Local News, Local PeopleFree

Spring Edition 2014Roystonrag@gmail.com

WORK STARTS ON NEWCOMMUNITY HALL ANDOFFICES

After a considerable delay,work has begun on a new com-munity facility at 102 RoystonRoad. The new building, fund-ed through the Big Lottery’sOur Place programme will com-bine an Events Space for localgroups and activities, a newlearning centre, and officespace for staff of RosemountLifelong Learning.

A new two-storey building will beadded onto the back of the re-maining parts of the old building,with the work carried out by Cru-den construction. It is plannedthat the centre will have a refur-bished IT suite, medium sizedcommunity hall, and new officefacilities. The completion date isscheduled for late October thisyear and it is hoped that theEvents Space, Learning Centre,and the office facilities will be fullyfunctional by the start of 2015.

The delay was due to gettingplanning consent and dealingwith the substantial price increas-es in materials since the originalplan in July 2012. Now all con-sents and a price has beenagreed to allow the work to start.

Alex Meikle, the executive ofRosemount Lifelong Learning de-scribed the benefits of a newcommunity facility for the Roystonarea.

“The Royston Events Space willserve as a venue for a range ofcommunity groups who presentlydon’t have a suitable location inRoyston that is informal, easilyaccessible, of appropriate sizeand opening hours. The EventsSpace will be the focal point for adiverse range of communitybased activities such as publicmeetings, workshops,recreational classes, culturalclasses and community events.

With its proximity to Royston Pri-mary School, local shops, and thelibrary, this means the new build-ing will become a real hub of com-munity activity and focal point forlocal people. The location is key– it is central, in the busiest areaof Royston, between Charles Stand Roystonhill. It will be visible,have good footfall and allow peo-ple to ‘drop-in’.

Artistic impression of new centre

● Local News● Sports● Reviews● Clubs● Activities

New statue in library-Pg 3

Gardening - Pg 4

Kids Easter Activities-Pg 6

Cooking from Libya - Pg 7

What’s on - Pgs 8-9

Sports - Pgs 11-12 the new building will becomea real hub of community activityand focal point for local people

Phone Rosemount on 0141 5530808 for info on FREE learningopportunities; help with CV’s andcourses to help you apply for collegesuch as Psychology and Sociology.

Maureen Bulman and family, from Roystonhill are the winners of lastmonth’s Royston Rag competition. She correctly answered that 40kgof explosive were used to demolish the high flats last December.

The family have won a £10 voucher to spend at the Butcher’s shop onRoyston Rd

Local School Fundraiserto help

Lourdes Pilgrims

Spire View Housing Association is well known forcarrying out Clean up Events!

Cast your mind back to 23rd March 2013 when we heldour 2013 clean-up day in conjunction with CopperworksHousing Co-op and GCSS. What a fantastic day we hadwe were absolutely overwhelmed with the turn out fromtenants and residents and in particular the mass of kidsthat came along. The end result of our clean-up day wasthat the Royston area looked fantastic very well main-tained which again is all down to you!Well it’s that time again …. We have set ourselves afresh challenge in the spring of 2014 we are looking tohold another clean up event, are you up for it? RoystonPrimary and St Roch’s Primary are!

This year’s event will take place on Wednesday 23rd April2014 at 1.30pm.Help us make the day another fantastic success, if youwish to help simply turn up on the day to collect yourlitter pickers and refuse bags.See you all there………………

9-5.30pm Tues 9-7pm Sat 10-2pm

FREE EYE TESTS FOREVERYONE IN SCOTLAND

Support Your Local!

Burns StatueUnveiled atRoyston Library

PICTURE UF LOCAL PEOPLE representatives AT UNVEILINGOF STAtue at ROYSTON LIBRARy, condimentum.

Over 60 people were in Royston Libraryon Burns day for the official unveiling ofa statue of Robert Burns on Saturdaythe 25th January. David Nallaratnam,who spoke for the local Sri Lankianpopulation and GICE* explained;

David explained that the statue is athank you to the people of Glasgow forthe welcome that Sri Lankians have ex-perienced here, after leaving because oftroubles in Sri Lankia. He feels that it isimportant for people to celebrate andrecognise the culture of their new home.

Local community members were presentat the opening, and shared in the cele-bration listening to speeches from thelocal Councilour and the local MSP.

Local MSP Bob Dorris while speaking,stated that although Glasgow does haveits problems, that the national press willnever report a positive story like this.

The MSP highlighted that all those in-volved in bringing the statue to Glasgowwere true internationalists, like Burns,who are motivated by how they can helpand contribute to their new communityin Glasgow.

Local people were eqully positive aboutthe statue.Colin from Springburn thought that thestatue was a great idea:

Another visitor Hamish added:

To round off the event, librarians, Davidand Claire recited Burns to the audi-ence, with many staying for a cup of teaand chat afterwards. As the MSP said -it’s not often we hear of these stories in thenational press; and our team at the Rag willbe aiming to fill this hole

*GICE - Glasgow Integrated Community Empowermentwww.gice.org.uk

Dragon’s Den at St Roch’sAll first year pupils had the opportunity to develop their business skillswith a full day Dragon’s Den activity in the assembly hall at St Roch’s.

