By Kirsty McNeill

International Roma Day is on 8^th April every year. It’s a day to celebrate Roma culture and raise awareness of issues facing Roma people.

Hitler named Romani people ‘enemies of the race based state’, and historians estimate that between 220,000 and 500,000 Romani were killed by the Nazis during the Second World War, between 25% to over 50% of the 1 million or so Roma in Europe at the time. Roma people still face persecution across the world today, in particular far right protests in Italy make it all the more important to stand together as a community.

Govanhill’s International Roma Day celebrations took place on Saturday 6th March, organised by Romano Lav. There were inspiring speeches and a procession through the streets of Govanhill with accompanying music. Afterwards, there was a community meal with traditional Roma food, followed by a performance of ‘The Acrobat’. This play is a celebration of the extraordinary life of Raymond Gurême, a French Manouche (Roma) man who escaped nine times from internment camps during the Second World War.

If you couldn’t make the celebrations for International Roma Day, Romano Lav will be putting on another event later in the year for Southside Film Festival. ‘Black Cat, White Cat’ will be screening and there will be traditional Roma food and live music. Details: facebook.com/events/258719141670397

By Jessica Reid

It’s Saturday morning at Govanhill Neighbourhood Centre and a wide range of families are arriving for this week’s Family Café. Breakfast consists of Danish pastries, fruit salad and tea and coffee – it’s vital to stock up on energy for the day of activities ahead.

          Family Café is a weekly event aimed at creating opportunities for families to spend time together over food, fun and learning. Family learning sessions are a joint project between Govanhill Community Development Trust and Glasgow Life; the project is still in the pilot stages, but things are going well so far. The last two Saturdays have both seen around 100 people attending and there’s been lots of positive feedback.

          A day at the Family Café looks something like this: family breakfast, then Bookbug reading sessions and play-along maths, followed by lunchtime, and finally games and ESOL classes.

          As the early birds finish their breakfast, I get chatting to Riz, a local mum-of-three who’s recently moved back to Glasgow. When I ask what she makes of Family Café, she tells me about the sense of security that comes with seeing familiar faces. And her daughter really enjoys it here – so much so that when they get home she’s so knackered that she’s snoring away in no time.

         Riz’s four-year-old is preparing to go to big school this autumn. When asked by one of the Glasgow Life workers if she ever gets a bit nervous, the answer is a resounding, “Nah!” Riz’s wee one is on the cusp of independence. But she still likes to be near Mum, who jokes that her umbilical cord was never cut. That’s what’s so great about Family Café. It’s an opportunity for families to learn, problem solve and play as a unit. And as evidence repeatedly shows the difference parents’ involvement in kids’ education makes, it’s giving Govanhill’s kids a real advantage. Some of the feedback given to Glasgow Life and GCDT backs this up

“Coming to the Café each week has been great for me and my girls this feels like part of our family now”

“My confidence and my children’s confidence has improved as we have learned so many new things.  We just love coming every week”

“We are closer as a family as we eat together, play and learn and meet other families within our community”.

The last family learning session for this term will take place on Saturday the 30th of March. More information about the future of this project will be available from this site.

Govanhill Community Development Trust Employability Service provides employability support to individuals residing in South West Govanhill who are looking for information, advice, guidance and support to help them progress, develop their skills and increase their employability options.

Support includes:

• Help identifying career/job options
• Job search assistance – online job search and completing job applications, CV preparation, interview techniques
• Assistance identifying and applying to a range of personal and professional development offered through colleges, training providers and volunteer opportunities.
• Ongoing support throughout

Anyone interested in using the service or finding out more, please contact Jacqui Bond, Employability Officer via the contact details below:

Contact Us!

Address: Govanhill Community Development Trust, Samaritan House, 79 Coplaw Street, Glasgow G42 7JG

Tel.: 0141-636-3664

Mob.: 07741-893-008

Email: jbond@govanhillha.org

Working hours: Mon 13:00 – 16:30 hours; and Tue, Wed, Thu 09:30 – 16:30 hours

Jessica Reid

REACH Community Health Project have established an ethnic-minority dementia-friendly group (EM DFG). The fortnightly event offers the chance to have a cup of coffee and a chat and to take part in fun activities.

All of this is supported by trained dementia support workers from both genders. Staff come from diverse ethnic minority communities, understand the clients’ cultural sensitivities and are able to communicate in specific languages.

