An innovative community food initiative from the Govanhill Baths Trust opens on Cathcart Road today [Monday 14 Sep]. Named The People’s Pantry and operating via a low-cost membership model, the project aims to combat food poverty in a dignified welcoming environment.

The inaugural Govanhill Street Music Festival was a resounding success, and an example of how we can still enjoy live music in socially distanced times. Katherine Midgley, from the Govanhill Baths Community Trust, explains how it came about.

‘Govanhill Street Level’ is an exhibition of the photography of Simon Murphy. Twenty portraits of local characters stare back at you from A1 prints displayed in shop windows. Greater Govanhill joined him on a walk about the neighbourhood, to see how his portraits paint a picture of the area.

Govanhill International Festival and Carnival (21 - 31 August) showcases the creativity of local people and organisations and draws in talent from across Glasgow and beyond. In this round-up, Govanhill Community Connector, Marzanna Antoniak shares her pick of the festival suitable for families and those who speak some of the community’s 88 languages.

Local historian, Bruce Downie, author of ‘Loved And Lost: Govanhill's Built Heritage’ will be leading a tour of the area as part of the Govanhill International Festival on Sunday 23 and Sunday 30 August. Full details on our noticeboard. In this article, he explores how this vibrant neighbourhood came to be.

Face masks have become the unexpected go-to fashion accessory of 2020. And from Friday 10 June, it will be mandatory to wear face coverings in shops across Scotland. Support local makers and buy your hand made face mask from one of these Glasgow Southside creatives.

A new online survey has found that Govanhillians can speak at least 88 different languages, from Arabic to Yoruba and everything in between. While the results are not entirely conclusive – the new survey has only been completed by 222 of the neighbourhood’s many thousand residents – it confirms the incredibly diverse make-up of this unique neighbourhood.

Glasgow cycling charity Bike for Good, which has a Govanhill-based community hub, have opened one day a week for bike sales. However, they have announced that they are experiencing an extreme level of demand for bikes and have put a call out for donations.

Deirdre Molloy of South Glasgow Heritage & Environment Trust’s writes about their latest community project. SGHET are attempting to document the COVID-19 era, by setting out to build a Southside-centric picture of our diverse community’s response to lockdown and the pandemic.

Every day, Vasily Teglas sets off from home with a suitcase carrying a loud speaker and a traditional Romanian horn-violin. He unpacks by a bench in Queen’s Park and plugs into his amp, striking up with the sounds of Scottish, Romanian and pop music.

With mosques closed and people confined to their own homes, this year’s Ramadan has been like no other, although some have found there to be benefits too. Members of Govanhill’s Muslim community take the time to reflect on their experiences of Ramadan during lockdown.

In Eastern Europe, racism and scapegoating are common problems for Roma people, Europe’s largest minority. According to Glasgow resident, Marek Balog, this has been exacerbated during the current pandemic, with many stories of blatant discrimination. Marek works for Community Renewal on their Local Conversations - Roma Govanhill project, and spoke about how he has been delivering food parcels alongside other members of the Roma community.

Sixteen-year-old Dylan Lombard has an extremely rare illness. MDP syndrome is only affects 13 people in the world. But this isn’t the only thing that make him unique – he also has an incredible eye for the perfect shot. Dylan’s photographs of lockdown paint a stark picture of familiar streets, emptied of familiar faces.

No matter what announcements are made in the coming weeks, it seems likely that we may be spending more time at home than we might have planned this summer. But the sun is out and it’s time to embrace what we have. The Hidden Gardens team have shared their tips on how to make your back court into an enjoyable green space in the coming months.

While the streets have all but emptied of vehicle traffic, there has been an increase in cycle journeys across Scotland. Many are taking up for cycling for the first time as a necessity for getting to work. While others are using their bikes to deliver essential services to those in need.

When missed collections resulted in what became known as ‘The Great Bin Disaster of 2018’, one group of Govanhill residents decided to take matters into their own hands. A weekly clean-up group transformed the back court space, creating a communal area that has become a lifeline for many during lockdown.

by Govanhill-based writer, Emrys Mordin

If Govanhill was a colour, it would be a rainbow

Bright, bold, brilliant

Colours we never thought would go together

Dancing down the streets

Marion Moore turned 80 yesterday. In normal circumstances she would have been granted her wish of going out in a limo to celebrate her birthday in style. But lockdown put paid to those plans. So staff at Hector House care home in Shawlands decided to get creative and turned to the online community for ideas. They couldn’t have anticipated the reaction they would get.

The independent Queen’s Park Govanhill Parish Foodbank normally provides food parcels on a weekly basis. At the moment they’re opening once a fortnight on a Wednesday for donations and then the following day for collections. Keeping things running is a team of volunteers working alongside local organisations and fuelled by the good will of local people making donations.

“Some of my friends thought it was frivolous of me to be talking about making art in the face of a wave of deaths. But personally, I don’t have the capacity to set up a support network and there are other people already doing incredible things in that area. I just wanted to create a space where people exchange skills, ideas or support – and have something to get excited about.”