An army of volunteers will help to make sure Glasgow’s Doors Open Day is a success.

Thousands of people will lend their time to make sure the event runs smoothly.

The festival, which takes place later this month, celebrates Glasgow’s most famous heritage sites and allows the public to see what goes on behind the doors of its buildings.

Rosie Griffin, co-ordinator of Glasgow’s Doors Open Day, said: “It should be a great event. We have an action-packed programme of buildings, walks and talks.”

She added that it was the help of the volunteers who made the event happen. Last year 1387 volunteers and staff were involved.

She said: “As always, it is the ever-friendly Glaswegians who volunteer to make this free event happen, so join in and enjoy, and feel the buzz across the city.”

One of the volunteers is Stephen Mullen, from Wishaw, who has been conducting a heritage tour on the history of slavery in Glasgow as part of Doors Open Days for the past few years.

The 33-year-old graduated with a history degree from Strathclyde University in 2007 and went on to write a book: “It wisnae us: The Truth about Glasgow and Slavery.”

He said: “I saw an advert at university asking for people to research the history of the slave trade for Doors Open Day so I just got stuck in.

“I had to start from scratch and really got into researching. I ended up volunteering for Doors Open Day and try to do it every year.”

Stephen’s tour takes the audience on an historic journey of discovery through Glasgow’s mercantile past and examines the connections between tobacco, slavery and the abolition movement.

This is demonstrated today by Glasgow’s built heritage which provides an extraordinary insight into the role of slavery in the city’s economic development.

He said: “The public are often quite shocked to find out that Glasgow had anything to do with slavery as there’s a misconception in the public mind about it.

“It’s quite popular though and I do enjoy taking people to sites including the Tobacco Merchants’ House to Trongate to tell them about how Glasgow was involved in slavery.”

Stephen’s walk will take place on the Saturday and Sunday, September 18 and 19, at 11am and 2pm each day.

As another aspect of Doors Open Day, Glasgow Central Mosque, Scotland’s largest, will launch an exhibition of rare and ancient Islamic manuscripts.

These unique and historic relics from around the globe will allow visitors to learn about the unique and rich heritage of the Islamic world.

On display will be Quranic manuscripts dating back to the 14th and 15th century from places such as Indonesia, India, Kashmir, Sudan and Spain.

Also on display will be astrolabes, ancient astronomical computers, and various Islamic coins from around the world.

One of the organisers of the event, Navid Bakhsh, said he expected more than 1000 people at the event.

He said: “We have around 20 volunteers helping out at our Doors Open Day event. There will be the exhibition and tours and we are supplying refreshments too.

“There’s even a chance to see a prayer taking place at 2pm as this happens every day at that time. We expect lots of people from the local community and we think there will be visitors travelling to the mosque too.”

The official launch of the mosque event will take place on Friday, September 17, when representatives of different faiths, politicians and community leaders will view the exhibits ahead of the weekend. It will open its doors to the public on September 18 and 19 from 10am until 4pm.

Another great Doors Open Day opportunity will be a chance to see the newly developed headquarters of the Scottish Ballet at Tramway.

Facilities include rehearsal studios, a wardrobe area and a large workshop which holds sets, props and technical equipment.

The building will be open on Saturday, September 18, from 10am until 4pm.

This year there are a total of 24 new venues, including 13 buildings, and for the first time 11 allotments will be open to the public in the Open Gates events.

The festival is packed with interesting things to see and do including bus tours and heritage events.

Talks and seminars will take place in the week leading up to Doors Open Day from September 14 to 17.

Over the weekend more than 100 buildings will open their doors to the public for free.

All events will help the public learn as much as possible about Glasgow’s built heritage.