I was excited to find out what we were doing and discovered that we hadto work in teams and compete against each other. People from CH2Milland Fair Trust came in to be our dragons and if you have ever watchedDragon’s Den before, you will know how scary this could be. Our taskwas to create the best means of transport to and from our imaginary is-land. At the end we had to do a presentation on what we all decided to do,our jobs and our outcomes. We also had to do a picture of what we haddone. At the end of the day there were ten successful dragons but every-one had a great time. (C.A.M)

Successful Pupils at “Dragon’s Den “ event

Article by Junior Reporter -

Chloe Anne Mitchell

Advertise here

Garngad or Royston?This area pre 1770 originally outsidethe “Glasgow City boundary” wasused as a medieval common land. Butplace names around Royston are de-scended from the past.

Take “Garngad” itself.“Garn” , Gaelic for “rough ground”and “gad” a burn that ran from highBalornock farm to Barnhill poorhousebefore joining the Molendinar. Or asmany people around will tell you“Garngad” stands for “God’s Garden”Charles St, itself named after CharlesTennant owner of the St Rollox chem-ical works. Tharsis St named after theold Copper works. Rose

mount is also named after former or-chards that at one time were a part ofthe land known as Royston.

The name St Roch is said to comefrom the Saint born inMontpellier, France (1295)who was said to cure ail-ments by making the sign ofthe cross over their fore-heads. Glenconner parkoriginally an old coup wasgifted to the people and thename taken from Glenncon-ner Farm in Ayrshire leasedby Charles Tennant’s father.

Those are just a few of themany names in this area, butI am sure many of our readers willhave their own views and possibly sto-ries to talk of the Garngad.

As with place names I am sure readers will beable to enlighten us with a few stories fromyesteryear. After all many of the residents ofthe area have been immigrants coming towork in the area. Many Irish, Highlanders,

Italians came to the area towork in the heavy industriesbuilding canals, railways, andworking in the chemical fac-tories.

Still today as “Royston” goesforward many immigrantsfrom Africa and Eastern Eu-rope provide a big part of thelocal community. Maybe youcould let us know by drop-ping a line ; telling us of yourvision and views of the area.

from the Creative WritersGroup - phone 0141 553 0808 if you are in-terested in joining.

,

Garngad or Royton?By Alan McMahon

Spring is well and truly here and no better time to learn or improve your gardening skillswith the warmer weather and start of the growing season! Every Monday from 10-3pmNGCFI runs gardening sessions at Springburn allotment. At the moment Martin ourgardener and a number of volunteers have been busy preparing beds and we havealready been sowing carrots, potatoes and onions. We also have plans to complete ourpond area and bring more wildlife into the garden, so exciting times are ahead!

If you are interested in getting out into the fresh air and meeting new people then whynot get involved. Gardening sessions run all year round from 10-3pm every Monday atSpringburn Allotments (big blue gates between KFC and McDonalds).

Contact Aileen on 0141-5582500 volunteer@ngcfi.org.uk or check our websitewww.ngcfi.org.uk

Get Growing for Spring!

By - Royston Rag Reporter

Royston @ Work Celebrates YoungTrainees with a bright future .

Course particiapnts at the Royston @ Work Graduation.:Picture includes Aiden Donnachie, Moreno D’Alfonso, James King, Liam McIntyre,

James McVeigh, Ryan McLaughlin, Andrew Mitchell,John O’Neil, Liam Rayburn and Thomas Robertson .

Many local residents of Royston came to-gether at the Millburn Centre in order tocelebrate the achievements made by theRoyston @ Work trainees, including anumber of former St Roch’s secondary pu-pils.

The project, which has been funded by theBig Lottery for the past 2 years, took youngpeople with little or no qualifications fromthe streets with the intention to fight thestereotype of young people as ‘neds’ andprepare them for employment in the con-struction industry or working in an appren-ticeship.

The programme focuses on improving theconfidence of these young people by devel-oping their skills for the world of work. Theprogramme places a focus on Personal andSocial Development; with young people re-ceiving certificates for:

● Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award● National Progression Award in Con-

struction

● Employability Skills Accreditation● Work Experience.

The course and teaching were all supportedby Rosemount Development Trust’s partnerswho are Glasgow Kelvin College, ToonspeakYoung People’s Theatre, RegenerationAgency and Royston Youth Action.

Both Moreno D’Alfonso and Andrew Mitch-ell - who were two of the many boys involved- delivered a speech on how the programmehas changed their attitudes as people andhas benefited them as they had the opportu-nity to work closely with the college whichinspired them to seek employment.

Those who attended in order to view thismagnificent achievement by the traineeswere shown a video of the progress made.

The boys involved were Aiden Donnachie,Moreno D’Alfonso, James King, Liam McIn-tyre, James McVeigh, Ryan McLaughlin,Andrew Mitchell, John O’Neil, Liam Ray-burn and Thomas Robertson and have been

successfully building towards a bright andhappy future.

