by Bethany Scott

I’m sitting two metres away from one of my neighbours, Lorna, on the grass in the shared back court of our block of tenements. Some of the local kids are playing on the next patch of grass and Ailsa, another neighbour, is leaning against her open window in her pyjamas, trying to read a book while one of the kids pleads with her to also come outside.

Yesterday, I nipped out to take a couple of pictures of the space, and stopped to chat with Abbie, Dom and a couple other residents, all of whom were sitting - carefully two metres away from one another - on the grass, catching some rays. Our back court has become a social lifeline for many of the people staying at home during lockdown.

Speaking about the difference it has made, Abbie said: "The back court has been a godsend during lockdown. It's enabled folk to meet and interact with their neighbours in a safe environment. It has become a place in which to chat, share a drink and even do socially distanced yoga! We are all from different walks of life, but we can come together in this special green space."

It hasn’t always been like this. The first year we moved into our flat on Calder Street, a rubbish collection was missed over Christmas and the bags started to pile up. Soon, the access to the bin sheds was blocked, resulting in a mountain of waste in the middle of the back court.

It was during this time - the period we now call ‘The Great Bin Disaster of 2018’ - that we bumped into a couple of our neighbours chatting about the mess in the back court. We swapped email addresses, and a few collective emails went out to the council cleansing team who attended soon afterwards to bravely tackle the mountain of rubbish.

Read these tips from The Hidden Garden on how to green up your backcourt

Once that was cleared, a couple of residents started to head out at 10am on Sunday mornings to pick up any stray bits of rubbish or bags that had not made it as far as the bins. We soon joined them and were added to the Sunday Clean-up WhatsApp group, which has grown to 29 members strong.

A few people signed up to become Neighbourhood Improvement Volunteers with Glasgow City Council and were given gloves, high-vis vests, litter pickers and bin bags - available to anyone that helps with the clean-up. Being recognised volunteers has also given us a direct line to council officials who can help arrange bulk uplift or support us when there are problems with missed collections, or pests. What started as a few residents picking rubbish on Sunday mornings, has now turned into a (nearly) constituted Back Court Committee with a website and grand plans for improving the back court.

Before the lock down we held social gatherings in the back court, crowdfunding a fire pit that doubles as a barbecue. We used it for a summer get-together and a Halloween party, with apple dooking and a slack line that was a hit with the local kids.

We deliberately planned these gatherings to be visible and welcoming, putting up posters in tenement closes (translated into Romanian and Slovakian, two languages spoken by many of our neighbours) and brought along more food and drink than we could possibly eat, offering it to other residents passing by.

We now have a raised bed with herbs and salad, a compost heap for gardening waste, the beginnings of a wormery and, overall, a much more accessible green space thanks to the efforts of those who have turn out on Sunday mornings to pull up weeds or clear the odd path or two.

Just as the lockdown began, our bin sheds were closed by the council due to safety concerns, meaning that residents now have to deposit their rubbish in bins in the alleys instead. Liz, another resident, had the idea to brighten up the now boarded-up bin shed with some spare paint she had lying around. She posted about it in the WhatsApp group, suggesting people add to with any paint they have too.

The wall is now a multicoloured chequerboard, giving a nice backdrop to our website address that has been painted on the wall so all residents can find out more about the group. Chatting to Ailsa last night, I realised just how important the space has become for so many of us. She said: “It’s been really helpful for my mental health - I live alone and being able to go outside and talk to people makes a big difference.”

For me, being part of this little community has given me a sense of place and ownership that I didn’t have prior to getting to know so many of my neighbours. The lockdown is a difficult time for many, but for the residents of the Craigie-Bowman-Calder-Victoria block, we have a little patch of green that provides not only solace, but friendship and solidarity during these hard times.

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