Making a real difference: Organising a community gathering in our back lane
In this series of articles, we hear from residents who had enough of fly-tipping and decided to take matters into their own hands. Dana Cherepkova, shares more from her first community meal on the often fly-tipped Kingarth Lane. After a quick spring clean, it was transformed into a wonderful space to meet the neighbours, share a meal, a collaborative project between residents, supported by community food project Kin Kitchen.
By Dana Cherepkova, architect, volunteer at Kin Kitchen, organiser of Govanhill Community Market | Photos by Laura Vroomen
As a previous resident of Bowman Street, I am no stranger to the extreme fly-tipping that occurred in Kingarth Lane. However, I believe our lanes have the potential to become vibrant community assets, like a sort of outdoor living room.
Together with Kin Kitchen and the residents of Kingarth Lane, we embarked on a small adventure to bring this vision to life. Over the past few months, we’ve had conversations with residents and formed a working group to brainstorm ideas for lane events. And, on 15 September we finally hosted our first gathering.
After a quick spring clean, the often fly-tipped Kingarth Lane was transformed into a wonderful space to meet the neighbours, share a meal and have fun with kids dressing up potatoes as silly characters – a collaborative project between residents, supported by community food project Kin Kitchen. The fantastic team from Make a Scene joined us to gather feedback and ideas on how we could turn the lane into a community space.
So far, ideas include creating planters for food growing, painting murals, hosting semi-regular events, workshops, and building outdoor seating and a play area. Kin Kitchen will continue to work in collaboration with local residents doing more events in the lane and transforming it into a community space. Keep an eye out!
Some tips how to gather residents for something similar
Start by engaging with people in your community. A simple way to begin is by setting up a chair on the street with a sign asking a question like, ‘Would you join a community meal in the lane?’. Spend an hour after work for a few days chatting with anyone passing by. While not everyone will want to join a working group, these conversations will help you gauge interest and plant the seed for future participation.
Listen to what people say. There’s no point in organising something like planters if no one is willing to maintain them. Understanding what residents care about ensures your efforts resonate with the community.
Take things step by step and be patient. It took us a couple of months to arrange our first meeting, and even then, no one showed up. Maybe it was the wrong time or date, or the messaging wasn’t right – but we didn’t give up. Reach out to friends, local groups, clubs, or organisations. Someone always knows a neighbour on your street. Use polls in group chats to simplify decision-making, and tackle one idea at a time. In our case, many people didn’t know each other at first. We had to create a space for building connections before jumping into problem-solving. Eventually, we gathered a solid group of residents who helped brainstorm and share responsibilities.
Food works wonders. It’s a powerful way to bring people together. Even with a small budget, you can organise a community meal where people bring a dish or a chair from home. Borrow tools and litter pickers from the South Seeds Tool Library, and reach out to local organisations like Govanhill Community Development Trust or Govanhill Baths for help with furniture, advice, or translations.
If you’re looking to hear more how to do it, or get involved with Kingarth Lane, reach out to us at kinkitchenglasgow@gmail.com or via Kin Kitchen’s Instagram.
