Young carers get into art
November 22, 2011 by hbrace10 · 2 Comments
This article appeared on Local News Glasgow on October 21 2011. The workshops themselves took place on October 25-27 2011.
Unfortunately no photographs are available, but click here to go to the Trongate 103 website.
YOUNG carers created canvas bags, ceramic mugs and handmade books in free visual arts workshops at Trongate 103 this week.
The young people’s unit of Glasgow-based Project Ability, which facilitates arts provision for people with disabilities and mental health issues, arranged the sessions.
Organiser Lisa Clark said: ‘We have worked with young carers before. Youngsters from the Glasgow North East Young Carers Group comprised 10 of the 19 participants in the classes, which ended on Thursday 20 October.
Development worker Paula Murray said: ‘The young people were eager to get involved. The group programme offers them some respite from their caring role as well as a chance to form friendships
with other young people living in similar situations to them.’
Louise Morgan of the Princess Royal Trust for Carers commented: ‘Providing activities specifically for young carers is important because it lets young carers see that they are being recognised for what they do. A safe environment for them to express themselves is really important.’
She added: ‘Around 10% of children and young people are carers. In parts of Glasgow we would expect the figures to be higher due to health and lifestyle factors.’
The events at Trongate 103 were part of this month’s Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. It aims to challenge attitudes and raise awareness of mental health through the arts.
Director of communications, Eddie Harrison, explained: ‘One of the good things about the festival is it gets people talking about these issues. It started off with just a weekend of film
screenings and now we’ve got 270 events. It’s been growing every year.
‘Each event is giving a voice to a different group of people. It’s all about people expressing themselves.’
Charity concert for Scottish Autism
November 22, 2011 by hbrace10 · Leave a Comment
Bring In The Spirit's Kirsten Easdale and Rod Paterson. Courtesy of Steve Niblock (http://www.steveniblock.com/Home.html)
The concert’s main act will be instrumental folk band Bellevue Rendezvous, while Bring in the Spirit will present traditional Scottish songs and the works of Burns.
Glasgow-born singer Gordeanna McCulloch will also perform.
Fundraising manager Carolyne Nurse said of the concert: “It kick-starts Tune into Autism – our new campaign using music to raise awareness of autism and raise much-needed funds through collaboration with performers, music groups, choirs and societies.”
- She said: “Without their help and without Stuart’s education he would never have been able to function at the level that he can today. When they approached me to do this it was nice to be able to do something to give back.”
Fergus Muirhead. Courtesy of Steve Niblock (http://www.steveniblock.com/Home.html)
BBC Scotland’s money expert and chairman of St Andrews in the Square, Fergus Muirhead, will be tonight’s Master of Ceremonies. He will also play the highland pipes.
He said: “I’m very involved with Scottish traditional music and I get involved with quite a lot of charity work.”
The event will also include a raffle with first prize being a place on Nick Nairn’s cookery school at Lake of Menteith.
Vintage buses drive up visitor numbers
November 22, 2011 by hbrace10 · 2 Comments
This article appeared on Local News Glasgow on October 14 2011. The open day took place on Saturday October 8 2011.
Vintage buses lined up on Broad Street. Courtesy of Douglas Forbes.
Hundreds of people were geared up to see vintage vehicles at Bridgeton Bus Garage on Sunday 9 October. Many arrived at the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust’s annual open day on a free vintage bus service from the city centre and Riverside Transport Museum. Many took up the
offer of tours around the suburbs of Glasgow East.
Trust Chair, Iain MacGregor, said: ‘The day is all about exhibiting the vehicles, getting the buses on the streets and giving people the opportunity to travel on them.’
He added: ‘We get a lot of people specifically interested in vehicles, but also families coming for a day out. We are confident we exceeded last year’s numbers.’ Later verification showed that
the average 1600 rose to 2000 visitors this year.
The exhibition boasted the UK’s largest assembly of Glasgow Corporation Transport and MacBrayne’s buses, but other vehicles were also on display. These included emergency and recovery vehicles, a livestock transport truck, and even a vintage ice-cream van.
Organisations including the Ex-Military Land Rover Enthusiasts Club, the Albion Vehicle Preservation Trust and the Pre-67 Ford Owners Club were represented.
Stallholders ranged from bus-related businesses, to collectors, to catering companies.
Many of the stallholders have been trading at the open day since it began six years ago.
Passengers on the vintage bus service from the Riverside Transport Museum. Courtesy of Douglas Forbes.
- One, representing the Dundee Museum of Transport and himself a member of the Taybus Vintage Vehicle Trust, said: ‘We’ve been here every year. This year we’ve brought along one of the open-top
buses – an old Tayside bus that came back up to Dundee from Oxford in 2005.’
Another said: ‘For me this is a social event. If I make enough money to cover my costs it’s a bonus.’ His neighbour commented: ‘I’m just clearing out my loft. This is just a small selection of
what I’ve got in the attic.’
Work by the Back on the Road rehabilitation programme for recovering drug and alcohol addicts featured among Sunday’s displays, including a fully-restored 1934 bus.
Project manager Gordon Kerr said: ‘The Back on the Road project focuses on engaging with participants’ issues through developing skills in mechanics and restoration.’
Mr MacGregor described the programme’s role as an important part of the Trust’s work. He said: ‘We have a lot of success, even getting people back into full-time employment.’
Glasgow’s Lord Provost, Councillor Bob Winter, who attended the event on Friday October 7 to preview the exhibits, said: ‘I think it’s a wonderful collection of vintage vehicles. There are some new ones that have been done up and were not available last year. I found it very interesting.’
