Campaigners tell Glasgow City Council leisure and culture venues are "not a luxury"

Protest groups who are demanding the re-opening of "crucial" Glasgow Life venues have accused the Council of viewing facilities such as libraries, museums and leisure clubs as "luxury add-ons".

A large-scale protest march will set off from Cathedral Square on Saturday at 12.30pm, July 31st - following a route along Castle Street, High Street, Trongate and Saltmarket, entering Glasgow Green via the McLennan Arch.

Speaking to Clyde, Jim Monaghan of Glasgow Against Closures said: “The Council fails to recognize that sports, culture, museums and libraries are an absolutely crucial community service.”

"They're not an extra - they’re every bit as important as education or health.

"We want to show Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life the strength of feeling on this."

Glasgow Life – a third party which runs, cultural and leisure facilities for the council - lost £38m in revenue last year due to Covid –19.

The council granted a £100m guarantee but about 80 venues remain closed.

But Mr. Monaghan said that the Council should ensure all venues continue to operate - regardless of profitability.

He said: "Whether these services run at a loss isn’t the issue - you still have to provide them.

"This council and previous councils don’t realise that people feel as if sports, leisure, culture, arts is part of what they expect the council to provide."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "Education and care are important – one is absolutely fundamental to the life chances of every young Glaswegian and the other is a daily lifeline for thousands of people across the city.

"However, the idea that Glasgow does not value or prioritise sport and culture couldn’t be further from the truth.

"The city has consistently invested more in these areas than perhaps any other community in the country – which is one of the reasons why Glasgow has so many venues and facilities that were affected by the pandemic.

"We can’t wish away the profound impact the events of the last 18 months have had – or the fact that it will take time to recover and adapt. However, the council has already committed substantial additional resources to Glasgow Life for the years ahead and is committed to reopen all venues when public health restrictions and finances allow."

JOBS

Glasgow Trade Unions Unite, GMB and Unison will also join Glasgow Against Closures to oppose plans to cut 500 jobs due to closures.

Earlier this month, all three lodged a grievance against Glasgow Life’s decision – calling for better planning and financial security.

Unison branch secretary Brian Smith said: "We see this as a fight to protect services but also a fight to protect jobs.

"These are permanent jobs, these are good jobs, for young people and the City of Glasgow."

He continued: "There’s lots of things that Glasgow does – in terms of services that people outside of Glasgow rely on and Glasgow’s funding does not reflect that.

"We would encourage people to come along to show support for workers, for communities and to make the clear demand to the Council and to the Government that Glasgow needs more money."

Glasgow Life have been approached by Clyde news for comment.

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