Greater Govanhill Issue 9: What Keeps Us Well?

Issue 9

Spring 2023

THE STORIES THAT MATTER TO YOU FREE • GR

ATUIT ÜCRE TSIZ • G RATIS • ZADAR M O • BESPLATN O• •

WHAT KEEPS US

WELL?

INCLUDING: Annette Street Drummers • Govanhill Voices Choir • Best Exercise Classes A Day in the Life of Govanhill Library • What Can we do About our Lanes? • Tackling Loneliness Gambling Harms Special Feature • Breathwork Exercise • The Lass O’ Govanhill Poem Syrian Recipe • Alternative Medecines • Local News • What’s On • And so much more!

Featuring the following languages: Română, Polski, ქართული 1

PHOTOGRAPHY PARTICIPATION PRODUCTION STREET LEVEL PHOTOWORKS ARE DELIVERING COMMUNITYBASED ARTIST RESIDENCIES AND ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ACROSS GOVANHILL & THE GORBALS AS PART OF THE NATIONAL CULTURE COLLECTIVE PROGRAMME EXHIBITIONS • PRODUCTION FACILITIES • C OURSES • C OMMUNIT Y C OLLABORATIONS

STREET LEVEL PHOTOWORKS, TRONGATE 103, GLASGOW, G1 5HD 0141 552 2151 / streetlevelphotoworks.org / reception@streetlevelphotoworks.org

A Letter from the Team

Featured Contributors

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the first issue of 2023! This issue focuses on health and wellbeing, something we’ve been thinking about a lot over the dark winter months.

Several of the articles form part of our Mind The Health Gap project – our year long collaboration with investigative journalism co-operative, The Ferret – exploring the solutions to health inequalities affecting people within our community. We’re delighted to feature articles written by those who attended our community reporter training last year. More from them in the next issue too!

This issue is also the first that we have fully created in the new Community Newsroom. Having this street level, shop-front space has opened up new opportunities for us to connect and collaborate with others in the neighbourhood. We have been hosting almost weekly events here since the start of the year and have plenty more coming up. Read more about them on our What’s On pages.

We have also welcomed a new member to our team. Juliana Da Penha is the founder of Migrant Women Press and has joined us to help us launch the Scottish Beacon, a network of communitybased local news publishers right across Scotland. We’ll be sharing more about this later in the year. Sadly, this issue also marks the end of Becki working with us, and we wish her all the best as she moves onto (acrylic) pastures new, focusing on her nail art, which you can read about in this issue.

Hope you enjoy reading this jam-packed magazine as much as we enjoyed producing it.

Yours sincerely,

Editorial Assistant

Chickaros, Garolla, StreetLevel Photoworks and Studio 70. We’d also like to thank GCVS for funding our gambling harms special coverage. The Mind the Health Gap project – a year long collboration with investigative journalism co-op The Ferret exploring solutions to health inequalities – is funded by the European Journalism Centre, through the Solutions Journalism Accelerator. This fund is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Want to advertise in our next issue? Email hello@greatergovanhill.com

Check out their cartoon strip on page 4

Bonnie Thomson

Jack Howse

A special thanks goes to our advertisers:

Issey Medd

Issey is a queer illustrator who creates playful narrative illustrations using a mixture of digital, handmade and printmaking processes. They love zines, risography, collage and chunky crayons.

When not illustrating stuff, Issey can be found swimming, pickling vegetables and mending holes in jumpers.

We’re also grateful to every one of our members who help us to keep going, even when times are tight. If you enjoy the magazine and want to support us, visit: greatergovanhill.com/members

Bonnie researches funding opportunities for charities and community groups. She studied Global Health and is most interested in the relationship between social exclusion and poor health outcomes.

Read her article on solutions to digital exclusion on page 42

Editor-in-Chief Rhiannon J Davies Creative Director Laura Hurst www.paperarcade.co.uk Ad Sales and Partnerships Becki Menzies Editorial Assistant Jack Howse Cover Image Daniel Doherty by Eoin Carey Words by Ania Marchwiak, Arij Alnajjar, Bonnie Thomson, Becki Menzies, Daniel Doherty, David Carr, David Milosiu, Flora Zajicek, Helen Stewart, Inayah Jamil, Jack Howse, Michael McCandlish, Rhiannon J Davies, Marzanna Antoniak, Stefan Krajcik, Toni Bruce, Zanib Photos by Alexander Hoyles, Angela Catlin, Audrey Bizouerne, Becki Menzies, Eoin Carey, Iain McLellan, Michael Paley, Niall Miller, Rhiannon J Davies, Simon Murphy, Stefan Kajcik

Arij Alnajjar

Originally from Syria, Arij has been in Scotland since 2019 and now works for the council. She is fluent in four languages – Arabic, English, Greek and BSL – and is currently studying Italian, along with travel and tourism, at Glasgow City College. In her free time she likes dancing, cycling, cooking, travelling and trying new things.

Try out her recipe for a Syrian semolina cake on page 8

Illustrations by Alastair Quietsch, Esme Balcewicz, giacinta frisillo, Issey Medd, Hannah Moshtael, Laura Wade, Rachel Procter, Robert Wilson Translations by Ania Marchwiak, David Milosiu, Toni Bruce Printed by Gladstone Media Ltd

All content, unless otherwise stated, is copyright © Greater Govanhill CIC. All rights reserved. No part of this independently published magazine may be reproduced without permission.

Greater Govanhill CIC is a non-profit community interest company registered at 82 Bowman Street, Glasgow, G42 8LF, Scotland: SC656194.

Any queries, comments or letters, get in touch via: hello@greatergovanhill.com To make a complaint, visit: greatergovanhill.com/complaints

Contents REGULARS

FEATURES

News in Brief

46

06

All the latest from around the neighbourhood

And Breathe

PO LI SH

Some simple techniques that you can use to relax, or feel energised.

08

Like my Grandmother Used to Make

Learn how to make basbousa, a syrupy semolina cake from Syria

09

Volunteer Spotlight

GAMBLING HARMS SPECIAL

Meet Alex, DJ and volunteer with Radio Buena Vida

12

16

Style Icon

Our regular contributor giacinta is an icon in her own right!

13

My Life Before Govanhill

With Tamazi Chakhunashvili from Georgia

The Harm on our High Street

Have you ever noticed how many bookies are on Victoria Road?

18

10

Behind the Portrait

The Addiction Which is Being Ignored

Featuring Yusuf (and his dogs Suzy, Bono and Karra) with photography by Simon Murphy

20

14

(Some of) The Best…

Free and pay-what-you-can exercise classes around Govanhill

15

Zanib’s shares her experience of working in a betting shop RO M AN IA

‘Nu Risti, Nu Castigi’ – ‘You don’t risk, you don’t win’

How the Roma community is experiencing gambling harms Romanian Translation

22

Point of View

Hear both sides of the story when it comes to nail art.

A WALK IN QUEEN'S PARK By Issey Medd

Gambling Solutions

What can be done to help prevent the harm caused?

24

Where to Get Help for Gambling Issues

A list of helplines and resources for people affected by gambling harms

4

N

Multicultural Quiz Issue 9 Spring 2023

25

40

The samba-style group from one of Scotland’s most unique primary schools

How community outreach can improve uptake of cervical screenings

Connections: A Photo Essay

Photographer Stefan Krajcik shares his view

30

Tai Chi: The Pursuit of Harmony

How this gentle exercise can be good for both body and soul

31

A Day in the Life of Govanhill Library

The impact of a book-based sanctuary on community wellbeing

34

What can we do about the state of our lanes?

A community conversation exploring what can be done to improve our local environment.

36

¡Viva la Musica!

Have you heard the Govanhill Voices community choir?

42

Forging Connections Through Digital Inclusion

Organisations providing free technology and data to people experiencing inequality

44

The Difference a Chat Can Make How Govanhill’s cafes are tackling loneliness

TO CLOSE

48

What’s On

With a spotlight on International Women’s Day

50

Colour in Victoria Cross

From a new colouring book of the sights of Govanhill

38

50

Why people are turning to psychedelics to treat medical conditions

The Lass O’ Govanhill

by WM Thomson (1885) The Sons of Ghulam Muhammad

by Inayah Jamil

Alternative Medicines

Poetry Corner

50

‘Your Photo’ Play park in winter by Deedo Clark The articles where you see the Mind the Health Gap logo are part of a yearlong collaboration with investigative journalism co-op The Ferret exploring solutions to health inequalities. The project is funded by the European Journalism Centre, through the Solutions Journalism Accelerator.

This fund is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

FOLLOW US

@govanhill_mag

Below are some quotes from notable people across the world. Below each person, see if you can write their country of their birth. Which thought resonates with you the most?

“A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.” - Tom Stoppard “We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.”

- Khalil Gibran “Not all storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clear your path.” - Paulo Coelho “The drop grows happy by losing itself in the river.”

- Mirza Ghalib “Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.”

- Maya Angelou “When you do things from the soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” - Rumi “Our bodies are our gardens our wills are our gardeners.”

- William Shakespeare “Exercise is a key not only to physical health but to peace of mind.” - Nelson Mandela

greatergovanhill @greatergovanhill 5

Answers in order of appearance:

26

A Laser Focused Approach to Improving Health Inequalities

WORLD WISDOM ON WELLBEING

Czechia, Lebanon, Brazil, India, America, Iran, England, South Africa

Meet the Annette Street Drummers

By Marzanna Antoniak

news in brief £1000 Raised in Community Newsroom for People in Türkiye and Syria Greater Govanhill were pleased to team up with local volunteer-run community food project Kin Kitchen, for a food-based fundraiser in the Community Newsroom. The idea came from Turkish and Syrian volunteers in the group who wanted to do something for those affected by the catastrophic earthquakes. It was a real community affair, with baked goods donated by Locavore and Milk Cafe and recipes ingredients provided by Shawlands Continental. The leftovers were passed to Food Not Bombs Glasgow who distributed it from their free food stall the following day.

Volunteers who helped out included Abd, Esra, Jaafar, Rowan, Alice, T, Sarah, Yas, Sadia, Andrea, Euan, Myrtle, Jack and Spyro. On sale was maqluba, falafel, borek, and fatayer, as well as lots of cookies, cakes, pastries and other treats. The £1000 raised was split between organisations helping out in both countries.

Big Noise Govanhill Members Travel to India for ‘Concert For Friendship’ Twelve young musicians from Big Noise, a music education and social change programme with a base in Govanhill, will travel to Chennai, India this March to perform with other Scottish and Indian musicians in a night that celebrates the two countries’ musical heritages. The concert will feature over 100 young musicians who will perform works of classical composers, as well as Scottish melodies, Naga and Tamil folk songs, and Carnatic melodies.

Posties with the Mosties Calendar Raises over £7000 Last year, the tongue-in-cheek calendar featuring posties with their kit off was created and launched by striking postal workers, along with the Glasgow Southside Strike Solidarity group.

The sell-out calendar raised over £7000 for the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, Living Rent Glasgow tenants’ union and Milk Cafe – which supports migrant women and those navigating the asylum system. On 5 March, the money will handed over to the respective organisations.

Glasgow Zine Library Fundraising Glasgow Zine Library has been a part of the Cathcart Road thoroughfare since 2018 and in that time have hosted many workshops and built a community archive and zine library of over 1000 zines. Now, they have found a new and bigger home on Albert Road that will allow them to host larger projects and stock even more zines. While they have funding to cover things like rent, they have launched a Crowdfunder in order to make their space wheelchair accessible. For more information visit: glasgowzinelibrary.com

Agnew Lane Plans for a Community Garden Agnew Lane is disused, privately owned land just off Albert Road.

Since 2007, there have been multiple attempts to turn the space into a community garden, only to be thwarted by private developers. Now, the intention is to facilitate development of the land by the community, for the benefit of the community.

What is envisaged is a garden capable of not only supplying the community with free veg and fruit, but also providing grounds for native species of plants, insects, and animals to coexist. Keep up to date with what’s happening via agnewlane.co.uk and, if you fancy getting your hands dirty, there are community gardening days most Sundays from 1pm.

6

Scottish Child Law Centre Six Week Pilot In October last year, the Scottish Child Law Centre, a charity that offers free and confidential legal advice to children and young people, set up a pilot clinic in the Samaritan House on Coplaw Street. The initiative saw staff from the SCLC offer free, in-person, legal advice to individuals referred from other local services or self-referred through the centre. The pilot was a success with SCLC helping, among many others, a family who were being refused emergency accommodation even though they were legally entitled to it. The SCLC are hoping that the pilot’s success will mean they can secure funding to return to the area on a more permanent basis

Get Involved with Innovative Journalism-Theatre project, It’s Criminal A new storytelling collaboration between Greater Govanhill, The Ferret and Contemporary Narrative Labs, and supported by City University of London’s Higher Education Innovation Funding Knowledge Exchange, will work with a group of people with direct experience of the criminal justice system and with people from communities often scapegoated or blamed for crime. In the summer, participants will put on a live collaborative journalism show. To find out more and sign up for updates, visit: greatergovanhill.com/latest/its-criminal

news in brief ‘Our Rights, Our Communities’ Publish Report ‘Our Rights, Our Communities’ was a partnership project between Govanhill Baths Community Trust, Unity Sisters and Milk Café funded by the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project to further equality and human rights of New Scots Women among other aims. They have now published a report of their project with several key recommendations highlighted: 1. Partnership and collaboration with other organisations is important as it means you can achieve much more and reach more people.

2. Rather than taking a provisioning approach, organisations should take an enabling approach that empowers communities and encourages self-help.

3. To engage refugee communities, events must be accessible, including accessible language, transport costs and childcare.

4. It is paramount to include refugees in the shaping and delivery of the project as well as monitoring and evaluation, in a way that is meaningful and not tokenistic.

5. Peer-led community groups are best placed to deliver integration work as it is not a matter of reaching these communities but already being part of them.

Low Emissions Zones in Glasgow City Centre From 1 June 2023, the Glasgow Low Emission Zone (LEZ) will come into force.

This means that all vehicles entering the city centre zone area will need to meet the less-polluting emission standards or face a penalty charge. This is to reduce levels of harmful vehicle emissions in the city centre Diesel engine vehicles registered before September 2015, and petrol vehicles registered before 2006 onwards will not meet the required LEZ standards. The initial charge for non-compliant vehicles entering a LEZ in Scotland will be £60, reduced by 50 percent if paid within 14 days. This penalty will double with each subsequent breach of the rules detected in the same LEZ.

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New Home for Pollokshields Iron Railway Bridge Network Rail is currently carrying out major renovations of the railway line that runs under Nithsdale Street. The line is being fully electrified and this has sadly meant that the 146 year-old castiron footbridge has been removed from Darnley Road and Moray Place. But it hasn’t been destroyed.

Instead this bridge has found a new home in Angus, where it will be re-used in Brechin station.

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WORK WITH US! Greater Govanhill is currently seeking a full time trainee reporter/editor.

We’re looking for someone based locally with an interest in writing, and the Govanhill community.

Join our small but growing team and help us tell the stories that matter to you.

If you are interested in finding out more, please visit: greatergovanhill.com/jobs

like my grandmother used to make

Basbousa

By Arij Alnajjar There’s nothing quite like your grandmother’s cooking to transport you to a more familiar setting. And the kitchens of Govanhill tenements are filled with the aromas of a multitude of different cuisines reflecting the diverse make-up of the neighbourhood.

In this series, we ask people to provide a recipe that tastes like home.

Got a recipe to share?

Get in touch: hello@greatergovanhill.com

There are so many nice desserts in Syria, it was hard to choose one. But basbousa is not only tasty, it also has nice memories for me. Usually, my mum would bake it in the morning and the great smell would fill the home and wake me up. During Eid, people used to bake and then eat it together, which was always an amazing feeling.

Every time I make it, it makes me feel nostalgic for my family and home country.

Basbousa Recipe Makes around 12 pieces

For measuring, use any drinking glass you have in the cupboard.

Ingredients For the cakes - 4 eggs - ½ tsp vanilla extract - 1 glass sugar - ½ glass oil - ½ glass yogurt - ¼ glass milk - 1 glass fine semolina - 1 glass plain flour - ½ tsp baking powder - 1 glass of desiccated coconut

For the sugar syrup - 1 glass of water - 1-2 glasses of sugar - 1 tbsp of lemon juice To decorate - Whole nuts such as pistachios or almonds

Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk together with the vanilla extract.

3. Pour in the sugar and mix until dissolved.

4. Add the oil, yogurt, milk and mix.

5. Sift in the flour, semolina and baking powder and mix until there are no lumps.

6. Add in the desiccated coconut.

7. Pour the mixture into a lined or greased baking tin.

8. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

9. While the mixture is baking, make the sugar syrup.

10. Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and warm on a low-medium heat

to boiling point – do not mix it at any point or it will crystalise.

