Greater Govanhill has partnered with Gamble Aware for the scheme. 

A community-run magazine has received funding to deliver a journalism course with women who have been negatively impacted by gambling. 

Greater Govanhill will work with Gamble Aware on the eight-week project, with a call out now for participants. 

The course will welcome ten to 12 women who have been negatively impacted by gambling, whether through their own gambling or someone else’s, and who have a connection to Govanhill/the Southside or to Glasgow more widely. 

The course is being delivered by Rhiannon Davies, founder and editor of Greater Govanhill, Eve Livingston, a journalist specialising in working with marginalised communities, and Annette Fisher, a researcher specialising in participatory action research with vulnerable communities.

The sessions will take place from August 19, and will continue for eight weeks with training on storytelling, investigative journalism, writing and editing, interview techniques and more. 

Those included will also be given the time and space to engage in participatory action research - an approach developed by feminists and experiential learning practitioners to empower people to reflect and plan community action. 

Rhiannon Davies, founder and editor of Greater Govanhill said: "When we reported on this topic before, we heard so many stories of how this 'hidden' addiction was affecting people in our community in different ways. Our reporting examined just how prevalent betting shops were in Govanhill compared to more affluent areas of the city for example. 

“We heard from those with lived experiences of gambling harms and from those who had worked in betting shops. We also heard how it was affecting people in the Roma community. We also explored solutions to what could be done about this issue, and look at policies that made a difference elsewhere. People who came along to a screening and community conversation on this topic also said they found it eye opening because it's so prevalent and so harmful but not always in plain view. 

"With this new project, we're looking forward to getting much deeper into the issues, by supporting women with lived experience to tell the stories that they think need to be heard. Having run community journalism skills programmes in the past, we know that this leads to a rich and varied outputs that could never be written by journalists without these first hand experiences. 

“At Greater Govanhill we're all about championing voices you don't typically hear in the media and equipping people to tell their own stories rather than have it told about them. We're also excited to be combining journalism skills with a participatory action research approach to empower participants to bring about positive change." 

Those taking part will be compensated, and childcare support provided - as well as receiving a copy of the magazines with the articles included.  

Eve Livingston, freelance journalist delivering community journalism training on the course, said: "The best journalism doesn't just uncover or explore issues, it equips people to take action and make change. And this project takes that idea even further, by equipping people with direct experience to tell the stories that matter to them and to spark the change they want to see in the process. 

“I'm really excited to start working with the participants - to share some of my experience but also to learn from theirs. One of the great things about this project is that we don't yet know what it will produce - but I'm certain its outputs will be powerful and valuable and I can't wait to see them."

Anyone interested in taking part can fill out an online form or contact the organisers via email.