ALL over the city, little pockets of people power are transforming the city for the better.

As our Streets Ahead campaign continues to gather steam, here at the Evening Times – with the support of our partners Glasgow City Council, City Charitable Trust and City Building – we have been inundated with tales of fantastic projects and inspiring individuals.

At Cowcaddens Day Nursery, for example, the young pupils, parents and teachers are transforming their outdoor play area into a much-needed garden space which will have lots of knock-on benefits for the surrounding community.

Amanda McPhee, Lead Practitioner of Attainment at the nursery, said: “Living in a city centre can mean that families don’t often get the chance to play outside.

“Playing outdoors gives children many opportunities to learn and develop by problem solving, using their imagination and assessing risk.

“Being able to transform our nursery garden into a safe, green space will do wonders for our little ones and their families as they’ll be able to make the most of it too.”

The project, supported by Dobbies as part of the company’s Helping Your Community Grow programme, aims to give children space to learn about wildlife and nature, and the opportunity to grow their own vegetables.

The £600 grant from the gardening centre will help Amanda and her team create a safe, stimulating space including a play area; a vegetable patch; and a birdbath, pots for a bug hotel and bee-friendly plants to promote urban biodiversity.

Laura Jamieson, Community Champion at Dobbies Milngavie, said: “It’s our ambition at Dobbies to create green spaces for the benefit of our local communities. Transforming the Cowcaddens Day Nursery garden will do just that.

“Not only do urban gardens have a beneficial impact on the environment, this new play area is also important for families based in the city centre who might not have a dedicated outdoor space in which their little ones can get creative.”

When hardship and heartache hit a community, organisations like the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice step in to help out.

The city’s much-loved hospice, which is about to move to Bellahouston Park following a massive fundraising campaign driven by Evening Times readers, runs a music service for day patients coping with life-limiting illnesses.

It recently received a £2500 funding boost from the ScottishPower Foundation awards, which took place recently in Glasgow.

The hospice plans to use the grant to provide much-needed relief for its day patients by investing in a series of concerts to be delivered by charity, Music in Hospitals and Care.

Heather Manson, the hospice’s director of fundraising, said: “We are delighted to receive the extra funding which will go towards providing music concerts for our much-deserving day patients.”

The National Theatre for Scotland also benefitted from the Foundation, receiving £2500 to expand its partnership project with Her Majesty’s Young Offenders Institution Polmont, using theatre to give a voice to young people on the margins of society.

The two Glasgow charities were runners-up at the awards, which gave out £30,000 to fund good work in the community.

Do you know of a project which is changing your neighbourhood for the better? Tell us about it by emailing streetsahead@heraldandtimes.co.uk