11. Take off the heat and add the lemon, mix it a little once it is a bit cooler

and then leave on the side.

12. Prick some holes into the cake and then pour the sugar syrup over

the basbousa.

13. Slice into little rectangles, decorate with nuts if you like, and serve.

In early February, devastating earthquakes struck in Turkey and Syria, killing tens of thousands of people. Many more have been left without shelter, their lives shattered. If you are in a position to do so, please consider making a donation to support those who need it most: donation.dec.org.uk/turkey-syria-earthquake-appeal

8

Volunteer Spotlight Alex Weiler

at Radio Buena Vida

Portrait by Alexander Hoyles As told to Rhiannon J Davies

I

grew up in Germany but I’m German-Colombian, so I spoke Spanish at home and always had a lot of South American cultural influences in my life. My mum used to be a salsa dancer, so there was always latin music playing and dancing was a big part of my everyday-life growing up.

In ‘Fluidity’, my show on Radio Buena Vida, I integrate my cultural identity and background into my DJing. I create hybrid soundscapes mixing European electronic music with more folky Latin rhythms, often with Spanish vocals. The idea is to share something that is unique about me with communities here and to amplify Latin American sounds across Glasgow.

Originally, I came to the UK to study Sustainable Development in St Andrews. I was interested in human-nature relationships, and what effect different ideas about nature have on upholding certain power structures as well as who gets included in conversations about sustainability. I’m interested in taking a social justice lens to sustainability conversations because I believe community-based solutions to environmental issues are crucial.

After I graduated I moved to Glasgow because I was really attracted to the city’s music scene and I knew there was a lot going on. I’d been involved with university radio and organising club nights before and when I moved to Glasgow, I wanted to see what was possible outside of university. When I came across Radio Buena Vida, I got in touch expressing an interest in having a show. Things just started happening from there. Now, it’s probably the place I spend the most time outside of my workplace. It’s a project that lies really close to my heart.

Apart from my involvement in Radio Buena Vida, I am part of an audiovisual collective called ‘Phlox’. We organise multi-sensory club nights in various spaces around Glasgow and also have a show on Subcity Radio.

I also have a monthly show on Hill52 Radio where I invite a guest to chat about heartbreak and share their favourite heart-break music. It is really fun for me to be able to share different parts of myself through all of these creative involvements.

As well as being a resident DJ, I’m an ‘in station’ volunteer at Radio Buena Vida. That means that I welcome DJs who come in to have a show, making them feel comfortable in the space. If it’s their first time, I show them how the equipment works. I’m also responsible for making sure that streams for the different shows go out on time and that they get recorded so that we can upload them to SoundCloud after.

Radio Buena Vida has such a wide range of show hosts and musical genres which I find really exciting. Every time I’m there, I meet somebody new and it makes me feel really happy to be part of this vibrant music community. I like being able to support people who have never had a show before, to introduce them to radio and make them feel welcome.

The cafe is just a really warm place to be – the food is amazing as well.

And I love that when you play a set, you’re not hidden away but you’re looking right out onto Victoria Road.

The whole idea of Radio Buena Vida was to give all sorts of people with different experiences within music, but also just within life, a chance to share what they’re into. ‘Buena Vida’ is Spanish for ‘The Good Life’ and I think that sums up what the radio station is about – creating beauty and happiness through music and community. The shows that are on the station are quite diverse and are trying to move away from being elitist or exclusive in any way. Everyone is welcome to come and do their thing and I think that’s really unique. It could be a visiting DJ who’s in town to play a big gig, or pupils from the local school. Everyone’s valued.

If you’ve never DJed before, it can seem a lot more scary than it actually is. David and Suz, who founded Radio Buena Vida, are really lovely. The amount of time they have for people is pretty special, and they’ve built an incredibly supportive community that really wants you to succeed and have fun. Everybody starts somewhere, and this is a place that is really understanding of people who are just starting out. I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on the community I gained from being part of the radio station.

Tune in or find out more at buenavida.co.uk or visit the radio cafe at 535 Victoria Road.

BEHIND THE PORTRAIT Yusuf Prahad Photo by Simon Murphy Interview by Rhiannon J Davies

10 1

Dog walker, Yusuf Prahad, is a well-known face around the Southside. When sharing this portrait, photographer Simon Murphy said: “Apart from myself... Yusuf most likely puts the most miles in around Govanhill. It’s rare not to see Yusuf out and about either with ‘the pack’ or with some other dogs.” The three dogs pictured here are his own – Suzy, Bono and Karra – who all feature on his Facebook page, ‘The Pack’.

This photo was taken as part of Simon Murphy’s ‘100 Rolls’ project. For more, follow @smurph77 on Instagram.

We’re hosting a Q&A with Simon Murphy in the Community Newsroom on 16th March.

Book your ticket by visiting greatergovanhill.com/newsroom

I prefer dogs to people. I spend 99 percent of my time with dogs. I live with three and I never visit anyone’s house if I can’t take them.

People generally tend to let you down – dogs don’t. I find people a lot more stressful than dogs.

Most of the folk I have hung out with over the years taught me one thing; watch who you trust.

If a dog does something wrong, it’s usually due to human error. Everyone wants to blame the dog. No one wants to blame the person that created the problems.

A lot of people treat them as children. And the reality is they’re animals, they’re not children.

They don’t go off in bad moods, they bite. You have to train them as pups.

All I do is focus on the dogs. I start my mornings at 6am, taking them out for their first walk of the day. They get three walks a day, seven days a week. Even on Christmas.

Apart from my three, I walk about six dogs a day. I don’t walk them in big groups though.

It can be dangerous, because if one turns, there’s a potential they all could as well.

When I first took on Karra, she was being abused. She was never socialised with other dogs and she’s very distant. When you give her affection, she acts as if she doesn’t quite understand what affection is.

I grew up in a children’s home, which used to be quite oppressive. But when a new director took over, he changed the home and brought in animals – dogs, goats, sheep, even geese.

If you were taking a dog for a walk, you were allowed out on your own. So I would take a beagle called Kelly out and spend the whole afternoon walking from Dunoon to Sandbank and back.

It was brilliant.

Walking dogs gave me a feeling of freedom, but also a bond. That was incredible because there were no conditions attached. In the home and in school, friendships always had conditions.

With this dog, there were none.

I was homeless in Glasgow, when I left the children’s home. At that time, I was scared of big dogs because I’d never been near big dogs before.

I was into punk music and, in those days, a lot of punks had dogs. Some of the bands were dreadful – even by punk standards they were bad. So rather than going to gigs, I stayed home with the dogs. After that I wasn’t scared of big dogs.

I became a Muslim. But eventually I stopped practising as otherwise I wouldn’t be able to have a dog in the house [because dogs are perceived as impure in Islam]. My love for dogs became really powerful, as powerful as the feeling I had when I became a Muslim.

Before I started dog walking, I fostered rescue dogs. I’d take the ones that no one else would.

I was brought up in care and I got a chance, so I wanted to give these dogs a chance.

I ended up having my first dog, Eloise, for 11 years.

I keep my dog walking prices affordable. I found that lots of people aren’t able to look after the dog, because of disability or illness. So I thought, instead of you giving up the dog, why don’t you have someone walk it.

When I’m walking in King’s Park, you’ll usually see me being followed by crows. During lockdown, I started feeding the crows there, and I’m addicted to the crows now. They’re smart.

I’ve seen a guy trying to set a dog on Asian kids and another time on an Eastern European guy.

The dog wasn’t interested and refused. But it stayed in my memory because it was horrible.

I want to encourage people to know about dogs. You don’t have to embrace them, but you shouldn’t fear them. You should never have to walk the streets in fear.

I’ve always embraced what I feared. I used to volunteer at Glasgow Zoo, looking after snakes.

I was terrified of snakes, but I learned it was just a matter of always knowing where the head is.

These three are my family. The one I never had. And, we’re all doing pretty well.

11

Style Icon giacinta frisillo

Hey giacinta!

What are you wearing today?

Figuring out what to wear for this shoot was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do in a while! Eventually, I landed on an oversized vintage men’s pink cotton shirt I found at Barnardo’s, a pair of unexpectedly comfortable bright turquoise Swedish clogs that I got on the Brilliant Bartering Facebook group for a bottle of wine, and the first ever piece of clothing I made from scratch – a 1” pleated skirt I sewed by hand. I got the fabric for free from Materials for the Arts in Queens, New York. A local Dominican tailor in Brooklyn gifted me a zipper because I spoke Spanish to him. I don’t actually wear it that often, but it was one of the articles of clothing that came with me in the move from New York because it holds a lot of memories for me and I’m pretty proud of it. Of course, I’ve also got on a black turtleneck and tights – my daily standard in perpetually chilly Scotland.

I love your chunky jewellery, are you a big accessories fan?

I do love accessories and have probably far too many. It’s a bad day when I’ve forgotten to put on earrings and it’s always a better day when I’ve chosen some rings, a bracelet and a necklace. Don’t even get me started on badges and brooches!

Where do you find your clothes?

I love vintage clothes and have been almost exclusively shopping at thrift shops since high school, when I began to have the confidence to dress in the older styles I loved. Since moving to Govanhill, I can be found perusing Barnardo’s on Victoria Road several times a week.

I also like to raid my mom’s closet and jewellery boxes when back home and never say no to a hand-me-down. My dear friend Rosie has given me some beautiful things. It’s become easier to wear a lot of this stuff since I’ve gotten more comfortable tailoring my clothes and I’ve taken to doing so with nearly every piece.

A bit of tailoring can go a long way.

Interview by Jack Howse Portrait by Eoin Carey

What’s been your best secondhand find?

This is such a difficult question! I don’t think I can answer this with complete confidence, but one of my favourite finds is a pink and orange shimmery brocade 1970s formal dress I found at a vintage shop in Dublin. I like to buy clothing when I travel because when I wear it, it brings back happy memories.

Another very special find that comes to mind is the set of golden vintage knotted metal buttons I got to replace the cheap brown plastic buttons on my winter coat (also vintage, from Berlin). There’s a shop in New York called Tender Buttons that specialises in vintage buttons and cufflinks, some of which are extraordinarily expensive. It’s a very quiet archival treasure trove and I love it.

Have you got a style icon or a favourite era?

Bowie is my biggest icon – not only because of the outfits he wore, but because he pushed boundaries, borrowed influences from everywhere, and took changes in his stride. Otherwise, I watch a lot of old films and get a bunch of style concepts there. I love so very many styles within eras from the past, but my favourites are the 30s for formal wear, the 40s for women’s workwear, and the 70s for both everyday and nights out.

You usually do our style icon interviews. Any tips you’ve picked up from your predecessors?

I have been in awe of everyone who has participated in this section and have loved having the opportunity to chat with them about their style and how it’s intertwined with their lives. That said, I think it’s a sort of “I-don’t-mind-pushing-others-into-itbut-I’m-scared-stiff-when-I-get-anywhereclose-to-it-myself” kind of thing and being this issue’s style icon has been both exciting and terrifying! I suppose my main take away is to exude confidence – not just in photos, which I don’t have an easy time doing – but in life. Wear your clothes with pride. Be noticed by people for your choices. Don’t follow trends; make them.

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MY LIFE BEFORE GOVANHILL

TAMAZI CHAKHUNASHVILI AKA ‘TAZO’ Interview by Marzanna Antoniak

RUSSIA

Where do you come from?

I was born in the beautiful mountainous country of Georgia and grew up in a small village called Dikhaskho in the municipality of Vani. I come from an educated family. My mum is a teacher of maths and computer programming, and my dad is an engineer.

Dikhaskho

GEORGIA ARMENIA

AZERBAIJAN

TURKEY

What about your education?

IRAN When I finished school, I went to Akaki Tsereteli State University, to study in the faculty of agriculture. I grew up in the countryside so nature means everything to me. I’ve always liked to take care of the trees and I’ve always had a strong affinity with land, fields and meadows. My grandfather was an agronomist [soil management and crop production expert]. We had a strong bond and I wanted to follow in his footsteps.

How did you enjoy spending your time when you lived in Georgia?

All my life, I’ve done sports – eight years of football and ten years of volleyball.

I couldn’t imagine a day when I wouldn’t play. That was the most important thing to me. Unfortunately, after a few injuries playing football, I decided to leave it behind despite having reached a high level.

What was it like when you came to Scotland?

When I came to Scotland, I didn’t have a lot of friends here. With time, I met some very good people and I call them my friends now. They also are into sports and they invited me to play volleyball with them.

How do you find living in Govanhill?

I moved to Govanhill in June. I like this area. It’s quiet where I live. My flat is just a few minutes walk from the Queen’s Park rec, where my team won this year’s volleyball tournament. There were some excellent professional teams competing against us, but we were the best and that fills me with pride.

Do you think you’ve settled here for good?

I want to return to Georgia. I’ve got a big house there with a big yard. I love my country and that’s where I can see myself grow old. One day, I’d like to marry a Georgian woman and create a family. I hope we will live happily in close proximity to my parents, so that I can look after them. My family means everything to me.

Why should people visit Georgia?

We’re a small, extremely hospitable and picturesque country. Our people are warm, always helpful and smiling. We have some breathtaking locations and good weather. If you like water, we’ve got the Black Sea; if you’re into climbing, we’ve got the Caucasus mountains with peaks over 5000 metres tall. Our language is very special, too. It uses a beautiful script and features some unique sounds that you can challenge yourself to pronounce. We’re known for our cuisine, too, so make sure you try my favourite, khachapuri (cheese breads) and khinkali (dumplings) when you visit!

GEORGIAN PHRASES გამარჯობა

როგორა ხარ?

გაგიმარჯოს!

დიდი მადლობა

gamarjoba

rogo rakhar?

gagimarjos!

didi madloba

hello

how are you?

cheers! (informal, toasting wine)

thank you very much

Yoga at Category is Books

THE BEST FREE OR PAY-WHATYOU-CAN

EXERCISE CLASSES AROUND GOVANHILL

by Jack Howse

Did you know that everyone’s favourite queer bookshop also doubles up as a yoga studio? Well now you do! Bring your own mat to their space on the corner of Alison Street and Niddrie Road for this beginnerfriendly gentle yoga class, to start your weekend right.

Saturdays 9-10am categoryisbooks.com

Woman on Wheels Activities at Govanhill Workspace An organisation designed and led by women – to get women back on a bike or get them on one for the very first time. They run sessions on Mondays and Saturdays for group cycling lessons and confidence building cycle rides.

The scheme runs on a pay-what-youcan sliding scale from £0 to £10 for lessons and £15 for led-rides.

Mondays and Saturdays, various times womenonwheels.org.uk

Parkrun at Queen’s Park Parkrun is a nationwide initiative that encourages people to go for a 5km walk, jog or run every Saturday morning. To find the start, head into the park through the Victoria Road entrance and turn right. Entry is free, but you need to register online to get a barcode which will be scanned to record your time.

Saturdays 9:30am parkrun.org.uk/queensglasgow

Cycling Lessons at Bike for Good Join Bike for Good every Sunday to get your cycling skills into gear. Whether you are just starting out or wanting to learn the rules of the busy Glasgow roads, Bike for Good can help you get to the next level of cycling. Sessions run on a pay-what-you-can model.

Sundays – there are a number of beginner and intermediate sessions. bikeforgood.org.uk

Tai Chi at the Hidden Gardens If you’re looking for a gentle exercise class, open to all abilities, what better way to spend your Tuesday and Thursday mornings than in the verdant Hidden Gardens practicing Tai Chi? The class is open to all abilities (including children aged over 10 accompanied by an adult). It’s drop-in and free of charge. The class is held in the boilerhouse during the winter months.

Tuesdays and Thursdays 11am-12pm thehiddengardens.org.uk 14

Korfball at Shawlands Academy and Hillpark Secondary School Korfball is a Dutch game that shares similarities with basketball and netball.

The game sees two mixed teams of eight players battle it out to score points by throwing the ball through the opposing team’s basket. Monday night beginners’ session at Hillpark Seconday School are totally free, while club sessions at Shawlands Academy have different membership options.

Mondays 7-9pm (beginners) Wednesdays 7:30-9:30pm (club training) scotlandkorfball.co.uk

Tai Chi at the Larkfield Centre Danny Doherty (featured on the cover of this issue) runs free beginner classes for tai chi newbies or those wanting to pick it back up. He hopes to start running his intermediate class again so get in touch if you want a tougher challenge.

Thursdays 1:30-3pm foundationtaichiglasgow.com

Keep Fit For Over 55s at The Dixon Community The Day Opportunities Project has regular weekly sessions plus monthly special events held at Dixon Halls on Cathcart Road. These include chair yoga, line dancing and keep fit. Open to carers and anyone aged over 55.

