Another Case For The Coming Together Of Communities.

        Sometimes you can't help but think that the Glasgow City Council is a gang from the financial Mafia, hell-bent on destroying the lives of the people of Glasgow, all in the name of big business, of course. The people of the East End of the city have been trampled over in the glorification of a spectacle that will only benefit big business, the Commonwealth Games. In the North of our city, in an area of high deprivation and low amenities, Springburn/Sighthill, they have decided to flatten one of the very few amenities in the area, namely, the Sighthill Park Standing stones. It is supposed to be in preparation for the 2018 Youth Olympics, but even if that doesn't go through, they still want to get rid of it by handing it to developers who will build more unaffordable housing. Just what an area of high unemployment, high poverty rate, low amenities is in need of, my arse. 

       The park with its standing stones is one feature in the area worth preserving, a place for kids and families to enjoy. The area has an abundance of empty brown site space crying out for some sort of development that will benefit the people of the area, why destroy the one they have?

 
Sign the petition HERE:

       The stone circle in Sighthill Park is Britain's first stone circle built according to the alignment of the stars in several thousand years. Built, in 1979, it is one of Glasgow's treasures and can teach youngsters a lot about history and astronomy. It is something unique that the people of Sighthill can call their own.

     But Glasgow City Council is currently planning to demolish the stone circle as part of the bid for the 2018 Youth Olympics - and if this falls through, they plan to destroy the circle anyway for 'redevelopment' - which the council seems to believe can only be done by flattening what is already there instead of working with it. If they simply build a path around the circle it will be preserved.

       Plans also include destroying the wildlife habitat in the vicinity. Surely enough damage is already being done to the environment, without wrecking another part of nature? It is important to preserve what we have left, not destroy more land.

         Please sign this petition to call on Glasgow City Council to preserve the stone circle and surrounding park.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

East End Injustice.

       Glasgow East End residents got an opportunity, (at last) to voice their anger, (perhaps I should say "righteous anger") at the treatment the have and are receiving, as the council steamrolls a path for big money to make a killing, in what is called, The Commonwealth Games 2014.

This from Glasgow Games Monitor 2014:

      1.  Very interesting 'Angry Games Residents Meeting' last night: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2014/05/28/residents-vent-games-anger-at-packed-meeting/

       2. We meet next at 6.30pm-8.30 pm, Monday 2nd June at UNITE the Union offices, John Smith House, 145/165 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4RZ. All welcome! http://gamesmonitor2014.org/meetings/

    3. Event challenging stigma in the East End, 5.30, Thursday (tomorrow) 29th May, Parkhead Library (Community Meeting Hall), 64 Tollcross Road, G31 4XA: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2014/05/28/event-beyond-stigma-exploring-everyday-lives-in-the-east-end-of-glasgow-and-the-cwg2014%e2%80%8f/ Cheers,http://gamesmonitor2014.org/ 

Also from Glasgow Games Monitor:

   This event tomorrow night may be of interest to people in the East End especially... Beyond Stigma: Exploring Everyday lives in the East End of Glasgow and the CWG2014 The East End of Glasgow has had a lot of negative media and political commentary attached to it. With your help, we want to explore the lives and promote the voice of people actually living in the East End of Glasgow. We are looking for people to keep diaries of their thoughts and experiences throughout the Commonwealth Games 2014 and beyond. To be involved, please come to our community meeting at:Parkhead Library (in the Community Meeting hall)Thursday 29th May 2014 at 5.30pm64 Tollcross Road, G31 4XA If you would like to be involved, or want more information please contact Vikki McCall.Phone: 01786 467698; e-mail: vikki.mccall@stir.ac.uk 

       More about the Project… We seek to explore the impact of territorial stigmatisation on the people that live in the East End of Glasgow in the context of the Commonwealth Games 2014 and other social and economic changes that are impacting on the city.The 2014 Commonwealth Games sets out ‘Glasgow’s ambition… for a meaningful legacy that will go beyond 2014 and will benefit everyone’. Yet beneath the fanfaring, there is little supportive evidence that mega sporting events can achieve the aims set out by local government. Further still, this regeneration initiative was envisaged in different set of economic and political conditions.The City of Glasgow has the highest number of people living in conditions of multiple deprivation and the East End in particular is subject to negative media and political discourse and stigmatisation. Those living in the East End of Glasgow will have a certain level of awareness of these discourses and are also actors in negotiating the process of stigmatisation as well as living with the consequences of it. But how exactly are such discourses being received and experienced in the East End? Do they create further material inequalities?     How do stigmatizing narratives and structural inequalities coalesce? In asking these questions, this research will examine the relationship between territorial stigmatisation and gentrification/regeneration. 

