FOR the last 12 months, Streets Ahead fever has gripped Glasgow – now it is time to reward the people and projects who made it happen.

The second Streets Ahead awards, organised by the Evening Times in conjunction with our campaign partner Clean Glasgow, take place next Thursday at the Winter Gardens, Glasgow Green.

There will be seven category winners: Best Garden; Best Community Garden; Best Environmental Initiative; Best School; Best Clean-up Campaign; Best Community Initiative, the Green Glasgow Business Award – and one Overall Champion chosen by the judges.

It is a chance to pay tribute to the men, women and children who have helped to transform the city's streets, gardens and parks since the second year of our award-winning campaign began.

In our second feature on the Streets Ahead awards finalists, we meet those in two of the most hotly contested categories, Best Community Garden and Best Community Initiative.

BEST COMMUNITY INITIATIVE:

SHETTLESTON COMMUNITY GROWING PROJECT

The project began because a group of local people wanted to grow their own healthy food.

With funding from the Climate Challenge Fund and Glasgow City Council, they turned a derelict site into allotments, a community garden, mini-orchard, polytunnel and potting shed.

As well as community food growing, and the children's project, the Smelly Welly Club, the group also provides volunteering opportunities.

Many unemployed residents have gone on to education and employment as a result and organisations and individuals from all over Glasgow and beyond are being inspired to follow the project's example in their communities.

Project co-ordinator Marion Bate says: "As well as creating a safe, positive place for people in the community, the project has done so much to put the heart back into Shettleston.

"Areas like ours often get dismissed because people assume high unemployment levels mean folk are lazy. Here, it is absolutely not the case. We held an event on Sunday to celebrate the work of our volunteers and more than 130 people turned up.

"It is a fantastic project and it has transformed the area."

GHA AREA COMMITTEES

Glasgow Housing Association's four Area Committees listen to residents and do what communities need to grow and thrive.

They are made up of tenants, factored homeowners, councillors and community representatives and each have £1million to invest every year.

There are fantastic examples of their work across the city, from building safe car parking areas in Sandyhills and upgrading paths in Balornock to lock-up makeovers in Riddrie and creating beautiful garden areas at sheltered housing complexes in the East End.

Thanks to the Area Committees, communities across the city are safer, cleaner and more attractive.

FRIENDS OF ROSSHALL PARK AND GARDENS

More than 70 people have signed up to support Friends Of Rosshall Park And Gardens since it started in 2009.

Their aim was simple, but strong – to restore the park to its former glory and to protect the surrounding environment.

The hard-working volunteers have organised events and activities for the community, bringing families back into the park, which was under-used and neglected.

They also plant, weed and tidy various locations around the area, including Crookston railway station.

BEST COMMUNITY GARDEN:

CATHCART OLD GARDEN TEAM

The volunteers who maintain the grounds around Cathcart Old Parish Church have created more than just a beautiful place in which to stroll or relax.

Reverend Neil Galbraith explains: "Our grounds look great, thanks to the efforts of a whole bunch of local people, from Davy and his sit-on mower, who keeps the lawns bowling-green neat, Bert who comes in to hoe at 6am, and the ladies who weed and plant.

"But they have also given our community a real focal point, somewhere neighbours can meet up to chat and relax together.

"A place of great beauty has come to life again and our kirk, which dates back 1400 years, has a new lease of life too."

BATTLEFIELD COMMUNITY PROJECT

The community project at the corner of Ledard Road and Arundel Drive is used for a whole host of activities, from gardening sessions with local children and disabled adults, to an annual street party attended by more than 400 people.

It is also a popular spot for sunbathing and relaxing and, thanks to the efforts of the volunteers who transformed it from an overgrown mess, is now a valuable and much-loved community resource.

CITIZENS GARDEN

The overgrown and abandoned garden next to the Norfolk Court high rise flats was a real eyesore until residents transformed it into a peaceful and beautiful haven with flowers, seating and raised beds.

Run by Gorbals Healthy Living Network, it provides horticultural skills and learning opportunities for residents, and five of the unemployed volunteers have found permanent jobs as a result of the programme.

Most importantly, anti-social behaviour, littering and vandalism in the garden area have stopped and local people have a beautiful space to be proud of.