'Poverty is a big factor here': Glasgow South constituents speak ahead of election

THE Glasgow Times is taking a look at the city's six constituencies ahead the General Election on Thursday, July 4.

Glasgow South is a new seat spreading from Pollok Country Park to Carmunnock taking in Castlemilk, Simshill, Croftfoot, Mount Florida, Shawlands, Pollokshaws, Battlefield, Auldhouse, Eastwood and Newlands.

The seat goes from the M77 in the west to Cathkin Road on the edge of Cathkin Braes Country Park and the boundaries with Rutherglen and East Kilbride and Strathaven in the east, and from its boundaries with Glasgow East and and Glagow Southwest in the north down to its boundary with Renfrewshire East.

After boundary changes that saw Glasgow go from seven to six seats Glasgow South is mostly made up of the old Glasgow South and part of Glasgow Central.

READ NEXT: Glasgow West: From Partick to Drumchapel the battle for votes

Glasgow South (Image: www.electoralcalculus.co.uk)

The election is likely to be a straight contest between the SNP and Labour candidates.

Stewart McDonald was the Glasgow South MP, having won the seat for the SNP from Labour in 2015 and holding it in the 2017 and 2019 elections.

He is bring challenged by against Gordon McKee from the Scottish Labour Party, Haroun Malik from the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and Peter McLaughlin from the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

The Pollokshaws Community Hub and Garden is a community development organisation run by local people, providing a range of activities to assist people to learn new skills, improve their health and well being, build social bonds and reduce isolation and take part in their community.

Some people who regularly attend the centre spoke to the Glasgow Times about their hopes for the area and the issues they believe need to be tackled.

Fiona Crawford (Image: Newsquest)

Fiona Crawford, who lives in Auldhouse, says she believes poverty and social isolation are some of the key issues affecting local people.

She said: "I think the major issue is poverty is a big factor here.

"I think there are also issues around social isolation.

"We know very well that mental health is on the decline, particularly amongst young people who have lots of worries about their future.

"We've had 14 years of punitive measures that have really affected people's welfare driven by Westminster."

She added: "I would like to see the next government tackle justice, fairness and I'd like to see them really put their money behind tackling climate change.

"I'd like to see the social care safety net re-established for better community and social services."

(Image: Newsquest)

Angela Watson, volunteer coordinator, agrees and would like to see more financial support for facilities such as the Pollokshaws Community Hub and Garden who are working to help people experiencing social isolation.

She said: "We're already doing a lot here but we could do more with a larger building, more staff, more money.

"We have about three mental health charities feeing into this service who bring people into us and we need a bit more of that.

"I think after Covid a lot of vulnerable people got used to not going out to such an extreme level.

"It's really damaged a lot of people's mental health and isolation is a big problem here.

"We're working very hard to get isolated people out the house."

The 62-year-old added: "There's a surprising amount of young men who are very isolated. I think they're a very overlooked demographic of people."

Rafiqa Tufail (Image: Newsquest)

Rafiqa Tufail, who lives in nearby Shawlands, also believes there needs to be more facilities in the Pollokshaws area.

The 71-year-old said: "I think we need more community centres, there's not much schools in this area or nursey schools and there's not many shops here."

"Everything is closing."

Patricia Livingston (Image: Newsquest)

Patricia Livingston, one of the trustees at the community hub, would like to see more done to support health services, saying "if you've got your health you've got nothing".

She said: "Health problems, health access problems, there's poverty, foodbanks - you name it, it's a local issue.

"I'm fortunate enough I've got a roof over my head, I can feed myself but there's a lot out there that don't have that.

The 68-year-old added: "I think places like this are important, not just community wise but for mental health reasons.

"You get an awful lot out of places like this and I don't think there are enough."

Derek Reid, from Castlemilk, founded LD - Let's Talk which helps people in the local community with their mental health.

The community-based organisation provides online support, holds weekly meetings and encourages children to talk about their feelings.

Derek says the number of facilities for people in the area has been a "huge issue", and highlighting the reduced opening times of Castlemilk Pool as one example.

(Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest)

He said: "Castlemilk hasn't got sadly a lot of things for kids to do in it.

"The swimming baths and Barlia [Sports Complex] are the two biggest things we've got here."

Derek says he would like to see more funding from the government for community and sports centres.

He said: "Funding for placed like Barlia would be ideal to keep that open.

"As much as its a charity, I don't think they don't often get as much financial backing as other places in the community.

"There's a lot of financial help I think for other places that maybe don't need as much of the financial help as Barlia does for instance."

He added: "I'd like to see a lot more affordable things in the community for kids to do.

"Every parent wants kids to have something to do and have their kids feeling safe in the community."

There are eight candidates registered to stand in the election for Glasgow South.

CHRISTIE Niall - Scottish Greens

KUMAR Dhruva - Alba Party

MALIK Haroun - Scottish Conservative and Unionist

MCDONALD Stewart - Scottish National Party (SNP)

MCKEE Gordon - Scottish Labour Party

MCLAUGHLIN Peter Michael - Scottish Liberal Democrats

RAJA Danny - Reform UK

SMITH Brian - Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

Glasgow South result in 2019

Stewart McDonald SNP - 22,829 (48.1%)

Johann Lamont Lab - 13,824 (29.1%)

Kyle Thornton Con - 6237 (13.1%)

Carole Ford LibDem - 2786 (5.9%)

Dan Hutchison Green - 1251 (2.6%)

Danyaal Raja The Brexit Party - 516 (1.1%)