GLASGOW voters have united to help the city's most vulnerable and impoverished residents.

After the violence in George Square on Friday night, a father and son were determined to show the "real Glasgow" and started a peaceful gathering on Saturday afternoon.

Onlookers listened as Andrew Carnegie and his son Darren talked about poverty and their foodbank, Glasgow's Needy, while condemning the post-referendum clashes.

Immediately people began buying food from local supermarkets and donating it to the pair, spreading the word on social media.

Darren, 25, said: "After we saw the vile hatred here on Friday night, me and my dad know that's not a fair representation of Glasgow.

"We decided to come down with peace flags and show a bit of solidarity, show that Glasgow wants peace and doesn't want that nonsense that happened on Friday.

"We started talking about our foodbank and the plight of poverty in the city, things we had seen.

"It was a spontaneous reaction - people started going to the shops and buying food and it created a snowball effect.

"It's been overwhelming and shows the true side of Glasgow, what we're actually all about.

"I'm humbled to be part of it."

By Sunday evening a corner of the square was lined with carrier bags bursting with enough donations to feed hundreds of people across the city.

Salesman Darren, from the East End, runs the foodbank in his spare time with his 45-year-old father.

He said: "This shows that what happened on Friday is not a true representation of Glasgow.

"It is a city of hope and kindness - the people are something special.

"This isn't charity, this is humanity."

Kathrine Stoakes, 39, a nursery nurse from Whiteinch used her supermarket loyalty points to pay for her donation as she was unable to afford to buy food.

She said: "I think it's terrible that Glasgow has to do this but it's beautiful that it is doing it.

"I had Nectar points that I was saving up for Christmas, so I bought toiletries - people's need now is more than my need at Christmas."

Kurtis McGonigle, 23, an offshore engineer from the city centre, also donated two bags of shopping and said: "It's inspiring and carrying on the positive momentum leading up to the referendum.

"It shows the real Glaswegian spirit."

Grant Campbell, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Mission, which helps the city's homeless, said the reaction shows how Glaswegians respond to people in crisis.

He said: "I love Glasgow dearly because that's how it responds to issues of crisis.

"People want to do something tangible and help in situations where there are issues of need.

"Foodbanks catch people who are just coping, and the danger is without them, they will drop into crisis."

hannah.rodger@ eveningtimes.co.uk