ONE OF Glasgow’s groundbreaking social enterprise companies is helping to transform lives across the city.

Glasgow Wood Recycling, a previous winner of the Green Business category at the Streets Ahead Awards, provides volunteer and training opportunities to local people, as a practical way of tackling unemployment and social exclusion.

They help businesses recycle wood otherwise destined for landfill and transform it into quality furniture – everything from tables in bars to eco-gardens in schools.

The company will take its place alongside some of Scotland’s biggest names in homes and garden design at the Ideal Home Show Scotland this month.

Two of the volunteers whose lives have been changed by the project, believe it’s a powerful force for good in the city at a time when many families are struggling.

Alex Hall was finding it hard to get a job when he started volunteering for Glasgow Wood Recycling six years ago.

“I wanted to fill up my day and I knew I could contribute to something, I just couldn’t find work,” he explains.

“The recycling idea really appealed to me. When I started, I remember feeling like part of the team, with the volunteer coordinator taking me under his wing. There was the freedom to do as much as you wanted to do.”

Alex, who is from the east end, quickly became known as the ‘barrel man’ because of his skill in working with old whisky barrels.

“People seemed to have confidence in me and that was great - I was doing something useful,” he smiles. “Being in front of the workshop meant I was in touch with the customers and I enjoyed telling them about us.”

After three years as a volunteer, Alex was taken on as an employee and he is now a machine shop and retail assistant.

“I do the Saturday retail shift now, I’ve got my fork lift licence as well and I’m going on a welding course this year,” he says. “I like the variety. I was proud to get and job here and having a wage was a big thing. I still feel I can learn more.”

Benjamin Lee, from Scotstoun, came as a trainee on the company’s Making Wood Work programme in May 2015. Before that, he hadn’t had any paid work since 2001. Now he has a full-time job with a food processing company in Cambuslang.

“Before I came to Glasgow Wood, I was going to the Jobsearch training and I was looking for voluntary work – I felt like I was getting nowhere,” he recalls.

“I loved making the sculptures: the plant boxes, cabinets, benches, chairs, tables and so on with the hand held tools.

“It’s definitely easier to look for a job when you’re already working. My Job Centre adviser said that when you’re looking for employment, if they see that you’re willing to work as a volunteer then you’ve got a good chance. It worked for me…”

Glasgow Wood Recycling will be exhibiting at the Ideal Home Show Scotland which is taking place from the 26-29 May at the SEC Glasgow. For more information and to book tickets please visit www.idealhomeshowscotland.co.uk

THE smartest hen coop in town welcomed its first inhabitants recently, thanks to a little help from Streets Ahead.

‘Cluckingham Palace’ is now in place at Adelphi Nursery in the Gorbals, much to the delight of the young chicken farmers.

We awarded the nursery £500 and apprentices from City Building who, along with Glasgow City Council, City Charitable Trust and Scottish Fire and Rescue, is a campaign partner, built the coop free of charge.

“Our chicken house is built with sticks and it even has BEDROOMS,” said Kayleigh Stevens, three.

Four-year-old Druv Garg added: “The chicken lays eggs in their house and they are happy now because they can give us eggs.”

Ayub Osman and Mia-Rose Martin, who are also four, were equally delighted.

Ayub said: “Chickens love a square house. They went in and laid five eggs. It is good because a wolf cannot get in the house because the chickens can close the door.”

Mia-Rose said: “Our new chicken house is nice – it looks like a party hen coop!”

Head teacher Julie Carey said: “We are very grateful to Streets Ahead and City Building – the new coop is fantastic.

“Graham and Martin from City Building visited us earlier in the year to measure up the space and the children had a lot of fun drawing up designs, including bedrooms to lay eggs in, curtains for the window and a box for dirty feathers.

“The finished product is fantastic, with roosts, a run, ramps, laying boxes and a window.”

Adelphi Nursery is home to around 80 children, aged between three and five years, from many different cultural backgrounds. They speak 19 languages between them, including Greek, French, Urdu, Mandarin and Polish.

The nursery supplies eggs to local baking project the High Rise Bakers, which helps people beat isolation and learn new skills.

“The hens have been wonderful – they have been a real conversation starter and a great way of involving the parents as well as the children, said Julie.

Dr Graham Paterson, executive director at City Building, said: “Our apprentices really enjoyed working on the hen coop at Adelphi Nursery. It gave them a chance to use their joinery skills in a new context and it was extremely rewarding for them to see how excited the children are about having the opportunity to keep chickens at the nursery.

“It is incredibly important to City Building that our apprentices engage with local groups and organisations that they might never have come across previously, as it helps them to better understand the communities that we serve.”

Do you have a Streets Ahead project to tell us about? Does your school or nursery need a helping hand to get a community project off the ground? Email streetsahead@heraldandtimes.co.uk or call 0141 302 6555 for more information.