Solidarity in action: antiracist protestors outnumber 'pro UK' supporters – plus loads of ways to get involved with the mag!
Share your favourite family recipe, questions you have for MP John Grady and what you want to know about in the Southside. Plus: a lanes celebration, desk space for hire and a chance to win £50
This weekend, a ‘Pro-UK’ demonstration was organised in George Square, with people holding placards that read “Stop the Boats” and “No More Immigrants,” echoing the rhetoric of anti-immigration policies and media coverage.
Yet, numbers were vastly outweighed by anti-racist protestors chanting: “Show us what community looks like; this is what community looks like.” Among them were many familiar faces from the Southside, and while the fight is far from over, the sense of solidarity within our community was a source of hope.
Also this week, Devon joined artists and community groups outside the Scottish Parliament to rally against arts funding cuts and keeping up the pressure despite a u-turn on Creative Scotland funding. A full story on the rally, along with updates on the fund, will be available on the website tomorrow.
Loads happening at the moment, so read on for: ways to get involved in the next magazine, a paid writing opportunity, info on desk use in the community newsroom, your chance to put questions to our new MP, a celebration event in a back lane, Doors Open Day and all the latest from our website.
Samar
Get involved with our next issue: Answering Your Questions
How do you report rubbish in your back lane or discover local volunteering opportunities? Where you can find local youth services? What do you wish you’d know when you first arrived? In this issue, we’ll be diving into all these topics and more. We’re reaching out to local community groups and readers to help answer these questions and want to know your thoughts, what else would you like to know to help you navigate life in Glasgow?
Tell us your thoughts and be in with a chance of winning a £50 voucher.
Share a recipe
In every issue of the mag, we ask our readers to share a recipe ‘like your grandmother used to make’. If you have a recipe that holds a special place in y our family heritage that you’d like to share.
Nominate a volunteer
Do you know an amazing volunteer who works for the good of the community? In each issue, we do a volunteer spotlight as a chance to get to know someone, why they volunteer and profile the organisation they work for.
Tell us about your life before Govanhill
Do you originally come from another part of the world, before making your home here? Would you be up for being interviewed to share what your life was like in order to build better cross-culture understanding?
For all of the above, email samar@greatergovanhill.com or newsroom@greatergovanhill.com.
Looking for a desk to rent on an ad hoc basis? The Community Newsroom has desks available most days. The cost is £20 per day, £10 per half day, which includes tea/coffee and great company! Fill in the form on this page to be added to our WhatsApp group for more information.
Send us questions for John Grady MP
Before the election this summer, we sent questions to all the candidates standing in Glasgow South and Glasgow East which you can read here but we didn’t receive a response from the newly elected Labour MP John Grady.
This issue will also include an interview with Govanhill’s Labour MP, asking him questions that local people care about. If you have other questions you’d like to ask Govanhill’s MP, get in touch and we’ll try to answer them.
Paid Opportunity: Pitch us your ideas for stories on the Green Transition
Greater Govanhill is collaborating with other Scottish Beacon partners to report on activity that shows positive, relatable action on the green transition. The themes we are hoping to cover are:
Retrofit and Cost of Living. Making homes and public buildings easier and cheaper to heat, cutting fuel poverty and improving quality of life
Energy and Jobs. New jobs in or related to wind, wave, solar and other renewable forms of energy. Communities generating their own energy to benefit local people. Innovation in the supply chain.
Food Security. Farmers and food-producers using methods that are good for nature, and for food security. Innovations and aspirations in these areas.
Clean Air and Transport. The positives of public transport, cycling and walking and the people who are celebrating this.
If you have any idea for an article on a Govanhill story that fits in with one of these themes, email rhiannon@scottishbeacon.com with your pitch.
The latest from our website…
If these walls could talk
As hubs of social life, pubs have been woven into the fabric of British culture, serving as gathering spots for generations. Through James Bowden’s photographs, taken in the late 80s, we delve into the history and community spirit of the Southside’s drinking establishments. What we found were stories of protest, preservation of Scotland’s footballing legacy, the centre of a manhunt and more.
Victoria Bar unveils 'The Best Fans in the World' painting
The Victoria Bar, one of 21 sites part of the Football Square Mile (FSM), has recently become home to a painting by Ashley Rawson, depicting two Tartan Army fans, clad in Scotland’s signature colours. The work entitled, ‘The Best Fans in the World’, is a homage to the Tartan Armies' celebration of the Euros.
From the margins to the mainstream: How Arkbound is empowering new voices
Arkbound’s innovative workshop series, 'Our Economy', is opening doors for typically marginalised communities to engage in economic discussions through creative writing. This unique approach is not just about learning but about fostering change and amplifying voices that are often unheard.
80 Bankhall Street: Over a century of life in one tenement
This article is a semi-fictionalized attempt to track one Govanhill building over time. None of the people in this story are the real inhabitants of 80 Bankhall street; characters have been created around what would have been ‘typical’ in Govanhill at the time. Read More
Want to be in with a chance to win £50 voucher and shape the future of the magazine?
Tell us what we can do better, what questions you have about the neighbourhood and how we should be spending our time - and get automatically entered into a prize drawer. We only have 16 entries so far, so you’re in with a good chance of winning!
Kin Kitchen and local residents around Kingarth Lane have been collaborating to transform the lane into a valuable community asset.
Next Sunday, the 15th, they’re hosting a small event from 11-3 in the lane. They’ll kick things off with a litter pick at 11am, followed by setting up the space for a community meal.
It’s a great opportunity to meet your neighbours, and we’ll also have fun activities for kids – think whacky potato characters! 🥔
Make A Scene Glasgow will be joining to hear ideas for how to continue developing the lane including suggestions like building planters for growing food, hosting regular events and workshops, creating art installations, and adding outdoor seating.
You can now stay up-to-date with the Govanhill Litter Pick group by following them on Instagram at @govanhill_literpick and liking their page on Facebook; just search for the Govanhill Community Litter Pick.
Other local news…
🚪BOOKINGS FOR Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival Are now live: Glasgow's Doors Open Day will soon be upon us - and there are plenty of epic places across the city to check out including several in the Southside. 🚪
🍦New Glasgow ice cream shop opens in southside with 'Ode to Pollokshields' scoop: Peacock's Ice Cream has opened on Battlefield Road and has specials including Ode to Pollokshields - a flavour celebrating "the best neighbourhood in the city". 🍦
🎇 Fireworks ban ahead for 12 Glasgow areas as control zones submitted to council: At least 12 areas in Glasgow are set to be first in line for a fireworks ban. Shawlands, Toryglen, Woodlands, Pollokshields and Dennistoun are among the neighbourhoods where applications to establish firework control zones have been submitted to Glasgow City Council.🎇
🚮Scottish Government scraps free bus passes for asylum seekers: Refugee organisations have criticised the Scottish government’s “disappointing and devastating” decision, after they decided to end the free bus pass pilot, which had run since October 2023.🚮