Social Enterprise of the Year by Scottish Business in the Community earlier this year, began life in 2005. The team recycle good quality surplus carpets destined for landfill by cleaning them. The refurbished items are then sold for a fair price in their Govan showroom. This creates training and employment opportunities through the processing, resale and fitting of the floor covering.

Community Can Cycle started in 2000 and operates an aluminium and steel can and glass bottle collection service. It recycles and sells the material to reprocessing companies. This helps to fund their bicycle repair and refurbishment workshop which has given more than 2000 local children access to free bicycle repair services and trains people to do that work.

Izzie Johnston, Spruce Carpets Chief Executive said: ‘Last year we diverted 70 tonnes of waste from landfill disposal and helped more than 1000 houses in the Glasgow area carpet their homes at an affordable cost. We are delighted to be in the running for this award, which is a real testament to the hard work of all our staff and volunteers and to the local communities in which we serve.’

Jim O’Donnell, Founder and Project Development Manager of Community Can Cycle said: ‘Getting to this stage is fantastic news for the charity and the community. Boosting the charity’s profile encourages more people to become involved and helps us to become more successful – it’s great to be in the limelight.’