School Protesters Hijack MSP in Maryhill

An announcement that the Heritage Lottery Fund was giving £1 million to restore the derelict Maryhill Burgh Halls was hijacked by angry parents campaigning to retain their local schools.

While officials were inside looking at the empty shell of a building, about 10 parents arrived and some of them chained themselves to the railings outside.

‘We’ve got to make a stand,’ said Laura McKenna who has a 3-year-old son at Wyndford nursery. ‘Closing the schools will destroy the whole community. They expect us to take our kids a 45 minute walk to a nursery in Summerston. You can’t put a wee one on the bus by themselves. Buses only take one baby buggy at a time and what are you supposed to do to get the older children to school at the same time?

When she exited from the building, MSP Patricia Ferguson, told the LOCAL NEWS: ‘I know these parents well. We’ve had discussions about the situation. I agree with them, it will take the heart out of the community and I’ve made my views known to Glasgow City Council.’

The affected schools are Ruchill Primary, Our Lady of Assumption, St Gregory’s Wyndford and St Agnes’s.

Before the parents had descended on the building, Colin McLean, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland and Billy McAllister, Chair of the Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust had both expressed their delight at the funding. Said Colin McLean: ‘This is exciting news and is an important step forward in the revitalisation of modern Maryhill.’

Billy McAllister added: ‘This very substantial grant is crucial for unlocking the balance and deliver our ambitious and much-needed community project. More than five years’ hard work has been put into this. I am confident we soon will be celebrating the re-opening of this much-loved hub.’

 

Councillor George Ryan, Executive Member for Development and Regeneration at Glasgow City Council, said: ‘This is another step towards the full restoration of the Maryhill Burgh Halls and the Maryhill Leisure Centre. When completed, some of the area’s most celebrated buildings will be restored back to their rightful role in the heart of the community.’

Football Match Closes Refugee Week

One of the 20 teams which took part in the Refugee Week tournament.

Springburn beat Sighthill A team 2-1. But the result was much better than that. For this final game was the clincher in a five-a-side football tournament during Refugee Week.

The event was held at the tennis courts in Kelvingrove Park and 20 teams of school boys from 70 different nations had a great day out despite the heavy rain.

The event brought Refugee week to a close. Organised by Operation Reclaim, it was part of an initiative tackling gang violence and attacks on asylum seekers.

By bringing together local young people with their peers who are asylum seekers and refugees, the football provides opportunities for integration in a fun way. It also reclaimed the local recreation area in Sighthill for children and young people because they played there during the early part of the tournament.

The impact of the programme in the area has been ‘massive’ with police estimating that crime and fear of crime has been cut by more than one third.