        It will explore the material underpinning of narratives of lack which devalue and/or valorize neighbourhoods and people of those places. It will compare these narratives to the everyday lived realities of Glasgow’s East Enders. Who is involved… The project is led by Dr Gerry Mooney, from the Open University in Scotland.The project is being managed by Dr Vikki McCall, from the University of Stirling. Vikki lives in the East End of Glasgow and is on the Board of Parkhead Housing Association. Please feel free to tweet @vikki_mccalland Dr Kirsteen Paton from the University of Leeds. 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Glasgow Against ATOS.

A call out from  Glasgow Games Monitor 2014

Thursday 31st October 1pm.

Drop ATOS from the Commonwealth Games – 

Lobby of Glasgow City Council
George Square, Glasgow G2 1DU

Lobby of Glasgow City Council, 

organised by Glasgow Against ATOS.

    We need you! On the 31st October, Councillors of Glasgow City Council will be
debating a motion to drop ATOS as a commonwealth games sponsor. Please come to George Square for a lobby of those councillors who are debating this motion.
     Thousands of people have died after going through the ATOS work capability assessment, ATOS are not fit to be a sponsor of the games and we ask that as many people and organisations let them now how we feel about this immoral company’s involvement in the Commonwealth Games next year.

      FANCY DRESS VERY MUCH ENCOURAGED, ITS HALLOWEEN AFTER ALL SO IF YOU’RE UP FOR IT GET YOUR BEST HAUNTING GEAR ON !

https://www.facebook.com/events/219037268264562/

See previous GM 2014 posts,

commentary and short film of testimonials:
Background: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2013/10/04/crunch-vote-on-atos-commonwealth-games-role/
Commentary: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2013/08/08/atos-kills-and-it-has-accomplices/
Short film of testimonials against ATOS: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2013/10/24/unfit-for-2014-campaign-film/

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Kelvin Meadow.

   More on The Kelvin Meadows, see earlier post Kelvin Meadows Belongs To The People.

Video from CityStrolls.

ann arky's home.

North Kelvin Meadow Belongs To The People.

     North Kelvin Meadow is a wild area  in the north west of Glasgow. In its past it has been several things, but it lay derelict for years and then the local community decided to develop it, they planted trees and cultivated other parts and generally managed the whole area and decades later they have a wonderful meadow/woodland for kids and adults alike to enjoy. An area to walk, play, meet, have events, the last wild place in the city for kids to learn about nature while having fun. Community driven for the benefit of all, a display of what a local community can achieve if left to their own devices.

       It is not a void sitting in an area, it is a vibrant city asset where regular events are held attracting 1000 or more people a month, people walk though it in all seasons enjoying the changes, parents with the children are frequent visitors. The kids love the freedom to run and roam. All this driven and maintained by the local community.

      You would imagine that the City Council would be proud of its citizens and what they had achieved, and perhaps even chip in a couple of quid here and there. However, this is Glasgow City Council and it is more corporate friendly than community friendly. It has the grand plan to level the whole area for developers and see it turned into high-end luxury flats.

      Think about it, the last wild place in the city, an environmentally friendly asset used by thousands, beneficial to all especially the kids, costing the council nothing, and they want to wipe it of the face of the map with the only beneficial effects being to the developers bank accounts. North Kelvin Meadow belongs to the people.

       The community is fighting back and have been for some time now, and yesterday they took their campaign to the City Chambers in George Square and voiced their disgust and anger. This campaign deserves the support from all of us citizens of the city, the North Kelvin meadow is there for all of us to use. If the council gets its way, it will not be there for much longer. 

You can help by signing their petition HERE:

ann arky's home.