Fridays 1pm 0141 423 2481

Youth Football at Toryglen Football Centre The Active Life Club down on Prospecthill Road offers a safe place for indoor and outdoor football for people aged 5-25. Come along and enjoy fun coaching sessions and matches specific to your age group.

Activities are free, but you need to become a member via the Active Life Club website.

Saturdays 12-2pm activelifeclub.org

Health Walks in Queen’s Park Weekly walks led by Good Move volunteer walk leaders and partner organisations happen all around Glasgow. Walk leaders are there to ensure they go at a pace you are comfortable with and all abilities are welcome. There are also walks for people with sight impairments run in conjunction with the RNIB. Mondays at 11am goodmoveglasgow.com

POINT OF VIEW The Nail Artist

“Y

By Becki Menzies

ou’re the first person to hold my hand”. It’s a sentence that will stay with me forever.

My career in the nail industry started in March 2020, just as the country entered the first lockdown of the pandemic. Lucky me! For a few months, painting nails was my only real escape from the noise of the news and the lack of private space in my flatshare.

When I started working in a salon, we were one of the first and only places to reopen as the lockdown eased in summer 2020. I’d gone from my bubble of four, to seeing five or six different clients a day. That’s when someone told me I was the first person to hold their hand.

For some of the people I met in those first appointments, those who lived alone, I was quite literally the only person allowed to touch them. For others, coming from flatshares or busy families, their two hours with me was the only time they had to themselves. I felt privileged to be able to give people a space in which they could be comfortable and safe.

I’ve always found the process of doing someone’s nails an intimate one.

There’s the trust that people give me to create a little piece of art on their hands, taking care of their nail health and their openness with me about their lives.

What’s said to your nail artist, stays with your nail artist.

Us nail artists don’t just do nails.

We’re there for our clients for the big and small life events – relationships, breakups, fallouts, new jobs, new homes, day-to-day stress, the good news, and the bad. I see some of my clients more than I see my own pals.

I’ve only ever been a nail artist in a crisis. First the pandemic, now the cost of living crisis. I share my clients' worries and anxieties, but we right the wrongs of the world at our appointments. They inspire me, and I look forward to our wee catch ups every month.

That’s not to say it doesn’t take its toll. People often joke about hairdressers and beauticians being therapists, but in many ways we are. Working in the pandemic was hard and taking on people’s anxieties whilst dealing with my own, was no easy task. It’s an emotionally and physically demanding job. Burnout is common, and we’re the worst at looking after ourselves – ironically. But I wouldn’t change it.

I didn’t expect to fall in love with being a nail artist the way that I have. I get to wake up and spend the day creating tiny pieces of art, and every day there’s a new story to tell. I’ll forever be grateful to my clients, past and present, for supporting this nail artist in a crisis.

The Client

By Helen Stewart

I

’m sure that many people think paying to have your nails done once a month is a frivolous and unnecessary expense. Not to sound overdramatic, but I consider it a necessity. When money is tight, I’ll cut out everything superfluous to survive, but my nails don’t fit that category.

I have three young children, with only a 14 month gap between the two youngest. I’ve been on maternity leave back-to-back for two years – during and immediately after a pandemic. One of my children is disabled. For me, getting my nails done constitutes so much more than making them look nice – though I do love having pretty nails – and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

When I sit in the chair in Becki’s nail studio I feel an instant sense of relief. It is escapism. Her studio is serene; there are no nursery rhymes on the TV or building blocks tripping me up on the floor. I can pause the continual mental to-do list that I internally refer to every 30 seconds.

She gifts me two hours, just for me.

That probably sounds inconsequential, but without these little pockets of joy to look forward to, it can be hard to survive the monotonous days, weeks, and months. Sometimes Becki is the only other adult I’ve spoken to for some time.

I’m sure that’s obvious to her, since I start offloading every single thought I’ve had in the past month as soon as she reaches for the hand sanitiser.

We talk about everything and anything, from the latest cute achievements of one of my babies to our current sources of existential dread courtesy of the news headlines. Becki is more than just a nail artist – she’s a great listener and friend. And my two-hour holiday to see her is often the reminder I so desperately need that I am more than just a mum.

I usually stumble out of the door in the mornings, laden with school bags and wriggling children, without even having the time to think about my own appearance. It might have been four days since I last washed my hair and weeks since I’ve worn any mascara, but at least my nails always look lovely. So, I can’t look entirely bedraggled, right?

Maybe it is selfish of me to spend the money on my nails, but it makes me happy, and I need and deserve that.

“What’s said to your nail artist, stays with your nail artist.”

Follow @getnailed_bb on Instagram for more.

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Have you ever noticed just how many bookies there are on Victoria Road – and how this compares to other areas of the city? In this multi-part feature, we explore what impact this may have on the health of our community.

By Jack Howse | Illustrations by Rachael Procter

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have been a part8 ofNative communities for a long time, andDancer it’s Dancer 8 Native a kind of cultural habit,” she told us. “There's not actually many community spaces where people can go, whereas 1 Secretariat 1 Secretariat a betting shop does offer that. It's somewhere to go in, to 2 Seattle Slew 2 Seattle Slew hang around to speak to people… when there's 3 Man o’ War 3 not Man o’very War 4 Citation 4 Citation are many public spaces where you can go, these venues Rum 5 Red Rum public spaces”. 56 Red Seabiscuit 6 Seabiscuit However, the 7number of betting shops is only half the Kelso 7 Kelso 8 Native Dancer 8 Native Dancer picture – the geography of betting shops is even starker when mapped against the Scottish Multiple Deprivation Index. Forty-two 1percent of Glasgow’s betting 1shops are Secretariat Secretariat in the most deprived fifth 2 Seattle Slew of the city. In contrast, 2 just SeattletwoSlew 3 can Man o’ be War found in the most affluent 3 Man o’fifth.

War and-a-half percent 4 Citation 4 Citation That’s nearly seventeen times less.

5 Red Rum 5 Red Rum This, of course,6 has an impact on gambling addiction Seabiscuit 6 Seabiscuit in 7 Kelso 7 Kelso these areas. According to Gerda’s research, those living in 8 Native Dancer 8 Native Dancer the most deprived areas are over five times more likely to experience gambling harms than those living in the least 1 Secretariat Secretariat deprived. Gambling harms can be defined as1 ‘adverse Seattle Slew 2 Seattle Slew impacts on the2 health and wellbeing of individuals,

ext time youDancer walk down your local high street, 8 Native 8 Native Dancer count how many bookies you see. Once you start noticing them, you will see they are 1 Secretariat everywhere, particularly if you live 1inSecretariat one of 2 Seattle Slew 2 Seattle Slew the less affluent 3neighbourhoods, like Govanhill.

Man o’ War 3 Man o’ War 4 Citation of bookies nationally is 4 huge.

Citation In In fact, the number 5 Red Rum 5 Red Rum 2020, the Gambling Commission reported that there 6 Seabiscuit 6 Seabiscuit were over 10,000 premises in Britain – more7 than 7 Kelso Kelso the 8 Native 8 Native Dancer number of stores run Dancer by the eight largest supermarket chains in the country. The numbers are even starker here in Glasgow. It has more bookies per person than any city 1 Secretariat 1 Secretariat in the UK with one betting 2 Seattle Slew shop for every 3,2002 people.

Seattle Slew Man o’ War 3 Manshops o’ War As people shift3 their spending habits online, and 4 Citation 4 Citation close down, we 5frequently hear about the death of the Red Rum 5 Red Rum high street, so why are there still such a large number 6 Seabiscuit 6 Seabiscuit of Kelso 7 Kelso betting shops on7 our high streets, especially considering 8 Native Dancer 8 Native Dancer how easy it is to place a bet online these days?

Gerda Reith is a sociologist of gambling, addiction 1 Secretariat 1 and Secretariat and consumption at the University of Glasgow has Seattle Slew Seattle Slew considered this 2very question in her research.2 “Bookies

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gambling harms special

families, communities and society’.

Faced with these sobering statistics, we wanted to map the spread of gambling premises here in Govanhill.

The results are pretty shocking.

We found that in Govanhill, there are six bookmakers – four on Victoria Road, one on Cathcart Road and one on Aikenhead Road. If we take the population as approximately 15,000, this works out at about one bookmaker for every 2,500 residents. In contrast, Byres Road, a high street in the city’s more affluent West End that is the same length as Victoria Road, has only one betting shop.

The statistic that there are more betting shops than big-chain supermarkets also holds true on Victoria Road; Sainsburys, Lidl and Tesco are the three places on Victoria Road to wrangle with a self-service checkout compared to the four stops to spin a digital roulette wheel. In fact there are more betting places than there are newsagents (3), pubs (3), pharmacies (2), and banks (1).

But the number of places you can put a bet doesn’t end with the bookies. There are the fruit machines inside pubs, the arcades and the lottery tickets and scratchcards on supermarket counters. If we count all these places, the number of places you can place a bet on Victoria Road more than doubles to eleven, with five of these being dedicated gambling premises – the four bookies and an amusement arcade.

As Gerda highlights, these spaces have become a place for people who might not have anywhere else to go. They’re warm, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know much English, you don’t have to be buying drinks and you can keep a low profile. Yet the proliferation of these spaces can lead to real harm and reduce health and wellbeing for people affected by addiction.

Over the next few pages, we explore how deep the problem is, how it affects different communities and what the solutions might be.

This multi-part featured is made possible by the Glasgow Gambling Harms Small Grant Fund led and supported through the Glasgow Council of Voluntary Services as part of a pathfinder project to support the delivery of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms in Scotland.

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By Zanib Illustrations by giacinta frisillo

P

icture this. It’s Saturday night, the rain is pouring down, and the shop begins to fill up fast with people from all walks of life ready to lose a couple of hundred pounds.

It’s mostly people placing bets on races of £20 a go, alongside the automated spins set up on the ‘puggy’ (slot machine) with an occasional look up to see if they’ve hit the jackpot.

I worked as a bookmaker in Glasgow City Centre for over two years, mostly evenings and weekends whilst I studied for my degree. The customers came in all shapes and forms. We had the angry ones, eager to frame their loss as my problem.

There were the flirters, using charm to distract from their recent losses on football predictions. Then we had the regulars, the everyday visitors who sat in the same seats, day after day, to fill out their ‘Lucky 15’ bet.

Whilst there were a lot of men, there was a fair share of women too. Some carried stacks of pounds in a lunch bag ready to play a fishing game for hours, and there were those who would pop in after a three hour cleaning shift, looking for a bit of escape.

It’s easy to judge the people that came into the bookies, but the reality is gambling, like alcohol or substances, is an addiction. The customers had reasons for being there, often rooted in wider economic and societal issues.

For the regulars, the bookies was often a place to counter loneliness, where spending time watching horses was better than being alone at home. The reality for many customers was that their addiction had become so bad, it was just a temptation to return and gamble what they could.

Similarly, for those who would bet hard and fast with seconds to go before the end of a match or race – the possibilities of winning were just too much not to bet.

The truth is that many weren’t able to stop themselves. Gambling wasn’t fun anymore. It was a constant chase to get back what they’d lost, and part of this would be by deceiving people, making their own handwriting illegible so that money could be chased whether it was a win or a loss.

Some people would wait outside the shop asking for change, which would be gambled away within seconds. For the women with stacks of money, it was often related to criminal activities, where women would be unsuspected targets for money laundering. And lastly, the women who came in after a shift, they had often barely any time for themselves, life would be taken

“...it would take a loss of £10,000 before we would approach a customer to ask if they were okay...”

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up with providing for others and household duties. Gambling was just a chance for a bit of escapism, but one that came at a price.

It’s easy to stereotype people who gamble. But there are vulnerabilities, social issues and health issues all affecting these individuals and their gambling habits. With Glasgow City having the highest concentration of betting shops in the UK, I can understand the temptation. Some bookies in Glasgow open as early as 7am and are open as late as 10pm. The only place that isn’t a restaurant operating those hours is a supermarket, and they’re providing an essential of food. Moreover, these gambling shops are placed tactically to attract customers in areas with higher deprivation so there’s easy access.

It’s not our place to pass judgement on people with gambling addictions.

But we should critically assess the lack of support and prevention in place to limit gambling. Why has this industry not been tackled? Why is it

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becoming more and more accessible whilst it sucks people’s lives away? You don’t need to just step into bookies to gamble. Oh no, it’s much easier than that. You can now pick up a card at the till of a shop without even stating the stake or type of lottery ticket you want. Or if that’s not easy enough, you can gamble from the comfort of your bed on an app you can register within five minutes. Gambling has been normalised from a young age. It starts with flashy lights in arcades and the chance of winning some cheap toy flushing pocket money until the tub is empty.

In 2019, Glasgow City Council found that gambling affects adolescents more than smoking or drinking alcohol. The effects of gambling are so vast, that it really should be treated as what it is – a public health issue. For many, gambling may start off as a bit of fun, but it’s linked to poverty, depression, loneliness, lack of motivation and crime. People are targeted by gambling companies, eager to cash in on their vulnerability, and at the moment, no one seems to have the power or will to stop them.

When working in the bookies, it would take a loss of £10,000 before we would approach a customer to ask if they were okay, and this would only occur due to the big red sign on screen.

I spoke to two ex gamblers, to get a perspective into the harms which gambling had had and their views on how we can tackle them. Both Martin Paterson and Kelly Field feature in a powerful short documentary called One Last Spin, which was created by community interest company cofounded by Martin; The Machine Zone. You can learn more about the film by visiting themachinezone.com

Martin Paterson

Do you think that wider intervention from the government is required to limit gambling harms?

Martin: Definitely. The government should have regulated the industry a long time ago to keep up to date with the digital online harms gambling can cause.

Kelly: Yes there should be much more intervention. The industry is a business but doesn’t follow their duty of care.

It is allowed to bombard the young and vulnerable via TV, radio and social media.

As an ex gambler, what was it that made you think I had to stop?

M: Trauma made me realise I had to stop. Family tragedy made me realise I had not been a good father or husband. It was irrational thinking that a win would solve all our financial woes – it never did, it just got worse.

K: For me like with any addiction, I hit my own rock bottom. I was emotionally, physically and psychologically exhausted. I had maxed out five credit cards and lost thousands. I was suicidal and my mental health was in the gutter.

What types of factors led you to gamble originally?

M: Everybody gambled on football or horses, so when I started it was deemed normal and embedded into society. There are no health warnings of the dangers.

K: I started to gamble while dealing with a work-related grievance. It was escapism from reality. Quickly I had crossed the invisible line of addiction.

The adverts on TV target women during the day with bingo.

What are the stereotypes of gambling addicts?

M: The public misunderstands gambling addiction. It’s seen as greed because no substance is involved as such, but the brain is being hijacked and hacked. For example, A lady leaving the bingo hall is nothing unusual, But if she is suffering from gambling harm nobody would know.

An old guy leaving the bookies beaten and broken would not get much sympathy. Society and the gambling industry put the onus onto the

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Kelly Field

individual, ‘nobody made you do it’, – that sort of thing.

K: It is seen as a male-dominated addiction. Support services are maledominated, but games and products are targeted at males and females.

Bingo is all singing, all dancing community-based gambling.

Speaking first-hand to people who have gambled has highlighted the normalisation and targeting that the gambling industry does to lure people into gambling. It is evident that although there are perceptions of self-fulfilment and indulgence from people engaging in gambling, there is a targeted easy access to gambling and a lack of responsibility when harms are evident.

gambling harms special

'Nu Risti, nu Castigi' – 'You don't risk, you don't win'

by David Milosiu and Toni Bruce

Syellow and blue spill and clink out onto the getting nowhere in life.” mall ceramic tiles displaying numbers in red,

to be honest, so I just had to put a stop, as I was

floor. Somewhere, a beer pops open. Coffee is poured. Laughter erupts.

We are with Lacian* and Brancu at a game of remi, (also known as rummy) a gambling card game played often by men in the local Romanian Roma community. Right now, the mood is jovial and relaxed. But Lacian tells me, things can be much more tense: “There’s no limit for the amount of money you can bet in remi. It could be £10 or £10,000. I lost mostly everything. It led to big arguments with my family. I should have brought money home, but I would gamble instead.”

It is thought that over 200,000 people in Scotland are engaged in ‘problem gambling’; either addicted to gambling or at risk of developing an addiction. We took a closer look at how gambling can affect people in our Roma community.

Of the people we interviewed, who all asked to remain anonymous, they were more likely to play in real life rather than online gambling. This ranged from poker and blackjack in the casinos, to slot machines and purchasing lottery tickets.

One man we spoke to, Florin, told us about his gambling habits: “I play a lot. I play scratch cards, I draw about four or five lottery tickets a week and I also play slots two to three times a week. I spend about £100 a week on the slots. This is my vice – I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, but I gamble.”

