Working together for the benefit of communities across the city

Clean Glasgow, City Charitable Trust, Glasgow Housing Association, ScotRail and Scottish Fire and Rescue are the fabulous five organisations backing our bid to improve Glasgow one street at a time.

Here, representatives from each organisation join Evening Times editor Tony Carlin to reflect upon the past 12 months – and to look forward to the year ahead.

TONY CARLIN, EVENING TIMES EDITOR

People Make Glasgow and the Evening Times Streets Ahead campaign highlight just how special Glaswegians truly are.

Over the past year we have seen some exceptional work carried out by individuals, voluntary groups and businesses as part of the campaign.

We have been inundated with stories of people who strive to make Glasgow a better place to live, work and play.

We have met groups who wanted to clean up their street, others who planted gardens or hanging baskets, and many who wanted to help restore vandalised playgrounds.

We have been fortunate to meet some of the good neighbours who make such a positive difference within their communities throughout the year.

And with the support of our magnificent partners Clean Glasgow, City Charitable Trust, Glasgow Housing Association, ScotRail and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, we have been able to help some of them achieve their goals.

Thank you to all who participated in the campaign over the past year. Hopefully your efforts will inspire others to come on board when our next campaign kicks off in August.

We want to hear from all of you. Let us help you to make a positive difference in your communities.

ELAINE BELL, HEAD OF CORPORATE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AT SCOTRAIL

ScotRail is a strong advocate for the Streets Ahead initiative and has supported the awards for several years.

New franchise operator Abellio ScotRail has been keen to get involved and has committed to forging even closer links across the country with the appointment of two community ambassadors and a stream of initiatives in the pipeline to benefit people across Scotland.

The streets of Glasgow may not be paved with gold, but thanks to Streets Ahead, communities strike gold year after year.

It is obvious, reading all of the entries to this year’s awards, there is a huge variety of initiatives underway across the city.

This made it harder to choose the winners, but it was also a very rewarding experience to be a judge. The standard of entries is a credit to all who are working hard to make their communities a better place and I would like to congratulate everyone involved.

The winners all have one thing in common. They are driving positive changes in their communities which, in turn, benefits Glasgow and the people who live here.

It takes just one individual or group to make a difference, ultimately creating a safer, cleaner and healthier environment. We recognise that it’s not always easy and there can many obstacles to overcome, so this year's winners can be very proud of what they have achieved.

COUNCILLOR GORDON MATHESON, CHAIRMAN OF THE CLEAN GLASGOW CAMPAIGN AND LEADER OF GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL

I’m delighted the Evening Times is continuing its Streets Ahead campaign and supporting us in the Clean Glasgow mission. The campaign is a great opportunity to recognise the fantastic work being done across Glasgow by groups and individuals to make their communities better and brighter.

City residents play a huge part in our efforts to keep the city looking its best and it's particularly nice when schools, businesses and local groups get involved.

Glaswegians love their city and it’s clear that campaigns like Streets Ahead and Clean Glasgow show the strength of their sense of community spirit.

Streets Ahead has encouraged more people, old and young, to take pride in their city.

The campaign has created hundreds of Street Champions and it’s fantastic that Glasgow continues to grab this challenge with relish and be rewarded for their efforts.

Many of our schools have dreamed up some wonderful ideas and the young people are acting on their plans and taking an active, and very visible, role in their community.

These projects include everything from litter picks around their school and creating special wildlife gardens to investigating the road safety issues affecting the local environment.

Through close partnerships with our communities and a shared responsibility for our environment, we are making a cleaner, safer city for everyone.”

GORDON SLOAN, GHA CHAIRMAN

We have been a partner in the Evening Times Streets Ahead campaign for the past four years - and what a success it has been.

GHA’s mission is to build better homes and better lives - and we have supported many projects over the past 12 months which inspire people to make their neighbourhoods better places to live.

Tenants and staff, joined by schools, churches and other organisations, have arranged litter-picks and community clean-ups to help make their local areas cleaner, greener and more attractive.

Community gardens and allotments help people get out into the fresh air, keep active and learn about healthy eating - and are also important in reducing isolation.

GHA’s Local Environmental Action Forums continue to help raise environmental standards and our three Area Committees, led by tenants, have funded improvements such as tidying up open spaces.

Other projects have included distributing hampers to vulnerable families, organising parties for older residents and family fun days.

These help make people feel they are part of a real community - and that’s what Streets Ahead is all about.

We are proud to be partners in Streets Ahead and I would like to congratulate the Evening Times on its continuing success.

JOHN MCGARVEY, GROUP MANAGER, SCOTTISH FIRE AND RESCUE

The City of Glasgow area of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is proud to continue to support the Evening Times Streets Ahead campaign.

For the past five years we have been involved with many projects, all of which aim to make our communities a better place to live in.

We pride ourselves as an organisation which helps others, yet it is always humbling to work with people who give their own time to make other lives better.

Last year we were delighted to be able to work with our local schools in bringing Commonwealth Games commemorative statues to every fire station in Glasgow.

Sporting sculptures outside every fire station will serve as a reminder of the legacy Glasgow will enjoy from having the most successful games ever.

We helped establish a community garden for Bonnybroom Family Learning Centre, amid the demolition site of the Red Road flats and, working in partnership with the Parents Action Group, Police Scotland, GHA and the Community Improvement Partnership encouraging an uptake in free Home Fire Safety Visits, we achieved more than we could as individuals.

There is so much that can be achieved through the dedication of extraordinary people in our communities, with the support of Glasgow’s services and agencies, and their hard work needs to be recognised. The Evening Times Streets Ahead campaign recognises them as unsung heroes and seeks to encourage and support others to follow their example.

LORD WILLIE HAUGHEY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF CITY CHARITABLE TRUST

The City Charitable Trust is delighted to have worked with the Evening Times and our other Streets Ahead partners over the past 12 months.

We have helped scores of individuals and organisations to make a positive difference within their communities.

These people are the very lifeblood of Glasgow, They are what makes our city great.

The founding principle of Streets Ahead was a belief that one person can change the street where they live or work for the better. And if EVERY street has one champion we can change the entire city for the better.

I still firmly believe this is the case and that is why the City Charitable Trust is delighted to help the army of Glaswegians who work so tirelessly to improve their communities for their neighbours.

Streets Ahead allows us to offer some of these local heroes a little assistance in their efforts towards making their communities better places to live and work.

What makes Streets Ahead unique is that is it the local people themselves who are leading the improvements in their areas by taking ownership of these projects and instilling pride in their communities.

I hope Streets Ahead continues to help support those who make this city great for many years to come.