If you are interested in attending the group, please email Amy@reachhealth.org.uk or call Amy on 0141 423 0522. Space is limited and it is not a drop-in service.

REACH Community Health Project are a Govanhill-based organisation originally set up in the year 2000 with the goal of promoting health within ethnic minority communities. The project has gone from strength to strength, with achievements including the establishment of a culturally sensitive mini-gym and the production of community-based research. Find out more here.

Keep in the loop with community work from Govanhill to the Gorbals, Castlemilk to Pollokshields.

The South East Integration Network (SEIN) have launched their new website, where you can keep up with local goings-on and find out about community organisations in Govanhill and across the south east.

SEIN is a network of community organisations in the south east of Glasgow with the aim of promoting diversity and supporting community integration. Its members include Govanhill Housing Association, The Dixon Community and Romano Lav and it funds projects such as Daisy Chain Early Years Project and The Well Multicultural Resource Centre.

You can keep up-to-date on the news and blog pages, Facebook and Twitter, and by signing up to the newsletter. If you would like to contribute to any of these, please get in touch with SEIN.

The new website includes free downloads and links pages, as well as info on SEIN’s library. A small selection of books and other resources are available to borrow from the office at 77 Torrisdale Street. You’re very welcome to visit, just get in touch to check that someone is in.

And if all this inspires you to get more involved with your local community, head to the website to find out about the latest job and volunteering opportunities at SEIN member organisations.

SEIN are keen to know if you have any feedback about their new website. Is anything not working properly? Have we missed something that you feel should be included? If you use a screenreader or have other accessibility requirements, how well does it meet these?

Contact Ruth: ruthc@seinglasgow.org.uk / 07749902684

By Jessica Reid

Lots of fun was had at GCDT Family learning party, held by Esol/family learning tutor Loraine McHendry  with support from Noreen Campbell at Glasgow Life.

The was held at Daisy Street neighbourhood centre on Monday 29^th October, and over 20 children dressed in Halloween costumes took part in the festivities.

There was a Spooky interactive story, after which the children created their own scary monster! Parents took part in a face painting workshop and the children in game of bobbin apples.

The event finished with a huge treasure hunt for sweets and treats around the neighbourhood centre garden.

The party was just part of our wider community events program, which is in place all year round.

You may have noticed that Govanhill.info has had a bit of a makeover. This site has been revamped so that news and events are brought to the forefront to make it easier to share the latest news and information about what is going on in Govanhill and the surrounding area, in order to keep it as up-to-date as possible. 

As part of this revamp Govanhill Community Development Trust is looking for volunteer Community Reporters to cover local events for the site. 

If you have skills in writing, photography, proof-reading, WordPress editing or social media, and are interested in keeping the community informed about local news and events, we want to hear from you. We are also looking for anyone wishing to gain experience or develop skills in these areas.  This opportunity might suit someone interested in a career in journalism or a communications role. Reasonable expenses will be paid and all volunteers will receive mentoring and support from the GCDT Media Worker. 

 

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send a short email to Liz at Lely@govanhillha.org with your contact details and why you are interested in the role. Experience is not necessary as volunteers will be supported, but anything you can tell us about your current skills and experience is helpful. 

These volunteer positions are open to all but preference will be given to people who live in the Govanhill area. 

We met with Felix Slavin, one half of Music Broth, Govanhill’s brand-new instrument-lending library, who told us about their new social enterprise operating from Unit 7 in Victoria Court.

Felix is surrounded by instruments; there are a large number of guitars, although the library has other instruments too, including a djembe, pianos and even a trombone.

Music Broth was founded in 2017. The idea was conceived as a way to make use of a number of musical instruments Felix had inherited from his late uncle. The aim of the project is to improve access to musical instruments, which are often expensive, to ensure that the widest possible range of people can enjoy the pleasure of making music. 

In June 2018 Music Broth secured space at the Victoria Court Workspaces large enough to safely store their many instruments.

Memberships are open to organisations and individuals. If you wish to find out more information or join the lending library, you can contact Music Broth at info@musicbroth.org or through social media on Facebook @MusicbrothGlasgow or Twitter @musicbroth.

If you have an instrument at home which is gathering dust and would make a useful addition to the library, Music Broth are also interested in hearing from you.

Music Broth rent space from the Govanhill Community Development Trust. If you are interested in renting one of these work spaces, please contact Dave Zabiega at Dzabiega[@]govanhillha.org.