In Govanhill, our respondents noted just how many betting shops there were in such a small place, and the repercussions of this. Florin spoke about putting down a £15-30 bet every few days, just because he was passing. When he wins, he puts it all back into the game.

Others would find themselves leaving one betting shop, only to be tempted into the next.

Damian* told us with exasperation: “There are too many around. Once you get out of one, you go into another one!”

Some of the men felt that the only way they could feel good about gambling was simply to give it up. Doru said: “I have stopped gambling. I was arguing with my family, losing a lot of money and I didn’t have any money to buy clothes, food or to maintain myself. It was making my life hell

The topic of shame came up a lot, as well as feelings of rage. Daniel told us: “If I don’t win, it stresses me out. If I see other people winning, it makes me angry.” This impact is well documented, and has wider impacts too.

Researchers at the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health found around almost 65 percent of people with a gambling problem were experiencing clinically significant anger problems and one in four people surveyed were engaging in domestic violence.

For most of the men we spoke to, they started gambling because it was fun. However, the fun would soon turn to stress when money started being lost. And there were many more losses than wins: “We would win once and lose ten times,” recalls one.

Rather than fun, they found themselves playing for the money they had lost, as without it they couldn’t afford food for their family. The cost of living crisis has made things even more difficult for those living in poorer areas, and a chance to ‘try your luck’ can become ever more appealing, especially if there is a chance on every corner.

However, community can also be found.

Back to the room with the clacking tiles, the air punctuated with strong coffee and even stronger laughter. Lacian and Brancu are relaxed, joking with friends. The secret to their enjoyment? They no longer play for money.

“It got so stressful that we don’t play for money anymore, we just do it to have fun with friends,” Brancu explains. “It’s much better this way.”

Instead, the men play to avoid ‘punishments’.

If someone loses, they will have to do a forfeit such as drink a lot of water or stick paper towels in their ears. Instead of harmful emotions that get stirred up by the loss of money such as rage or shame – the men playfully tease the opponent, and that’s the end of that.

They laugh, they drink beer or a coffee, they set up another game.

“I should have brought money home, but I would gamble instead.”

*All names have been changed for anonymity.

20

roma news and views

'Nu Risti, nu Castigi'

R O M A N IA

N

de David Milosiu și Toni Bruce

Proșii, galbene și albastre se revarsă și lăcile ceramice mici care afișează numere

țâșnesc pe podea. Undeva, se deschide o bere.

Se toarnă cafeaua. Râsete izbucnesc.

Suntem cu Lacian* și Brancu* la un joc de „remi”, sau „rummy”, așa cum este cunoscut și sub numele de - un joc de noroc jucat des de bărbați din comunitatea locală de romi din România. Starea de spirit este jovială și relaxată. După cum îmi spune Lacian, lucrurile pot fi mult mai tensionate: „Nu există limită pentru suma de bani pe care o poți paria în remi. Ar putea fi 10 lire sterline, ar putea fi 10.000 lire sterline. Am pierdut aproape totul. A dus la mari certuri cu familia mea. Ar fi trebuit să aduc bani acasă, dar jucat în schimb Se crede că peste 200.000 de scoțieni sunt prinși în „jocuri de noroc cu probleme”; fie dependent de jocuri de noroc sau riscă să dezvolte o dependență. Am aruncat o privire mai atentă asupra modului în care jocurile de noroc pot afecta oamenii din comunitatea noastră de romi.

Dintre persoanele pe care le-am intervievat, care au cerut toți să rămână anonime, au mai multe șanse să joace în viața reală decât jocurile de noroc online. Jocurile preferate au variat de la poker și blackjack în cazinouri, la aparate de slot și cumpărarea de bilete de loterie.

Un bărbat cu care am vorbit, Florin, ne-a povestit despre obiceiurile lui de jocuri de noroc” „Joc mult. Joc lozuri, trag vreo patrucinci bilete de loterie pe săptămână și joc și sloturi de două-trei ori pe săptămână.

Cheltuiesc aproximativ 100 de lire sterline pe săptămână pe sloturi. Acesta este viciul meu – nu fumez, nu beau, dar pariez.”

După cum s-a menționat mai devreme în revistă, magazinele de pariuri sunt mai probabil să se găsească în zonele defavorizate, mai degrabă decât în zonele bogate, iar rata jocurilor de noroc cu probleme în aceste zone este în mod corespunzător mai mare. În Govanhill, respondenții noștri au remarcat câte magazine de pariuri existau într-un loc atât de mic și repercusiunile acestui lucru. Florin a vorbit despre renunțarea la un pariu de 15-30 de lire sterline la fiecare câteva zile, doar pentru că trece. Când câștigă, pune totul înapoi în joc.

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Alții s-ar trezi că părăsesc un magazin de pariuri, doar pentru a fi tentați în următorul. Damian* ne-a spus cu exasperare: „Sunt prea mulți în jur.

Odată ce ieși dintr-unul, intri în altul!”

Unii dintre bărbați au simțit că singurul mod în care se puteau simți bine în legătură cu jocurile de noroc era pur și simplu să se oprească. Doru a spus: „M-am oprit din jocurile de noroc. Mă certam cu familia mea, pierdeam mulți bani și nu aveam bani să cumpăr haine, mâncare sau să mă întrețin.

Sincer să fiu, îmi făcea viața un iad, așa că a trebuit să opresc, deoarece nu ajungeam nicăieri în viață.”

Subiectul rușinii a apărut mult, precum și sentimentele de furie. Daniel ne-a spus: „Dacă nu câștig, mă stresează. Dacă văd alți oameni câștigând, mă enervează.” Acest impact este bine documentat și are, de asemenea, efecte mai ample. Cercetătorii de la Departamentul de Sănătate Comportamentală din Georgia au descoperit că aproximativ una din patru persoane intervievate cu probleme legate de jocurile de noroc se implică în abuz conjugal și aproape 65% se confruntă cu probleme de furie semnificative clinic.

Pentru cei mai mulți dintre bărbații cu care am vorbit, au început să joace de noroc pentru că era distractiv. Cu toate acestea, distracția s-a transformat în curând în stres când banii au început să se piardă. Și au fost mult mai multe pierderi decât victorii: „Am câștiga o dată și am pierde de zece ori”, își amintește unul.

Mai degrabă decât distracție, s-au trezit jucând pentru banii pe care îi pierduseră, deoarece fără ei nu și-ar putea permite mâncare pentru familia lor.

Criza costului vieții a făcut lucrurile și mai dificile pentru cei care trăiesc în zonele mai sărace, iar șansa de a-ți „încerca norocul” poate deveni din ce în ce mai atrăgătoare, mai ales dacă există o șansă la fiecare colț.

Cu toate acestea, comunitatea poate fi găsită. Înapoi în camera cu clacănirea plăcilor, aerul punctat cu cafea tare și râsete și mai puternice.

Lacian și Brancu sunt relaxați, glumesc cu prietenii.

Secretul bucuriei lor? Ei nu mai joacă pentru bani. „A devenit atât de stresant încât nu mai jucăm pentru bani, o facem doar pentru a ne distra cu prietenii”, explică Brancu. „Este mult mai bine așa.”

In schimb, bărbații joacă pentru a evita „pedepsele”. Dacă cineva pierde, va trebui să facă o pedeapsa, cum ar fi să bea multă apă sau săși bage prosoape de hârtie în urechi. În loc de emoții dăunătoare care sunt stârnite de pierderea de bani, cum ar fi furia sau rușinea, bărbații îl tachinează în mod jucăuș pe adversar și acesta este sfârșitul.

Ei râd, beau bere sau o cafea, pun la cale un alt joc. *Toate numele au fost schimbate pentru anonimat.

gambling harms special

Despite long awaited reforms, the laws that regulate gambling in this country remain wildly out of date. As part of our solutions journalism coverage of health inequalities, we took a look at responses to prevent gambling harms, taking a public health approach.

“G

ambling affects the individual, but actually the cause of the problem is the environment that they live in and the fact that these gambling products are inherently harmful,” gambling addiction expert, Professor Gerda Reith told Greater Govanhill. “And when you look at it that way, instead of just treating the individual, it’s about making the product either safer or making it harder to access… and that’s the public health part.”

Person with a gambling problem

Financial difficulties

Anxiety or stress

Affected other

Relationship or family difficulties

Source: GamCare Helpline Data Summary 2020/2021

The British Medical Association states that: “Gambling addiction is a public health menace and needs to be taken as seriously as drugs and alcohol.” Likewise the World Health Organisation considers gambling harms to be of a similar magnitude to both alcohol misuse and major depressive episodes.

Yet in Scotland, there are currently no government policies that directly address gambling harms. This falls mainly within the remit of the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport who are due to publish its much-delayed proposed reforms to gambling

22

By Becki Menzies

laws in May, reviewing the Gambling Act of 2005. Since this act was brought in, the rise of online gambling has meant that the gambling landscape has changed dramatically and the current regulation is not working.

Speaking about the proposals, Adrian Bailey from The Machine Zone CIC concurred with call for changes: “ The agreed demands are: a compulsory one percent levy on industry profits to replace voluntary contributions for research, education and treatment, this to be ringfenced and source completely independent work; a ban on advertising, marketing and sponsorship in sports; a ban on gambling products which are designed to be addictive.”

Whilst regulating the gambling industry is largely reserved by Westminster, adopting a public health approach to gambling, similar to alcohol and tobacco, is something that could be done by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Parliament Information Centre recently published a briefing on gambling harms and public health recognising that: “Gambling harms affect families, communities and society, as well people who gamble, including people not classed as having a gambling problem” and that “some people in Scotland are at greater risk of gambling harms.”

The Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport, Maree Todd MSP has previously stated: “We share the concerns that many have expressed around the impact of gambling-related harms in Scotland… We agree with the view of our stakeholders that a public health approach is needed to tackle those harms and improve treatment services.”

So, what could public health legislation on gambling look like?

The introduction of New Zealand’s Gambling Act (2003) made it the first country with a legislated national public health approach to gambling. The act is designed to

gambling harms special

Most deprived

Second Third

Fourth Least deprived

Source: Scottish Health Survey 2021

regulate the gambling market, ensure the fairness, safety, and legality of games and gambling opportunities, prevent and minimise gambling harms, and ensure that communities benefit from the proceeds of gambling activities.

It is within the remit of the Ministry of Health, unlike in the UK which places gambling within the realm of Culture, Media and Sport. And within the act there are five main programmes: policy development and implementation; safe gambling environments; effective screening environments; aware communities; and supportive communities.

Organisations are offered tools to identify problem gambling among their clients or service users, and resources to enable implementation of harm reduction practices. This has increased awareness of gambling harms, but there has been a lack of adoption due to costs, lack of resources and other organisational priorities. Organisations are also encouraged to look at non-gambling fundraising policies to reduce the reliance on fundraising methods that involve gambling, and to develop a standard of non-acceptance of gambling funding and influence. However, in practice this has not been popular, as many organisations relied heavily on availability of electronic gaming machine proceeds and alternative sources of funding were unavailable.

One area where there has been general success is in local council policies. In New Zealand, all local councils are mandated to adopt policies on electronic gaming machine venues (EGMs) and must take into account social impacts on deprived communities within their respective areas. These policies guide the licensing of venues within council areas, with decisions on the planning and implementation of these policies dependent on public response and evidence of social impacts in those localities.

One policy decision example is referred to as a ‘sinking lid’ policy approach. This is where after a closure of an EGM venue, consent is not provided by the council for its relocation or replacement, thus reducing venue numbers (and the potential associated harm) within the

region. Evaluation results showed that, in most cases, there had been successful community involvement to generate public pressure and support for a shift towards this approach. However, some councils have rejected, or weakened, it by allowing alternative location requests.

In Glasgow, the council is responsible for approving licensing requests, and therefore could adopt something like this and place a limit on the number of, say, bookies or EGM venues in the city. In particular, they could limit or even ban the creation of new venues in communities at a higher risk of gambling harms, like here in Govanhill.

What else can be done at a local level?

In the absence of Scottish Policy, the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms sets out a framework for local action. In Glasgow that has meant the development of a ‘pathfinder’ project, established to better understand gambling harms as a public health issue, and identify effective actions. It is funded by a regulatory settlement awarded by the UK Gambling Commission.

This multi-agency group set up following a Glasgow City Council summit on this topic, sees organisations working in partnership to co-produce, deliver, and evaluate a city-wide strategy and coordinate a local action plan to prevent and reduce gambling harms.

The ‘draft action plan’ focuses on the following key actions: • Engaging the wider community in understanding and raising awareness of gambling related harms; • Challenging shame and stigma; • Focusing on children and young people through challenging the normalisation of gambling and increasing awareness of the risks and links between gambling and gaming; • Developing our understanding of risks and harms amongst priority groups and communities such as women, black and minority ethnic groups and those at risk of homelessness; • Exploring opportunities to work in partnership to increase confidence in public and third sector staff to ask about gambling harms and improve knowledge about support; • Build the understanding of how people experience harms from gambling to inform peer led and informal support; • Creating a community led movement to support campaigns that advocate for local action and changes to national legislation; • Gathering and developing the evidence around gambling harms and sharing the learning locally, nationally and internationally.

This special feature has been funded by one of the eight small community grants issued by the group. For further information on the Glasgow City Whole System Approach to Tackling Gambling Harms please contact Michelle Hunt, Health Improvement Lead for Gambling Harms, Michelle.Hunt@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

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gambling harms special

GAMBLING SUPPORT Are you or a loved one struggling with gambling?

There are plenty of organisations and people out there who can help.

GamCare

Citizens Advice Scotland

GamCare runs the National Gambling Hotline where they support both people suffering from gambling addiction as well as people whose loved one may have a problem. You can contact them in several ways, whether that’s a phone call, a Whatsapp or by joining a group chat with people in a similar situation as you. gamcare.org.uk | 0808 8020 133

From 2022-2025, Citizens Advice Scotland are offering free training to different organisations on identifying and supporting people affected by gambling harms and how to be an advocate for your community. If you want to find out how you or your community can get involved, email them.

GamblingSupport@scottishcabs.org.uk

Gambling Commission Scotland

Samaritans Confidential emotional support for anyone in crisis. This can be if you are suffering from with gambling harms or if you are struggling with a loved one’s addiction. Call them for free 24/7 or head to their website for resources. samaritans.org.uk | 116 123

The Gambling Commission is the regulator for gambling across the UK. This means you can report gambling establishments if you think they are participating in illegal activities. They also offer support and hands-on advice. Some of this advice includes how to switch off gambling adverts from Youtube and how to block gambling transactions through your bank.

Debt Help Scotland Free

gamblingcommission.gov.uk/public-and-players

Get free, confidential and impartial advice on money and debt problems from this independent service. There is a ton of information about debt on their website and they operate a MondaySaturday helpline for anyone struggling with debt problems, including if this relates to gambling. stepchange.org | 0800 138 1111

The Scottish Gambling Education Hub The hub’s mission is for every young person in Scotland to have access to gambling education and prevention opportunities. They support young people’s health and wellbeing by promoting awareness of gambling harms through training, peer education, peer theatre, and more.

Glasgow City Gambling Harms

gamblingeducationhub.fastforward.org.uk

This project aims: to connect people in Glasgow who are suffering harms from their own or somebody else’s gambling towards sources of support; to raise awareness of gambling harms as a serious public health issue; to provide some basic advice and materials to frontline workers who support Glasgow citizens; to offer an overview of work being done in Glasgow to reduce gambling harms and to challenge stigma associated with gambling harms. glasgowcitygamblingharms.org

Gamblers Anonymous Scotland Gamblers Anonymous is a free-to-join fellowship of people who share their experience, strength and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from a gambling problem. The only requirement is a desire to stop gambling. They have regular meetings in Toryglen, the Gorbals and Shawlands. gascotland.org | 0370 050 8881

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Meet the

By Rhiannon J Davies Photo by Angela Catlin

Annette Street Drummers “I couldn’t stop smiling. We were nervous before we started playing. But when we finished I wanted to do it all over again.”

Awab is reflecting on his part in the performance of the Annette Street Drummers at the opening of The Community Newsroom in December last year.

Wrapped up in puffa jackets and bobble hats, the ten young drummers piled in through the door and set up in the cramped shop window. A hush fell upon the performers and crowd before a cowbell counted in a high octane performance of latin-influenced rhythms.

All aged between 10 and 11, the group – led by Alan Bryden, Stu Brown and Hannah Lee – are a samba bateriastyle street band, created by the Glad Foundation with funding from the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative.

To find out more, I headed to Annette Street Primary School one Friday afternoon, entering the Victorian sandstone building as most children were rushing out the door for home.

The drummers practise in the sports hall, the grey surface, painted with red and white basketball court markings.

