I had the pleasure of being invited along to the SURF awards on Thursday by the Bambury Regeneration Centre in my ward. The Bambury had won the top prize in the Partnership category, and many of the staff and Directors went along to the awards ceremony for their Christmas night out.
It was a lovely occasion and real validation for everyone connected to the centre. They've done a tremendous amount of good work over the years, and they really deserve this accolade. I felt very privileged to have been invited along; the folk at the Bambury have made me feel incredibly welcome and I was glad to be there with them.
It was also nice to see Stewart Stevenson presenting the awards - it's tragic, but I still get a wee shiver of excitement at seeing our MSPs as Ministers!
On Friday, I went along to the visit of people from other award winning, highly commended and short listed organisations to the Bambury. Standing back objectively, I could see that these visitors also shared the view that the Bambury was a great project doing well. The people of Camlachie already know that they're doing great things, but I'm sure it will mean a lot that people on the outside think so too.
It was a lovely occasion and real validation for everyone connected to the centre. They've done a tremendous amount of good work over the years, and they really deserve this accolade. I felt very privileged to have been invited along; the folk at the Bambury have made me feel incredibly welcome and I was glad to be there with them.
It was also nice to see Stewart Stevenson presenting the awards - it's tragic, but I still get a wee shiver of excitement at seeing our MSPs as Ministers!
On Friday, I went along to the visit of people from other award winning, highly commended and short listed organisations to the Bambury. Standing back objectively, I could see that these visitors also shared the view that the Bambury was a great project doing well. The people of Camlachie already know that they're doing great things, but I'm sure it will mean a lot that people on the outside think so too.
1 comment:
Good on the Bambury. My East End family connections to the area go back a long way... the boot cobble in the street outside the old Camlachie Community Centre and all that.
While I was still heading up a community based housing association in the early 90s I visited the Barrowfield 'scheme'. A number of us were trying to offer practical and moral support to the activists in the early and troubled start-up days of what became the local housing association.
I must admit after visiting a couple if times I really did began to wonder "is this area even saveable?"
The Camlachie folk, with some great help eventually from West of Scotland Housing Association, proved that the area did not need 'saved' - it only needed a bit of real community engagement to get the long term recovery under way.
Good on you BellgroveBelle for offering a bit of recognition and praise to them.
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