The project aims to improve the lives of disadvantaged people in Glasgow.
A new community learning and support project in Glasgow aims to improve the lives of some of the city’s most disadvantaged residents.
The project, which will be focused on the Westercommon, Hamiltonhill and Woodside communities, will offer job clubs, English language classes, digital learning and free family meals to those taking part.
Queens Cross Housing Association will deliver the programme in partnership with local schools and colleges thanks to a £200,000 grant from the Scottish Government’s Investing in Communities Fund, which gives local organisations the tools they need to tackle poverty, inequality and disadvantage in their area.
Jamie Ballantine, Queens Cross’s social regeneration manager, led the application and heads up many of the association’s community activities.
He said: “This funding will allow us to focus on achievable results that will help support families and tackle child poverty. We will work with local people to increase community involvement in shaping and creating the types of neighbourhoods where people want to live.”
With some areas of Queens Cross falling in the bottom 10% of Glasgow’s most deprived areas, a new community opportunity coordinator will be appointed to ensure as many people as possible take advantage of the programme.
Ballantine said: “Some local facilities are currently underused during the day, and this funding means we can create opportunities that see more community activity whilst also helping develop skills and improve opportunities for local people and their families.
“We want to take practical steps to tackle inequality at a local level. Our own household research shows that people living alone or as a one-parent family with children under 16 were most likely to say they’d chosen to miss a meal or eat less because they couldn’t afford to buy food.
“This new project can help in practical ways such as by simply cooking meals for those who need them. Simple steps like this helps people to help themselves, improve their life chances and build more resilient communities.”