Signs for the ‘Fuel Zone’ highlight the meal deal on offer, when it doubles up as a canteen.

Tearing in there after the school bell, energy levels amongst the players are surprisingly high. Shouts reverberate,

and occasional tensions flare. “They’re all just drama kings”, 10-year-old newcomer Angela confides in me. She only joined the group four weeks ago but has already picked up the most complicated rhythms.

With a drum roll on the caixa (snare) indicating things are about to begin, the chaos settles down and becomes something more like... organised chaos.

I explain that I’m here to talk to the group for the magazine, and ask if there are any questions.

A hand shoots up: “Are we going to be famous?” I say I’ll do my best. When I take my audio recorder out, there are more hands: “Are you FBI?”, “Are you going to kill me?”

Annette Street isn’t like every other school in Scotland. Some 90 percent of pupils don’t speak English as a first language. Many are of Roma heritage, but in the group I speak to, there are also young people with Pakistani, Sudanese and Tanzanian backgrounds.

The school motto is ‘Every child, every chance, every day’.

Speaking about depute headteacher, Wendy English, musician Alan Bryden says: “She knows these kids, every one of them – individually. I can't really overstate how positive I am about the relationship of all the staff and the kids here. They're just so supportive.”

He also talks about what he’s learned from tutoring the group for the past six years: “When we started, I just approached it like any other primary

25

school drumming group, which was a mistake, because it's not like any other school. The kids here have different circumstances and backgrounds… You have to bring boundaries, but also a lot of patience and structure.”

David, Raoul, Razvana, Angela, Emil, Alishba, TJ, Leo and Awab are all at practice that day. As things get underway, they sit facing each other on wooden gym benches. Some play the surdo (bass) drums with big beaters, others take handheld percussion or play repinique (tenor drums) with sticks. They layer up multiple different rhythms, with a level of concentration most primary school teachers would give their right arm for.

The tutors take a collaborative approach, bringing some ideas for a session, but also being spontaneous depending on what’s working. Alan says this is part of what makes it special: “I think the kids here feel some ownership over what they're doing. Even though we're showing them something, they feel it’s something we've all created together on an equal level.” Stu Brown agrees: “There's more of an organic feel to it. When we go out and perform, then there's a sense of them showing how they want to present themselves to the community.”

Back at the performance, the drums have reached their crescendo. Alan counts a silent four, gives a hand signal and, as one, the group falls silent… well mostly.

Connections A photo essay by Stefan Krajcik – a Bratislava-born, Glasgow-based photographer and mental health professional who uses a documentary style to capture stories of life.

Speaking about these images, he said: “Camera has been part of my life for quite some time. For me, photography is about searching for connections with others. I see it as a universal language: I listen to others and reflect. Just like in other parts of human life, with or without a camera: working it all out through connections. I endeavour to capture images that are socially conscious and carry a message: food for thought.”

“The following photographs aim to explore how we as human beings connect with each other and the world around us. The lens of my camera and the conversation I had with the subjects of these photographs (many of which were taken in Govanhill) were my connection in a particular time and space.”

distraction

together

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE

PRODUCT

VIEW

PLAY

Tai Chi A The Pursuit of Harmony

By Daniel Doherty Photo by Eoin Carey

What actually is tai chi?

Tai chi chuan is a version of qigong. It has a focus on specific movements that are practised in a set sequence, often outdoors and requires discipline to master.

Qigong can be just one move repeated for a specific situation, such as to open up the lungs. It is also more freeform and can be adapted for different abilities.

s American activist and writer Barbara Erenreich once wrote: “The pressure to remain fit, slim, and in control of one’s body does not end with old age – in fact, it only grows more insistent. Friends, family members, and doctors start nagging the aging person to join a gym, ‘eat healthy’ or, at the very least, go for daily walks... The price of survival is endless toil.”

I do share some of Ehrenreich’s scepticism of the unsubstantiated claims of the wellness industry and the illusion that we have agency over our bodies, minds, and even over the manner of our deaths. Yet in our modern world filled with countless inventions designed to prevent us from exerting ourselves, there is really no avoiding the stark choice made clear in the famous line from Shawshank Redemption: ‘get busy living or get busy dying’.

I choose tai chi.

Tai chi requires little or no special equipment, and can be practised in a relatively small area. Not only that, but it can also act as a catalyst to improve circulation, deepen the breathing and massage internal organs.

Practitioner, Neil Rosiak, has outlined a number of major benefits of practising tai chi. There is the increased body awareness requiring the student to be attentive to posture and body alignment, which in turn develops balance and coordination. Then there is stretching and flexibility.

Moving through postures places a demand on muscles thus increasing strength and cardiovascular health. It can also help to manage body weight and maintain a healthy physique.

The relaxed approach to developing body consciousness facilitates stress reduction. The practice evokes a sense of self assurance and confidence and a feeling of community.

Yes, all very positive and encouraging but tread carefully – health and wellness are big business. There are lots of studies proclaiming the scientific basis for the very broad benefits of movement ‘therapies’ such as qigong and tai chi.

However, the results of these studies are mixed – numerous proposed benefits may be identified but with varying levels of evidence and confidence. The scientific basis appears to remain elusive.

So, I asked those at my Govanhill class what they get out of the classes. Olanna said: “The Tai Chi classes are helping with my balance and get some basic strength and resilience.

I have dystonia and concentrating on physical exercise makes me feel less disabled and gives me the energy to do more things… The regular class helps me to timetable my day. The class itself is always helpful, and when I can attend, I notice that my walking afterwards is always improved, and I am more sure footed. There is mental discipline in tai chi, and also in getting to the venue and back.”

Another regular attendee, Sandi, told me: “I really enjoy the tai chi classes. It's good to have a little gentle exercise to help with fitness and balance. It's also nice to interact with nice people and have a bit of a chat. I would recommend these classes to anyone wishing to get out and meet people and get more fit and healthy” For me, it is an art form that facilitates creative and efficient ownership of one’s presence in the world, a conscious presence given expression in stillness and motion. Qigong and tai chi practice embodies the pursuit of harmony, harmony of mind and body, in the moment, synchronising mind and body to rhythm and flow of purposeful movement.

Achievement of this goal will be a reflection of the attention given and the time and effort put into your endeavour. And even then it’s a never ending journey.

Daniel teaches free tai chi classes on a Thursday from 1:30- 3:00pm at the Larkfied Community Centre.

For more info, email: danjohnnail@yahoo.co.uk

A Day in the Life of

GOVANHILL LIBRARY

R

ecently, I was angered to read a tweet from a politician suggesting we might save money if we cut funding for ‘useless’ public services like libraries.

Research has shown just how beneficial libraries can be for health and wellbeing. So at a time of stark health inequalities, I wanted to hear just how important the Govanhill Library is to the wellbeing of the local community.

Established in 1906, Govanhill Library was one of many purpose-built spaces erected in the decades following the Public Library Act of 1850. It was a time of urbanisation and these grand buildings were a dedicated, free space for the pursuit of knowledge for all. I like to imagine a strict librarian shushing whispering schoolchildren and prodding people with her cane towards self-betterment.

After long, gruelling days of work, people could entertain themselves and their families with borrowed books from this new temple of stories. Originally, there were skylights in the reading rooms, separate rooms for boys, girls and ‘ladies’, as well as stands of broadsheet newspapers and a central area in the middle of it all, simply marked ‘public space’. The library was – and still is – crowned with a big sandstone dome and two enormous figures of women reading to children. There are high ceilings (though unfortunately the skylights have been covered over) and neoclassical columns; it still bears the traces of an ambitious, socially-minded ideology, but times have changed.

“I used to come here as a boy after swimming in the baths,” Michael tells me. Now working as a support worker, he grew up on Victoria Road. “It used to close at about six back then,

Community reporter Flora Zajicek spent time in our local library to understand how the space was used by different people and what impact it has on people’s health and wellbeing.

By Flora Zajicek Photos by Iain McLellan

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40 years ago, and I’d come here and read books or take out books. It was definitely something I enjoyed, I loved books. I could come alone, as long as I got home in time for tea – it was a safe place that you could come to on the long winter nights.”

Like Michael, you might associate books with relaxing, escaping, and gallivanting into other worlds. In fact, the benefits of reading have even been shown to have a positive impact on our health, both mentally and physically. One UK-wide survey revealed people who read for 30 minutes a week are 18 percent more likely to report relatively high self-esteem and greater life satisfaction, and non-readers are 28 percent more likely to report feelings of depression. Other research has found that reading for just six minutes a day can reduce stress levels by 68 percent. It’s not just through access to books, however, that libraries can benefit wellbeing.

Now, Michael works with homeless people in the area and uses the sofas in the library as a quiet space to come and decompress or catch up on emails between seeing the people he supports. He tells me that lots of the folk he works with use the library for its computers and the books in foreign languages like Urdu: “It’s a really calm, positive environment; a wee oasis in amongst all the noise of life.”

The Health on a Shelf report, commissioned by the Scottish Library and Information Council in 2019 to examine the health and wellbeing services available in Scotland's public libraries, showed just how crucial libraries are to improving the health literacy, and consequently, health outcomes, of people in Scotland. Librarian Alison Nicol tells me that they have books about medical conditions, books for people with dyslexia, books in large print and audio books you can get for free online or in the library. She also highlighted that all the Glasgow libraries are connected, so if they don’t have the book you’re looking for, they can order it from another library or buy it in for you.

As I spend time in the library, it’s obvious that many people are coming here for practical things; printer use, free wifi, or for the computers. In Glasgow, 65 percent of households living in the city's social rented housing sector do not use a broadband

Govanhill and Crosshill District Library in 1907 Photo courtesy of Glasgow City Archives

and comes to the library to take out books and magazines. With no computer at home she also comes to use these. “I live on my own and am prone to depression but coming here and seeing familiar faces is a real mood-lifter. It’s nice to know there’s a place I can come and just chill out and that’s okay.”

One of the two childminders I spoke to was sitting in a big comfy chair knitting with a baby fast asleep in a pram: “This is a quiet, warm, free, sheltered space that I come to. It’s not transactional, you don’t have to buy anything like in a cafe.”

They tell me about the Bookbug sessions the library runs on Saturdays with stories and songs for young children and the great range of kids books.

The Bookbug scheme is an attempt to ensure that every child in Scotland has access to books in their early years. Research by the Literacy Trust showed a correlation between lower literacy rates and poorer health outcomes. In Scotland, every child can get four free bags of books and other age-appropriate resources; as babies, toddlers, three and five year olds. One of the childminders says: “All the families I work with use it pretty regularly and I want more people to use it so they don’t go away, it almost seems too good to be true in this day and age, I really want them to keep going.”

Michael has headed out to see his next client, and three teenage boys have taken his place on the sofas. “We chill here after school because there’s no internet at home, here we can use the free wifi and sometimes we watch YouTube on the computers.” One of the boys tells me he sometimes flicks through the books to learn English. When I tell them they can actually borrow these books and take them home for free, all three are at first incredulous “with no money?” then excited “can we get a card now?”.

I was left wondering where else these boys might go if the library didn’t exist, and also about the future roles of libraries for new generations. They are growing up in an age of vast technological difference from their counterparts of 120 years ago but still face the challenges of poverty and harsh winters.

Communities Services Supervisor, Karyl Seguin, tells me that they’ve seen large groups of young people coming to the library after school. She tells me sometimes they get noisy and that recently they have had the police come in to show a presence. It strikes me as a broken system when the only port of call is this. Where are the steps in between? Librarian, Alison,

“It’s a really calm, positive environment; a wee oasis in amongst all the noise of life.” connection in their home, and 19 percent of Scottish people have no digital skills. Across Scotland, there are big differences in terms of internet access between the most and least deprived areas. And there’s a proven link between people who are digitally excluded and higher health inequalities. Libraries combat this through the provision of wifi and computers as well as digital literacy training programs.

The librarians I spoke to told me that increasingly they field requests for help with visa applications, pensions, or advice on things like winter fuel payments. Alison explains that after a steady decline in public services during the austerity years, libraries are one of the few remaining spaces where people can come to and speak to someone face to face for help: “As much as for the practical things, people rely on the library for warmth and for a chat – it plays a big role in reducing social isolation.”

The library has a book club on Fridays and they’re happy to support people creating new book clubs by providing multiple copies of books and offering space in the library to meet.

Margaret Russell is leafing through a magazine when I meet her: “I used to think of libraries as quite austere places,” she says. “I grew up in north London and you really couldn’t say a word. Here it’s not like that.” She’s lived in Govanhill since 2015 32

says: “They’re not bad kids, it’s just when there’s bad weather or it’s cold and dark, they’re bored. They don’t have anywhere else to go.” They have since partnered up with Govanhill Community Renewal who have arranged for various staff members, including a youth worker, to come and offer things like Duke of Edinburgh sessions to these young people.

Last year after a parliamentary question, it was revealed that since 2009, 83 libraries have closed down across Scotland. In the same period, funding for public libraries was reduced by 30 percent. It’s clear that libraries are one of the few remaining public services left to fight the fires caused by years of chronic underfunding in the public sector and they are stretched. Yet the return to libraries and cranking back up of their previous activities has been sluggish since Covid-19. Govanhill Library didn’t open after the pandemic until March 2021 and then was closed for 14 weeks for an upgrade in 2022. The usership now is still less than a quarter of what it was in the four years preceding the pandemic.

Graph showing visitor numbers to the library.

Despite a promise from Glasgow Life that from the Scottish Government Public Library Covid Recovery Fund grant, over £22,000 would go towards a home library service, the Govanhill library is still not offering this due to a lack of volunteers.

Recruitment for volunteers is now underway and once it’s up and running, library users who can’t make it to the library in person will be able once again to have books relevant to their interests delivered to their door.

Wandering around the space and lifting my eyes up above shelf level I notice a series of bright, stained glass windows ribboning around the edge of two walls in the central room.

These were made in 2015 for the Diversity Windows project.

Each one was created by a different community group from Govanhill. “I remember when they first came”, says Margaret.

“This area has a colourful history, and now all the community is represented through them. It’s a bit like going to a church with stained glass windows. This library is the hub of the Govanhill community.”

Looking more closely at the colourful panes of glass, it’s impossible to ignore just how many different people this library is here to serve. I think again about that original plan with ‘public space’ labelled in the middle. Whether you come for the quiet, the warmth, the books or the printer, this is a dedicated space for you to simply be. Libraries are one pane of colourful glass in the stained glass window that makes up the wellbeing of our community.

33

from the community newsroom

What Can We Do About the State of our Lanes?

By Jack Howse Photos by Michael Paley

W

e hosted a community conversation in our newsroom on the hot topic of fly-tipping and rubbish in our lanes and back courts. Lots of people shared similar experiences including waking up to find a landlord had emptied an entire flat into the street, logging instances of fly-tipping with the council and receiving no response, bins not being emptied for weeks, or homeowners being billed for removing other people’s bulky waste. It was clear that this was a community-wide issue, with many feeling frustrated at the council’s actions When we asked Glasgow City council about the need to provide better services to deal, they said: “Glasgow City Council continues to provide a free domestic pest control service. If there are issues with waste on public property then these should be reported to us so action can be taken. We continue to meet our obligation to remove fly-tipping in communities across the city, including Govanhill.

“Govanhill continues to receive additional cleansing resources.

We have a rapid response team operating in the area each day to deal with fly-tipping and other environmental issues. Govanhill also receives regular street cleansing services and has a dedicated neighbourhood liaison officer to help address a range of environmental issues.”

Several attendees had formed residents groups or started a WhatApp chat for their close to try to make a difference.

It was inspiring to hear from people who organised community clean-ups, got gates installed, or created tranquil spaces in shared courts. But not everyone had this experience.

There are 931 privately owned lanes in Glasgow. This means the council has no obligation to carry out repairs, maintenance or street cleansing. Instead they offer online resources including a ‘Private Lane Toolkit’ which provides suggestions on things like forming a residents group, removing foliage and bin collections.

They also offer a fund which is available to constituted residents groups in order to make improvements. However, In Govanhill, in any given block, homes are owned by a mix of social housing, owner-occupier and privately-rented flats, with a high tenancy turnover rate. Most people said they do not have the time or energy needed to make this happen. What's more, many did not think it fair that a handful of motivated residents should have to clean up the entire flat clearances of irresponsible home-owners.

In response, to this, a representative of Glasgow City Council told Greater Govanhill: “This is a long standing issue with communally-owned private property. We can certainly sympathise with those who seek to deal with issues on their property while others do not contribute time and effort. However, those who are picking up on issues

are discharging their responsibility for the maintenance of their property. We have found that properly constituted groups can help to sustain a more structured response to maintenance issues, make it easier to engage with professional factoring services and also help to attract additional funding.”

The Kingarth Lane Community Group did get constituted and received funding to buy gates to prevent fly tipping in their lane, but were not granted permission to install the gates on the grounds that the look of the gates was incongruous with the street scene and because through it would impact connectivity in the area. They are now appealing the decision.

In response to the accusation that the council was failing the people of Govanhill its duties to ‘keep the streets clean’, ‘maintain a high standard of public health’, and ‘maintain a cleaner, safer city’, we were told: “A substantial effort has been made to improve the Govanhill area over a number of years. The multi-million pound Acquisition and Repairs programme has transformed how property in the area is managed and that has helped to address many of the environmental issues in Govanhill. The Enhanced Enforcement Area…has also played a significant role in improving housing standards in the area…

“The area has a dedicated neighbourhood liaison officer and as well as the Govanhill Hub.. Govanhill has also been the focus of significant levels of engagement with local businesses to ensure appropriate waste management contracts are in place…”

During the community conversation we discussed possible solutions to the problem.

Suggestions included: a community swap shop for unwanted goods currently left on the streets; a free mobile skip, and regular bulk uplift provided on set days; stronger penalties for fly-tipping that are better enforced; community awards for businesses who make a difference in this area; underground bin storage; investing in waste compactors.

Something that several people expressed an interest in was forming a coalition of local residents, businesses, landlords, factors and community organisations – to develop a forum for conversation and a campaign to bring about real change.

We want to hear from you.

Have you got a problem with our lane or back court? Do you have ideas for what could be done to fix it? Tell us your thoughts by filling out this form: bit.ly/GovanhillLanes 35

¡Viva La Musica!

Love, warmth and song with Govanhill Voices

By David Carr Photos by Audrey Bizouerne

I

was never a singer. I only went to chum along a friend.

But it was love at first song.

At Govanhill Voices we value everyone’s voice.

The choir has some experienced singers – but also welcomes the contribution of those who might not always hit the right note every time. I was firmly in that category when I joined – and it was a relief for me to find that I had joined an all-abilities choir. With the encouragement of songleaders and other choir members, I have begun to find my own voice.

Everyone can sing, even if they don’t yet know it.

We are a pay-what-you-can choir. It is written into our constitution – the ‘David Stevenson Clause,’ named after a long standing choir member who sadly passed away in 2019 – that we will never charge a fee for singing and will rely on singers’ donations for costs such as hire of our rehearsal space and payment of a songleader. It is a matter of principle that people will always be welcomed to sing with us even if they cannot afford to pay.

Everyone is welcome to sing with us. It’s how we vibe.

Music is – of course – central to Govanhill Voices. But we value community equally. We have strong ties within Govanhill, the wider Southside and beyond. The choir has performed at many local venues, including the Govanhill Baths, the Govanhill Community Market, the Queens Park Arena, as well as carolling along Victoria Road at Christmas time. Our recent tenth birthday concert was a benefit for local social enterprise, Milk. We are a proud part of the rich and diverse community that is Govanhill.

We are also our own community. The connections we make while singing are vital. Our tea breaks are an institution, and it gives joy to hear our singers chatting away, to see them forming friendships, to witness them actively welcoming new voices into the choir. People come for the singing. They stay for the community.

Songleader Dorothee Nys is the creative spirit that draws the choir together musically. She speaks of the choir’s “warm, rich, united and welcoming tone”. The songs reflect this. “We love indulging in soft and mellow harmonies – though some clashing

is not feared either. She goes on to say that the music we sing: “is as diverse and fabulous as the choir members themselves.”

Our songs are usually from folk traditions and are in a mix of languages – such as Yoruba, German, Dutch, Romani – plus newer favourites by Fleet Foxes, Sinéad O’Connor and Björk.

The music is learned by listening and trusting our memory.

Each choir member can choose which part they join. According to Dorothee, it should be “whichever makes them and their singing voices as comfortable and happy as possible.”

Speaking about why she joined, Sofie said: “After a long period of being so against any performance or enjoyment of that shared space you have while singing, because of various mental health issues. It has truly transformed my life and mindset. I find it so freeing, it is such a caring and fun space. You can just feel the love in that room.” Sofie’s favourite Govanhill Voices song is the Roma festival song, Ederlezi.

A Yoruba song, Ide Were Were, is Martin’s favourite because: “It seems to generate a real warmth and calm amongst us.” He joined the choir as we emerged, post-lockdown, still rehearsing in the cold outdoors. He says: “I met fantastic, friendly people who welcomed me into an environment which is safe, supportive and encouraging. This has been great for my sense of wellbeing.”

“What a wonderful discovery Govanhill Voices was!” says Judith, who came to Glasgow not so long ago. “I love the harmonic tunes, our motivating songleader and most of all the kind and welcoming crowd I meet there every week.” Her favourite is Liverpool Street Station, a song in which hidden words emerge when sung in rounds “because of the magic.”

As for myself – sometimes, in the dreich, dark winter nights I have to drag myself to rehearsals. But music is known to light up all parts of the brain and it releases endorphins. I walk out happy. My favourite song? Sinéad O’Connor’s In This Heart.

There’s a delicious moment when the altos come in that sends shivers down my spine, every time.

Ten years in, Govanhill Voices has had a sudden influx of singers over the last few months and we’re not really sure why. Maybe it’s because we’re making beautiful music with our talented songleader. Maybe it’s because we’re just so lovely. Do you want to be a part of that? You can. Come sing with us!

Govanhill Voices rehearse every Thursday at Queens Park Govanhill Church of Scotland (‘The Yellow Door Church’) from 7.15pm to 9pm, with a break for tea and chat.

All are welcome.

Why People are Turning to

to Treat Medical Conditions Frustrations with waiting lists and a feeling that pharmaceutical medications are failing health needs are leading some people to seek out psychedelic and alternative medicines.

By Jack Howse Illustration by Esme Balcewicz

“I

feel like a different person, physically. It’s nuts. I've not taken Western hospital medication for it since”.

Liam O’Reilly was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2015. It’s an auto-immune disease which can lead his immune system to mistakenly attack healthy cells in the body. “My hands swell up and become quite painful,” Liam explains. “The actual inflammation fluid, it's like a low level acid. So if you don't treat it, it eats away your cartilage over time – and it is usually set off by stress.”

Liam has also experienced addiction issues – exacerbated by his work in the nightlife industry – and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). When pharmaceutical medicine wasn’t helping, he began to explore how psychedelic drugs could be used to treat his condition.

Psychedelics and the medicinal value of plants seem to be reentering the mainstream and political psyche in recent years.

From Gwyneth Paltrow going on a mushroom retreat in her Netflix show, to Australia becoming the first country to legalise the use of psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) and MDMA for clinical and therapeutic use – people from different communities are championing the potentials of psychedelics for health.

The Scottish Psychedelic Research Group, which is based at the University of Edinburgh and founded in 2021, recently held three days of talks on the subject including one afternoon focused on mental health.

Speaking at it were scientists and

for Psychedelic Research, spoke in Glasgow about the relationship between psychedelics and our connection to nature. He told Greater Govanhill: “There is a growing body of evidence to show that psychedelics can shift our relationship towards nature in positive ways, enhancing feelings of connection towards it… This sense of kinship with the natural world has a strong association with a form of wellbeing tied to life meaning, vitality and selfactualisation, in addition to happiness.”

A connection to nature has been proven to boost happiness, as well as make us care more about the future of our planet. However, Sam also agrees that: “The degree to which psychedelics may be able to evoke sustained shifts in outlook and behaviour through enhancing nature connectedness requires further research.”

Due to lack of funding and restrictive laws surrounding psychedelic usage in clinical research, studies on the benefits of psychedelics have not been done on a wider level. “Unfortunately, the UK government seems to be quite rigid and backwards looking when it comes to integrating psychedelics into public health care.” says Sam. Professor Jo Neill concurs, saying: “Drug laws are stopping people doing research.” She points to how psychedelics and cannabis are in the strictest category for being able to do research, above the likes of heroin and cocaine.

For Liam, and the other people we spoke to who are microdosing mushrooms for conditions like migraines, the effects of his own self-treatment have been profound. “I told my NHS arthritis doctor that I was using psychedelics,” he recalls, “He sent me for a full round of bloods. And he was like, ‘you are in the best shape that you've been since I've known you’.” Liam has also been able to manage his addiction issues through alternative medicine use.

While the use of psychedelics as a treatment is leading to radical results for some, there are some ethical discussions that arise from this increased popularity.

people with lived experience of the medicinal qualities of psychedelics, including a former Scottish national rugby player and a family that had been affected by addiction issues.

Doctor Mourad Wahba, a psychiatrist who has been running clinical trials on the subject, highlighted how the amount of papers published on the subject has doubled since 2013. He also showed how psilocybin, especially higher doses, can reduce the impact of severe depression and addiction issues. This was backed up by another speaker, Professor Jo Neill, who said: “Never in forty years of research, have I seen such amazing results… I switched to researching psychedelics because they work. They heal people which is not a word we usually say in psychiatry.”

“...past trauma can reemerge with a new perspective on them that is freeing and healing.”

What’s more, studies done by the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London have shown how psychedelics can be used to treat and manage conditions like depression, chronic pain and eating disorders.

Back in the Southside, Liam began speaking to friends who were using psychedelics as alternative medicines about how they have helped them treat and cope with their respective conditions. He learned about toad venom and kambo (the secretion of a tropical frog), two potently strong alternative medicines that are usually administered with the help of more experienced people. He has also selfadministered psilocybin over the years.

Previously, Liam had tried traditional routes to combat his health problems such as therapy and prescribed medication, but found they did not help, or the results were very temporary: “This kind of medical approach is just about sticking a band-aid on and getting on with it.”

For people that champion alternative approaches, this is where pharmaceutical medicines and psychedelics diverge.

“Psychedelics induce the brain to change transiently in ways that appear to allow a reset to take place and permit alterations in previously 'stuck' ways of feeling and thinking about things”, writes Dr. Jerrol Rosenbaum from the Centre for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics in America.

“It’s like rebooting your computer… and past trauma can reemerge with a new perspective on them that is freeing and healing”.

For Liam, and many others who suffer from long term conditions, things like stress and anxiety are one of the main reasons for flare-ups of their conditions; as such managing and processing memories and trauma is necessary to live their day-to-day lives. This is also true for so many people, regardless of if they suffer from long-term health conditions or not.

At the event in Edinburgh, Karen Llewelyn, a member of both Scottish Families Campaign For Change shared the story of supporting her sons through druginduced psychoses and the harm done by state care, including through police intervention, hospitalisation or imprisonment. It was only through attending a psychedelic retreat that she was able to address her own trauma from the experience, and this has led her to be convinced that it is the route which mental health care must explore.

Dr. Sam Gandy, a researcher who works with the Centre

“They heal people which is not a word we usually say in psychiatry.”

Many psychedelic substances are linked to indigenous cultures in the Americas. The rise of ‘ayahuasca (another popular psychedelic) tourism’ is seen as culturally problematic by many as it involves using substances sacred to many indigenous tribes in South America, and it is sometimes unclear who benefits from the tourism surrounding it. Yet, Liam highlights he has never travelled to South America to partake in these ceremonies and has carried out fundraising for different Amazonian indigenous communities creating the treatments he uses.

Another discussion that should be had around psychedelics is the potential dangers of using these substances. Whilst studies have shown psilocybin as the safest recreational drug, ingesting the wrong variety of mushroom could have fatal consequences. Other psychadelics and alternative medicines have also had adverse health effects. One way of reducing this risk would be to make these substances legal in order to regulate supply. But, until then, people like Liam are supported by others who also use alternative medicines.”I am part of many groups where we support people and offer advice” Liam says. “I also run a little Whatsapp support group for people with ADHD. It's important to find your tribe”.

39

A LASER FOCUSED APPROACH TO IMPROVING HEALTH INEQUALITIES

How community outreach is working to improve uptake of cervical screening

E

By Rhiannon J Davies Illustration by Laura Wade

uptake has been shown to be lower in particular ethnic or community groups. In 2020, research into the Roma population in Sheffield found that the cervical screening uptake was between 40-53 percent, well below the citywide average of 73.5 percent. It was found that a longstanding distrust of the role of the state in relation to health underpinned many of the reasons given for not attending.

Recognising these barriers, charity Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust worked with the South Sector Health Improvement Team of the Health and Social Care Partnership in Glasgow to develop several interventions that would target groups in Govanhill where screening rates are low.

In 2018, uptake of smear tests at Practice A located in Govanhill Health Centre, was approximately 69 percent.

So a drop-in clinic was planned, particularly targeting those overdue for a screening. Farhat Khan, a health improvement practitioner in the South Locality Health Improvement Team worked on the project in collaboration with the doctors surgeries based in the Govanhill Health Centre. She said: “My colleague (speaking Slovakian) and I (speaking Urdu) made phone calls to invite people along.

The reasons we heard for why people hadn’t come before were barriers like fear, embarrassment, lack of English language skills, bad experiences in the past and a lack of priority.”

On the day, a curtained off stand was set up in the waiting room. Staff wore pink, gave out goody bags and the place was decorated with bunting and balloons. Around 20 women either attended the clinic or booked a subsequent appointment because of the intervention, from a range of ethnically diverse backgrounds. A video that explains what happens with the test was also created in community languages including Romanes (historically an unwritten) language spoken by the Roma community.

This improved uptake has raised

arlier this year, The Ferret revealed that in 2020-21 in Scotland, 440,000 people eligible for cervical screening had not had a smear test in the last three to five years.

If compared to the average percentage of smear tests that show a positive result for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), some 37,000 of these 440,000 untested people could have the virus – and statistically, 340 of these, may be potentially cancerous.

The reasons that people don’t attend screenings when requested are many. Last autumn, Trudy went to her usual GP practice twice two weeks apart and the practice nurse was unable to take the sample with the tools she had at her disposal.

“It caused me a lot of pain and drew blood each time.

I’ve instead been referred to a specialist service instead and am waiting on an appointment. Apparently, the nurse has to refer a handful of women on to the hospital or sexual health clinic each month, as it’s not super unusual for them not to fit the speculums available at GP practices. It was a horrible experience and I’d been putting it off for a number of years. I’m 29 now and hadn’t gone for my smear before because I was too nervous and then the pandemic gave me a very good excuse to put it off for longer.”

In the Sandyford sexual health clinic, a specialist service called My Body Back offers cervical screening along with other services like contraceptive care, STI testing and maternity care specifically for people who’ve experienced sexual violence. Designed by survivors, alongside psychologists and healthcare providers, it’s based out of Sandyford Clinic.

Appointments last a full hour, with oneon-one time with specially trained female psychologists to talk about concerns and try some grounding techniques before the test begins.

But cultural factors can also contribute to reticence to attend tests. Cervical screening 40

awareness for the patients at this practice, as well as increasing knowledge among non clinical staff about the barriers some women face. This model has been repeated at other practices. Having interpreters and bi-lingual healthcare workers made a big difference, along with using a range of different communications methods. However, not enough time was made available and not everyone who showed an interest was able to be seen at that time.

Recognising the particular barriers that Roma women may face, a member of the public engagement team at Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust worked alongside a group of Romanian Roma women at Govanhill community centre, The Space. NHS Health Improvement staff trained two translators as peer educators, with a focus on group work, facilitator skills and cervical cancer awareness training.

These interventions were trialled pre-pandemic, and when Covid-19 hit, this put a pause to many programmes and projects. Even now, GP services have different priorities, meaning some of the more specialised work has been lost. However, the health improvement team has recently secured some funding to hold another event at The Space.

Farhat explained that this kind of laser focused targeted approach has been applied to other areas too: “For example, we know that bowel screening has particularly low uptake with South Asian men, so my colleague has been out speaking to men’s groups, as well as visiting the Glasgow Central Mosque and the Glasgow Gurdwara.

We’ve also been using this opportunity to promote awareness of cervical and breast screening.”

The health improvement team aren’t involved in clinical delivery but instead work to: ‘improve the health and wellbeing of individuals or communities through enabling and encouraging healthy choices as well as addressing underlying determinants of health such as poverty and lack of educational opportunities’.

For Farhat, the community approach of projects like these is key: “I work with the community and just tell people about the benefits versus the risks, so that people can come to an informed choice about whether to participate in the screening programmes… Key to our work is our connections with local community organisations, because if you don't have that, you don’t get to hear what the issues are.”

Studio 70:

advertorial

A Hidden Sanctuary on Victoria Road

T

ucked away at the town end of Victoria Road is Studio 70. It’s a hidden gem, offering a warm and welcoming space to relax, reflect and connect with yourself.

Co-owned by Laura Rice and Michelle Lang, Studio 70 opened its doors in 2016 when the pair, who had been working as independent yoga teachers in community venues, found a permanent space.

The studio came about because they were finding that working out of community spaces could be unreliable.

Instead, Laura says, the pair: “wanted a space that was just ours for yoga… that we could kit out exactly as we wanted”.

They took over what used to be the Yamaha Music Studio, and with a lot of work, have created a beautiful, welcoming environment. Laura describes starting the studio as “a really amazing experience”. They already had students from their independent classes but once the studio opened, “it just kind of really took off and I think people liked it”.

Since opening the studio has morphed from two teachers to a full team offering different kinds of yoga, pilates, somatic therapy. retreats and other therapies. In the six years it has

been running, Laura and Michelle have both become mums, and with a supportive team around them have been able to balance the studio and family life.

Despite having to move things online during the pandemic and not knowing if people would want to return to the studio, Studio 70 is busier than ever, with classes now offered in person and online. You can also join them throughout the year on day retreats out of the city.

Most recently, they have set up ‘Nourish Circle’, a space open to

By Becki Menzies

anyone who identifies as a woman or is non-binary and feels comfortable in a space centred around the experience of women. Speaking about the benefits it offers, Laura says: “It’s a monthly community get-together where you’ll have the opportunity to slow down, to breathe, to let go, to trust, and to be.

Each one of us deserves to be heard, held and to rest deeply”.

Find out more about Studio 70 at studio70glasgow.com and follow them on Instagram @studio70glasgow.

FORGING CONNECTIONS THROUGH DIGITAL INCLUSION What difference does it make to provide free technology and data to those who experience inequality? Community reporter Bonnie Thomson spoke to organisations involved in delivery to find out.

“I

By Bonnie Thomson Illustration by Alistair Quietsch

Still, the importance of digital access is far from t’s freedom to know that I’m not going to run diminished. And social connection remains firmly at the out of data, and I can look at hobbies that I centre. As David says: “When you think about groups in want to take up and stuff like that.” This is how Govanhill like the Roma community, they often have families one recipient describes receiving their own and friends and networks in different places and countries, device and unlimited data from the Get Digital Scotland so digital connection is crucial for those relationships”. programme, run by the Simon Community, a charity that GCDT has received several grants, particularly since the supports people experiencing homelessness. “I save a lot pandemic, to supply devices and data to digitally excluded of money not having to top up my phone credit”, explains residents. The trust works across the community in areas another. “And I have the opportunity to make long phonelike regeneration, housing and integration. Getting to calls to services and research things.” know residents through their various initiatives, it can gain Digital expansion is occurring at breakneck speed. As a a picture of where digital support is best targeted. Device side-effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, the digital divide has provision can be difficult to monitor without stifling the become wider than ever. Welfare, education and health project with red tape, and it services are just some of those can be tough to provide digital which made the leap to online upskilling to accompany the provision, creating a landscape “If somebody has to devices as this can often require where digital participation choose between buying additional translation services. became societal participation. food, clothing their kids In spite of these logistical The Red Cross found that challenges, Shona Munro, copeople facing digital exclusion or paying for data, the director of Scotland-wide digital – including those with a device connectivity will be the participation organisation Mhor and limited skills – experienced Collective, maintains that “devices greater levels of loneliness and first to go” are the easy part”. Mhor Collective isolation during this time than favours a person-centred approach those more digitally engaged. to digital support – which means viewing an individual in the Fast forward three years and the cost-of-living crisis now context of their background, values and experiences and using means that more people than ever are struggling financially. this to guide learning.

Benefits, tax reductions and support grants are largely Often, she says, what may seem like a lack of motivation accessed online, meaning those who don’t – or can’t – use to engage, can be down to low self-confidence and the the internet stand to miss out on potentially life-saving internalised assumption that ‘technology isn’t for me’. The assistance. These are some of the reasons organisations best way to tackle this is to get to know what an individual across Scotland are prioritising digital equity. cares about, and start from there: “This could be as simple On a local level, greater engagement with the digital world as showing them how to listen to their favourite band for holds promise for community involvement, and the social free, or how to see pictures of their kids”. and wellbeing benefits that come with this. The Govanhill Part of the person-centred approach also involves being Locality Plan highlights the need for an online directory aware of the individual dangers accessing the internet may of community services, but this still relies on widespread pose to different people. Shona explains: “If you’re working digital access. with an older person, you may need to be more mindful David Zabiega, co-ordinator at Govanhill Community of fraud and scamming; with refugees and asylum seekers Development Trust (GCDT) confirms that the relatively there may be a risk of compromising their stay in the high levels of poverty and social disadvantage in the country; with people on a recovery journey, that risk could neighbourhood are mostly to blame for digital inequality. be people pursuing them trying to sell drugs''.

“If somebody has to choose between buying food, clothing Despite the risks, Irene Mackintosh, co-director of Mhor their kids or paying for data, the connectivity will be the first Collective, believes that internet access can have a life to go”.

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“Taking a rigid approach to digital inclusion doesn’t work as it tends to push people away.” changing impact. She illustrates this very simply by quoting a person with experience of homelessness, who told her that: “Learning to use WhatsApp saved my life”, as it allowed her to reconnect with her sister, with whom she had previously lost all contact with.

The case for this kind of holistic support targeting the fundamentals seems clear, though funders may not always be inclined to agree. According to Jason Railton, Digital Project Development Officer at Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), funders in this field crave ‘innovation’.

“They can be more interested in something ‘new and shiny’ than something simple that’s already been proven to work”.

This means projects focused on assisting people to get to grips with the very basics of digital access threaten to be overshadowed by the latest technology fad. And so the gap widens further. What’s more, since it’s such a dynamic and evolving sector, the standard for what constitutes ‘digitally included’ does not remain the same over time. The goal posts continually shift for those grappling to keep up. Jason believes narrowing the digital divide means not forgetting about the very basics and being honest about the risks and rewards to those at the far end of the digital exclusion scale, who may be unsure if accessing the internet is right for them.

Unsurprisingly, people experiencing homelessness can often be the ones at the sharp end of that scale. Simon Community Scotland focuses heavily on this issue. They provide devices, connection and long-term support. “We always try to provide unlimited data” says Nigel Gallear, digital inclusion project manager.

“It’s much better than offering someone a connection for a limited period of time before it suddenly cuts out, which could be really demoralising”.

Participants agree. Owen, who benefitted from an unlimited data package, explains: “It is amazing. I don’t have to think about how and when I use my data now, which makes my life easier as I need to be able to use it at all times of the day.”

Thankfully, data is relatively easy to acquire, due in part to the recent focus on corporate social responsibility initiatives, meaning mobile phone companies are often happy to assist with provision.

Nigel mentions the misconception that individuals would lose or sell a device they have been given. In fact, this only happens in around 10

percent of cases: “We offer basic smart-phones which have all of the features. An £85 phone will have a street value of only around £20-30, whereas the value to the person – enjoyment, convenience and connection – hugely outweighs that”.

Taking a rigid approach to digital inclusion doesn’t work as it tends to push people away. Nigel recognises the importance of trusted relationships and taking a participant-directed approach: “Support workers are key.

It’s best to stick with the same one for digital as well as all other support”.

A survey carried out by Simon Community found that 71 percent reported having accessed digital services for health and wellbeing; 86 percent have used the internet to learn new things; 94 percent have connected with friends and family and 98 percent have enjoyed engaging with digital. When asked what the best thing was to come from the project, one participant says: “I have set up online banking, and other social media platforms which help with my wellbeing as I can keep in touch with my family and friends more”. For another, it was: “meeting new people and connecting with people and learning something new every week.”

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The Difference a Chat Can Make How Govanhill’s cafes are tackling loneliness

By Michael McCandlish Photos by Niall Miller

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or many people, taking a seat in a busy coffee shop is a chance to catch up with friends or hold a work meeting.

The scent of freshly brewed coffee and warm pastries mixes with the clinking of cups. The background hum of conversations is interspersed with the whirring of the coffee machine. There’s a sense of community.

Yet for some, being amidst all this hustle and bustle, only serves to increase feelings of isolation and highlight solitude.

Sitting alone can be anxiety-provoking or emotionally challenging. Local resident, Colin Bell, knows this problem all too well.

“I think my story is all too common unfortunately”, he says.

“And I can think of many who are in a worse position, so I don't feel sorry for myself. However, the combination of being disabled and not having people contact from the world of work, together with a degree of social anxiety, leaves me spending a great deal of time on my own. I'm an introvert but even a small amount of in-person social time makes a big difference to keeping my head above water.”

Loneliness and isolation can be a painful reality for many, particularly as people grow older. According to a report by the Mental Health Foundation, loneliness can increase the risk of developing depression, cognitive decline, and even increase the risk of premature death. In the United Kingdom, it's estimated that loneliness affects approximately 9 million people, often resulting in increased visits to the doctor and higher healthcare costs for the NHS. Loneliness can also lead to a decrease in self-care and an increase in unhealthy behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and overeating which can further contribute to poor physical and mental health. It's important to note that loneliness is not the same as being alone – people can feel lonely even when they are surrounded by others and conversely people can be alone but not feel lonely.

Despite Govanhill being one of the most densely populated areas in Glasgow, many residents can experience loneliness. It’s for this reason that Colin grew interested in the Chatty Cafe Scheme, which encourages cafes to designate a ‘chatty table’ where customers can sit and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, and have someone to talk to. They even have an online version, which he has found helpful: “The Zoom version of Chatty Cafe has been such a wonderful support for me these last three years, the idea behind it is so simple and yet it works. Having an in-person version locally offers a chance for some low-cost, informal, no-pressure conversation and to engage with the local community.”

Queen's Park Govanhill Parish Church, host a ‘chatter and natter’ table within their café. Locals will be familiar with those vibrant yellow doors but maybe not as familiar with the lunch spot inside. Welcomed with a calm vibe and a three course meal for a fiver, you’d be hard pressed to find better value than that.

You can also get involved by volunteering in the café or at the weekly food bank too.

On Bowman Street, The Bees Knees Café has recently joined the Chatty Café Scheme. But café owner Anna Strzalkowska, already provides a warm welcome to anyone entering the cosy, vintage environment. Since moving to Glasgow four years ago, it was Anna’s dream to set up her own café, but it’s become more than just somewhere to get a coffee. They host workshops, open mics and the Polish Women's Circle meets here every fortnight.

It’s been a lifeline for Colin, who says: “For about a year when

I had a support worker, one of my very favourite things to do was have a couple of coffees and a chat in the Bees Knees, both for the lovely informal ambience but also the friendly welcome. I know they have open mic nights and other events that position them as an important part of the local Govanhill community. I hope having a Chatty Cafe table will play a small part in their community building approach.”

Another of Govanhill’s cafes also runs a mental health event every week. Family owned and operated Patricia’s Coffee Bar, partner with mental health charity You Are My Sunshine every Monday evening from 6-8pm where direct support is available from a trained professional. Despite the café being closed during lockdown, the doors were open for this as it was an essential service. Siblings Darryl, Stephanie, David and Jade created and named the café after their mother who took her own life seven years ago.

Darryl, a former youth worker who also runs Short Long Black, said: “We have a big mental health problem in this country, and people tend to get passed around a super stretched NHS. We wanted to create a low-pressure space where people could get access to resources and potentially help people.”

By providing a welcoming environment for individuals to connect and engage with one another, Govanhill’s cafes are doing their bit in helping to improve people’s mental and physical health, and ultimately, strengthen our community.

Anna Strzalkowska, Bees Knees Cafe owner

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And breathe…

Breathwork instructor Ania Marchwiak shares some simple techniques that you can use to relax, or feel energised.

B

By Ania Marchwiak Illustrations by Hannah Moshtael

reathwork. This is the answer I give every time someone asks me what I do if I’ve had a bad day, feel anxious, stressed, want to relax or get energised.

This ancient wisdom, which is also called pranayama, has been growing in popularity since the beginning of the pandemic, and is a great tool if you want to work on – and support your – respiratory system, as well as your body, mind and spirit.

The benefits of breathwork can include: decreasing stress and anxiety levels; improving immunity; improving mental clarity and concentration; improving sleep; and improving cardiovascular health and circulation.

There are many different techniques to use depending on what benefits you want to experience. Some use strong breaths and belly contractions to energise and cleanse, helping to increase blood flow through the body. Others are used to balance and relax your mind and body with slow and deep inhalations, and gentle, long exhalations.

Here are a couple of techniques that you can safely do in the comfort of your own home.

Calm Down

Get energised

1. Sit in a comfortable position (such as crosslegged or kneeling if they work for you) and take some slow, deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

Note: this exercise is not recommended during pregnancy and if you have high blood pressure, serious heart disease, epilepsy or have recently had a surgery.

with nadi shodana (alternate nostril breathing)

2. Try and bring yourself to the present moment.

Close your eyes and do a mental body scan.

Feel the weight of your body on the ground. Is there a sense of heaviness or lightness in the body? Scan down from the top of your head to your toes. Notice all the different sensations.

Be an observer.. What feels comfortable?

What doesn’t? Try not to change any of the sensations. Just watching, observing, as you move down through the body. Allow your thoughts to come and go. The moment you notice you feel distracted, come back to the scan. Watch those thoughts come and go. When you get to the toes, open your eyes again.

3. Put your left hand on your left knee.

4. Bring your right hand in front of your face.

5. Rest your middle and index fingers on your forehead.

6. Rest your ring finger and thumb close to the nostrils on either side of the nose.

7. Close off your right nostril with your thumb and slowly inhale through your left nostril.

8. Close off your left nostril with your ring finger and pause* for a second.

9. Keep the left nostril closed and remove your thumb from your right nostril and slowly exhale through your right nostril. Pause.

10. Inhale slowly through your right nostril.

11. Close off your right nostril with your thumb and pause.

12. Remove your ring finger from your left nostril and slowly exhale through your left nostril.

Pause.

13. Inhale slowly through your left nostril.

14. Repeat steps 8 to 12.

You can do this exercise for 5, 10 or 15 minutes.

This breathing technique should leave you feeling relaxed, calm and centred. It can also make you feel cold, so have a blanket nearby. *You don’t need to pause between the inhales and exhales, it’s optional.

with chit shakti prakriya

1. Sit in a comfortable position (such as crosslegged or kneeling) and take some slow, deep breaths.

2. Bring yourself to the present moment. See above.

3. Inhale strongly into your belly and reach your arms up straight either side of your head with your hands open and your palms facing together.

4. On exhalation, make your hands into a fist and bring your arms down with some force so your arms are bent and your hands are at shoulder level. You can swing your arms back to help you get the momentum to get them up again.

5. Repeat for 20 breaths.

6. Make your last inhale long and deep.

7. With a slow exhale bring your hands slowly to your knees.

8. Rest for 30 seconds.

9. If everything feels fine, do another round.

You can safely do three rounds and even increase the repetitions if you feel like it (for example, Round 1 – 20 breaths, Round 2 – 30 breaths, Round 3 – 40 breaths).

This exercise will warm up your body and leave you energised and ready to roll!

Remember: if anything does not feel right at any point – STOP. Breathe normally for a minute or two.

If you would like more guidance, are interested in attending a session, or have questions about breathwork feel free to get in touch at breathing.space.glasgow@gmail.com or follow @breathingspaceglasgow on Instagram

Oddychaj…

Tekst Ania Marchwiak Ilustracje Hannah Moshteal

P O L IS H

Ania Marchwiak, instruktorka oddechu dzieli się kilkoma technikami oddechowymi, które możesz wykorzystać by zrelaksować swoje ciało lub pobudzić je do działania.

O

ddychanie. To odpowiedź, którą podaję za każdym razem, gdy ktoś się mnie zapyta jak radzę sobie ze złym dniem, czuję niepokój, jestem zestresowana albo co robię kiedy chcę się zrelaksować bądź nabrać energii.

Ta pradawna mądrość, która ukrywa się także pod sanskryckim słowem pranayama, zyskała na popularności w czasie pandemii. Techniki oddechowe to wspaniałe narzędzia do pracy nad układem oddechowym a także wspomagające ciało, umysł i duszę.

Korzyści, które przynosi praca z oddechem to między innymi: obniżony poziom stresu i uczucia niepokoju, zwiększona odporność, zwiększona koncentracja i jasność umysłu, poprawa jakości snu, poprawa stanu układu sercowo-naczyniowego oraz krążenia.

Wybór techniki oddechowej będzie zależał od tego jaki chcemy uzyskać efekt. W niektórych z nich stosuje się serię gwałtownych wdechów i wydechów oraz świadomie kurczy mięśnie brzucha, co pomaga w przyspieszeniu przepływu krwi przez ciało. Taki oddech dodaje energii i oczyszcza. Z kolei inne techniki stosuje się do wyciszenia oraz zrelaksowania umysłu i ciała. Wykorzystuje się w nich powolne i głębokie oddechy oraz delikatne i długie wydechy.

Poniżej znajdziesz dwie techniki, które można spokojnie wykonać samemu w zaciszu swojego domu.

Odetchnij

z nadi shodana (oddychanie naprzemiennie nosem)

Get energised

1. Usiądź w wygodnej pozycji (po turecku lub w postawie klęczącej jeżeli są dla ciebie wygodne) i weź kilka wolnych, głębokich oddechów. Wdech przez nos i wydech ustami.

Uwaga: to ćwiczenia nie jest zalecane jeżeli jesteś w ciąży lub masz wysokie ciśnienie, cierpisz na chorobę serca, epilepsję bądź niedawno przeszłaś_edłeś operację.

2. Spróbuj odnaleźć się w chwili obecnej. Zamknij oczy i zrób skan ciała. Poczuj jak twoje ciało jest usadowione na podłodze. Czy odczuwasz ciężkość czy lekkość w ciele? Przeskanuj ciało od czubka głowy po palce u stóp. Zauważ wszystkie dochodzące bodźce. Stań się obserwatorem.

Co odczuwasz jako przyjemne? A co jako nieprzyjemne? Postaraj się nie zmieniać swoich odczuć. Bądź uważna_y, [AM1] obserwuj swoje ciało w miarę skanowania ciała. Pozwól swoim myślom przychodzić i odchodzić. W momencie, w którym zauważysz, że twoja uwaga jest rozproszona, wróć do skanu. Obserwuje jak myśli pojawiają się i znikają. Kiedy dojdziesz do palców u stóp, otwórz oczy.

1. Usiądź w wygodnej pozycji (po turecku lub w postawie klęczącej) i weź kilka wolnych, głębokich oddechów.

3. Połóż lewą rękę na lewym kolanie.

4. Zbliż prawą rękę do twarzy.

5. Umieść palec środkowy i wskazujący na czole.

with Chit Shakti Prakriya

2. Spróbuj odnaleźć się w chwili obecnej. Patrz wyżej.

3. Weź gwałtowny i głęboki wdech do brzucha i wyciągnij ręce wysoko, nad głowę. Upewnij się, że twoje dłonie są otwarte i skierowane do siebie.

4. Przy wydechu, zamknij dłonie w pięść i energicznie ściągnij ramiona w dół, w taki sposób by twoje dłonie znalazły się na wysokości ramion z ramionami zgiętymi w łokciach. Możesz zarzucić zgiętymi ramionami do tyłu, tak by ten ruch pomógł ci je ponownie wyrzucić do góry.

5. Powtórz tę sekwencję przez 20 oddechów.

6. Ostatni wdech powinien być długi i głęboki.

6. Umieść palec serdeczny i kciuk blisko nozdrzy: jeden palec przy jednej dziurce drugi przy drugiej.

7. Odłóż dłonie na kolona przy wolnym wydechu.

7. Prawym kciukiem zatkaj swoje prawe nozdrze i zrób wdech przez lewe nozdrze.

9. Jeżeli czujesz się dobrze możesz powtórzyć ćwiczenie.

8. Zatkaj swoje lewe nozdrze palcem serdecznym i na sekundę zatrzymaj powietrze.* 9. Odblokuj prawe nozdrze i zatkaj lewe. Wydychaj prawym nozdrzem. Zatrzymaj na chwilę oddech.

10. Wykonaj wdech przez prawe nozdrze.

11. Zatkaj prawe nozdrze kciukiem i zatrzymaj na chwilę powietrze.

8. Odpocznij przez 30 sekund.

Ćwiczenie możesz bezpiecznie wykonać trzy razy, a nawet stopniowo zwiększyć liczbę powtórzeń jeżeli chcesz. Na przykład: runda 1 - 20 oddechów, runda 2 - 30 oddechów, runda 3 - 40 oddechów.

Ta technika oddechowa powinna rozgrzać twoje ciało i sprawić, że nabierzesz energii i poczujesz chęć do działania!

12. Odblokuj lewe nozdrze i wolno wydychaj powietrze przez lewe nozdrze. Zatrzymaj na chwilę oddech.

13. Wykonaj wdech przez lewe nozdrze.

14. Powtórz cały cykl od punktu 8 do 12.

Możesz wykonywać to ćwiczenia przez 5, 10 lub 15 minut.

Ta technika oddechowa powinna sprawić, że poczujesz się zrelaksowana_y, spokojna_y i uziemiona_y. Może też wywołać uczucie zimna, więc dobrze jest mieć pod ręką koc. *Nie musisz robić pauzy między wdechem i wydechem.

Jest to opcjonalne.

Pamiętaj! Jeżeli w którymkolwiek momencie poczujesz, że coś jest nie tak, PRZERWIJ ćwiczenie.

Oddychaj normalnie przez minutę albo dwie.

Jeżeli chciałabyś_łbyś więcej wskazówek do powyższych ćwiczeń, jesteś zainteresowana_y uczestnictwem w sesji oddechowej lub masz pytania na temat oddychania, możesz wysłać zapytanie na adres breathing.space.glasgow@gmail.com albo zacząć obserwować @breathingspaceglasgow na Instagramie.

[AM1] Inclusive forms used throughout the text.

What’s On

Govanhill Baths, Crossroads and Our Rights, Our Communities have put together an exciting program of events celebrating the movement for Women’s Rights.

For more regular events and groups, see our noticeboard: greatergovanhill.com/noticeboard

Women, Activism, Archives & Heritage

International Women’s Day March

Exhibition Launch and Panel Discussion When: Monday 6 March, 6-8pm Where: Deep End, 21 Nithsdale Street, Glasgow, G41 2PZ Join the Deep End at the launch of their exhibition at the launch of our exhibition for a panel discussion with Q&A on Women, Activism, Archives & Heritage. The event is free and drop in.

When: Saturday 11 March, 12-1pm Where: Meet at Govanhill Park The International Women’s Day Festival will culminate with a march that will begin in Govanhill Park and head to Queen’s Park where there will be speeches by women’s groups and activists taking action for gender equality.

Women’s Cycle Festival with Women on Wheels

Exhibition: Women in the Archive

When: Tuesday 7-10 March, 12-6pm Where: Deep End, 21 Nithsdale Street, Glasgow, G41 2PZ An exhibition in celebration of women’s lives that intertwine with the history of the Govanhill Baths. The event is free and drop in.

When: Saturday 11 March, 11am-5pm Where: Queens Park, Victoria Road Entrance A free cycle festival for all women and families. Led rides, lessons, Dr. Bike repairs, cycling info stall, maintenance classes, arts & crafts and more.

Roma Sisters Together celebrate International Women’s Day with Romano Lav

Post-March Socialising and Food with SAWA When: Saturday 11th, 13:30 - 15:00 Where: Deep End, 21 Nithsdale Street, Glasgow, G41 2PZ Head to the Deep End to warm up after the march and socialise with other activists and community groups.

Delicious Palestinian and Syrian flatbreads and savoury pastries are provided by the Scottish Arab Women’s Association.

When: Wednesday 8 March, 11am-3pm Where: The Ark, 70 Coplaw Street, Glasgow, G42 7JG Bahtalea! Celebrate this important date by attending this restorative and uplifting free event. This event is for Roma women only.

Workshop: Stories of Empowerment and Change with Unity Sisters

International Women’s Day at Glasgow Zine Library

When: Wednesday 8 March, 10am-12:30pm Where: Queen’s Park Govanhill Church of Scotland, 170 Queen’s Dr, Glasgow, G42 8QZ Join Unity Sisters to share stories of women’s empowerment and standing up to oppression. They will explore how stories can help us build power in our communities. This event is free and drop in.

When: Saturday 11 March, 12-6pm Where: Glasgow Zine Library, 636 Cathcart Road, Glasgow, G42 8AA Get warm after the Govanhill International Women’s Day march with a curated selection of feminist, trans and women’s zines from GZL’s collection to read, dropin zine and badge making, and free tea, coffee and hot chocolate. All are welcome.

Screening: Parenthood of the Southside with GAMIS and FEN

When: Thursday 9 March, 7-9pm Where: Venue TBC For International Women’s Day 2023 Feminist Exchange Network has commissioned Meray Diner’s film project ‘Parenthood of the Southside’.

Tickets and more info: glasgowamis.org

Grrlz Night in with Fanny Riot When: Saturday 11 March, 6-8pm Where: The Wee Retreat, 2 Myrtle Park, Glasgow, G42 8UQ A pyjama party of feminist bedtime stories & activist self care, for women* and non binary folks (inclusive of trans women) at the Wee Retreat. Pay what you can tickets: fannyriot.com

Screenprint your own T-shirt with Print Clan

When: Friday 10 March, 6-8pm Where: Deep End, 21 Nithsdale Street, Glasgow, G41 2PZ With the support of Print Clan, you can screen-print your own personalised T-shirt for the Govanhill Women’s March. This free drop-in style printmaking workshop is open to everyone, including children if accompanied by an adult.

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OTHER EVENTS COMING UP Farah Saleh and Oğuz Kaplangi: A Wee Journey

Buzzcut Festival

When: Saturday 11 March, 7:30-8:30pm Where: Tramway, 25 Albert Dr, Glasgow, G41 2PE A choreographed musical journey about migration, A Wee Journey is a timely and relevant piece that fuses dance, music and performance to explore belonging, connection, community and home.

Tickets: tramway.org

When: 30 March – 2 April Where: Tramway, 25 Albert Dr, Glasgow, G41 2PE BUZZCUT Festival returns for their first in-person festival in 6 years! The festival makes a home for experimental and radical performance and live art from across the UK, Europe and North America. Find their whole programme on Tramway’s website.

UNBECOMING - Company of Wolves

Nourish Circle

When: Sunday 12 March, 6:30pm Where: Kinning Park Complex Unbecoming is a performance about loss and rage, told by a woman and a mother.

Tickets: kinningparkcomplex.org

BFFS: The Radical Potential of Female Friendship

When: Saturday 18 March, 7-8pm Where: Glasgow Zine Library In this talk, Anahit Behrooz, the author of BFFs: The Radical Potential of Female Friendship, chats with author and editor Heather Parry about cultural depictions of female friendship.

Pay what you can tickets: glasgowzinelibrary.com/events

When: 29 April, 2-4pm Where: Studio 70, 70 Victoria Rd, Glasgow G42 7AA You are invited to a monthly community get-together where you’ll have the opportunity to slow down, to breathe, to let go, to trust, and to be. Includes gentle yoga, meditation, deep rest practices, breath work, journaling, and an opportunity to share in-circle.

Open to anyone who identifies as a woman or non-binary.

Tickets: studio70glasgow. com/events

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE

Since the Annette Street Drummers opened the Community Newsroom, we have been hosting almost weekly events here at 82 Bowman Street. These have included community reporters training, a workshop with Women in Journalism and a fundraiser co-organised with Kin Kitchen for the Turkish-Syrian earthquake.

We have also been running a series of events funded by the Winter Wellbeing Fund, a scheme to improve community connection. We’ve had a series of talks, workshops and screenings that have fed into some of the articles in this magazine. These included the community discussion on our backcourts as well as a screening of ‘One Last Spin’ which was a part of our gambling harms series.

We will be continuing to host events throughout the year.

Food and drinks are provided and it is a great chance to learn new skills or get your voice heard on an issue that matters to you. We’re also really open to hearing your ideas for events, it could be something you’d like to lead, or just someone you’d like to hear from.

The space is also available to be booked by other community organisations, and we have ad hoc desks available for co-working.

Events are free but ticketed due to limited space. To book a space, or for more information on what’s happening, visit: greatergovanhill.com/newsroom

ISSUE 9: WELLBEING MAGAZINE LAUNCH

Friday 10 March, 6:30-8pm Pick up your issue of the new magazine and take some copies for your friends and family. Contributors from the latest magazine will be along to talk about their work and all of us who have been working on the magazine will be having a well-deserved drink!

GET TO KNOW... ROMA CULTURE AND COMMUNITY

Wednesday 15 March, 6:30-8pm Come along to this informal talk to learn more about Roma history and culture and hear from different organisations such as Romano Lav and Community Renewal speaking about Rom Romeha and the Roma Local Conversations group.

Q&A WITH SIMON MURPHY ON HIS GOVANHILL PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT

Thursday 16 March 6:30-8pm Meet local legend, and regular contributor to the magazine, Simon Murphy. His dramatically stark black-and-white portraits of life in Govanhill have won him international plaudits. Hear about his practice and to ask him any questions or for advice on your own photography skills

EVE LIVINGSTON FEATURE WRITING WORKSHOP

Thursday 23 March, 6:30-8pm Eve is a freelance journalist who has worked for places like The Guardian and Vice, as well as The Ferret and Greater Govanhill.

In this workshop she’ll be talking about her experiences as a freelancer and sharing some practical tips on feature writing and structures.

VICTORIA CROSS

The Lass o’ Govanhill

Y R R ET NE P O OR C

COLOUR IN

This poem was originally printed in 1885 and discovered by local historian, Bruce Downie – author of Loved And Lost: Govanhill’s Built Heritage and 99 Calder Street: A History of Govanhill Baths and Washhouse.

Robert Wilson, an artist and illustrator who has lived in Govanhill for the past eight years, recently published his first colouring book featuring illustrations of iconic landmarks and locations throughout Govanhill. The book includes a map of the locations featured that readers can use to explore the area as they colour in each page.

With a passion for art and drawing, Robert hopes to inspire creativity and encourage people of all ages to explore the beauty of Govanhill through his work. Robert can be found on Instagram @backcourtbooks and the Govanhill Colouring book can be purchased online: amzn.to/3ZFjsVd

Your Photo

Taken by Deedo Clark and sent in when we asked folk to share their best local winter pics.

The Sons of Ghulam Muhammad

By Inayah Jamil ©

To the sons of Ghulam Muhammad you came here with nothing and held tight to brotherhood.

You were immigrants from another country and a name you made for yourselves.

You couldn’t speak the language but you learnt it through conversations.

There were sacrifices and everyday struggles, but you braved those challenges together.

You saw greatness in your abilities and brought equality to the streets.

You developed fellowship between people and those people still remember your names.

Ghulam Muhammad is the name of Inayah’s great grandfather, but the poem is about the story of her grandfathers migrating to Scotland.

Got a spring photo to share? For the chance of being featured, email it to hello@greatergovanhill.com

In the last issue, we wrongly stated that the poem was written about Ghulam Muhammad, a former govnenor general of Pakistan, an inaccuracy for which we apologise.

GET INVOLVED WITH GREATER GOVANHILL! We have lots of exciting projects and opportunities coming up with all sorts of ways for our readers to get involved.

WORK WITH US!

We’re looking to hire a trainee reporter from the local area – someone with a keen interest in the Govanhill community and in telling stories through writing and multimedia. greatergovanhill.com/jobs

JOIN OUR BOARD

We’re also looking for a community and business-minded person to join our board.

We’re particularly interested to hear from people with knowledge of: nonprofit business management; financial management; HR; advertising sales.

Please note this is a voluntary position. greatergovanhill.com/board

SHARE AN OBJECT THAT MEANS SOMETHING TO YOU

We’re excited to announce that we will be continuing with the second part of our FONDS project that we began last year, when we asked people to share an object that means something to them. We’ll be working once more with Morwenna Kearsley to photograph these objects and share their stories. greatergovanhill.com/objects

TELL US ABOUT WHAT KEEPS YOU – AND YOUR CHILDREN – WELL

Continuing our project covering solutions to health inequalities, in collaboration with The Ferret, we’ll next be looking at the themes related to mental health, food, community and children’s health.

We’re really keen to gather input from the community about the problems and solutions in these areas. greatergovanhill.com/mindthehealthgap

TAKE PART IN AN INNOVATIVE THEATRE-JOURNALISM CROSSOVER

How does the way the media reports on crime affect communities? That’s what It’s Criminal, a new storytelling project aims to find out.The initiative is a collaboration between Contemporary Narratives Lab, The Ferret and Greater Govanhill magazine, supported by City University of London. If you have direct experience of the criminal justice system or are part of a community often scapegoated for crime, get in touch. greatergovanhill.com/latest/its-criminal

BECOME A MEMBER

We couldn’t do any of this work without the support of our community. You can become a member to help sustain Greater Govanhill from as little as £3 a month. greatergovanhill.com/members

CONTRIBUTE TO THE MAGAZINE

If you have an idea for an article you’d like to write, or one you’d like to read in a future issue, let us know. Or if you’d like to get involved by taking photographs, helping out with translations or creating illustrations, you can email hello@greatergovanhill.com

HELP BUILD COMMUNITY POWER Now we have The Community Newsroom, we’re really excited about the potential for Greater Govanhill to grow, and strengthen the community as we do.

Want to be part of it?

Become a member for as little as £3 a month to support your local, grassroots community media: greatergovanhill.com/members

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