The boys involved have also gained valuablelife skills, and an understanding of how thetrades work, including a wider understand-ing of the tax system as VAT.

Nicola Connelly, the Royston at WorkProject Coordinator, concluded the Gradua-tion Ceremony with the motivational state-ment ‘Believe it to achieve it’ before having alocal resident read out the remarkable poem‘It Couldn’t be Done’ by Edgar AlbertGuest.

The project leaders are unsure if the coursewill run for a 3rd year. However, they havehad fantastic financial support in the pastand hope to continuously gain support fromall the partners involved. This will give a newset of young people the opportunity to ‘tack-le the thing that cannot be done’ and do it.

R@W Project - Tel 0141 552 9046

SAMARITANS If something’s bothering you, get in touch

LOCAL VOCALS CHOIR SEEKS SINGERSLOCAL VOCALS COMMUNITY CHOIR IS LOOKING FOR SOME NEWMEMBERS . IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SINGING AND WANT TOGET TIPS AND VOCAL TRAINING . PHONE KYM on 0141 557 1123THURSDAYS 6-8pm Flemmington Houseacross from old North Glasgow College

Libyan Haggis &lentil soup

from a local Creative writinggroup shares his knowledge of Libyan food.It appears they are not too different from our own Scottishfavourites.

Osban is the Libyan version of haggis and most people like to eat it but not ona daily basis.. We have it from time to time especially at weddings and whenyou have guests, as it takes a lot of effort to make it..

According to my 80 year old mother Fathama, she said that people in the oldendays did not know how to make Osban mainly owing to a lack of sheep andexperience of preparing this dish. My Aunt Aisha told me that when they didhave a sheep stomach or bowels, that they had to clean it with water and salt,chop it up, and put it in the sunshine for several days to dry. In the 1970’speople began to make Osban again the traditional way. This was with a cleanedsheep stomach,, filled with rice herbs, lamb and a combination of lamb’s kidneyand lung which is then boiled in a sauce.

In the past Osban only used to be ate at homebecause it was not very popular. Today, however itcan be found in many Libyan restaurants along withcouscous, seafood and grilled meats, beside interna-tional dishes such as steak and mushrooms soups,and Middle Eastern foods like pita bread served withhumous and falafel.. Yet most visitors who come to Tripoli love to eat Osbanbecause it is spicy and not very expensive.

This dish can be eaten at any time of year and as said is popular at weddingsand at the end of Ramadan.

Another Libyan favourite is a thick, highly spiced lentil soup calledwhich contains onions, lamb meat chilies, chickpeas and coriander. It’s

really just a spicy lentil soup. Bashir.

Osban

Relaxing at night outside a restaurant in Libya

A number of new businesses have opened on Royston Rd and may be worth avisit. offer wedding planning services , cakes and carts and is ranby Pauline and Lesley. Also the Butcher shop has underwent a dramatic trans-formation and is now ice cream parlour. We at the Rag wishthem both well and think they are an important addition to the local economy.

Rosemount Florists8.30-5pm: Mon-Fri

8.30 - 1pm Sat.

Worldwide delivery serviceFresh Flowers Daily

552 7500

Magical Times● Bespoke Cakes & Carts● Event Specialists● Party Planning

Come in for avisit and askPauline orLesleyanything aboutplanning yourevent

Houseof

Flavours

Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre, in part-nership with Lifelink Youth, created the SPIREprogramme specifically for Royston and areayoung people ages 14-25. SPIRE is made up ofsix free projects designed to help you explorefuture pathways, build confidence as well asgain skills and qualifications in a fun, creativeway. Three of these exciting projects, Shine,I’m OK, You’re Ok and Young Leader DramaTraining are set to begin this spring!

Shine is a project that focuses on using yourcreativity to build confidence, increase em-ployability and develop presentation skills.The group works with a professional theatremaker and a life coach for six weeks, usingtried and tested methods to help you realiseyour goals. Shine is currently running duringActivity Time at St Roch’s Secondary for thesecond year and has been offered to otherlocal groups with great success. This spring,Shine is open to everyone! The course beginsin May and you can contact Toonspeak to signup and for more details. Remember, no expe-rience is necessary!

I’m OK, You’re OK is also running at localschools. This project is designed to help par-ticipants manage relationships better by be-ing aware of, understanding and dealing withtheir emotions and the emotions of peoplearound them. St Roch’s and Whitehill Second-

JOIN TOONSPEAK’SFREE CREATIVEPROJECTS THISSPRING

aries are offering this project to pupils. Ifyou’d like to be put on the list for any upcom-ing courses out-with the schools, please con-tact us. Again, no experience is necessary.

Young Leader Drama Training prepares par-ticipants to plan and lead fun, exciting dramasessions. This project is open to everyonewho’s taken part in some drama before andruns for 3 days, April 14th – 16th, from 10am-4pm. Key employability skills such as leader-ship, communication and presentation will begained through this project. Upon completion,Young Leaders are given specially createdvoluntary roles within Toonspeak projects tofurther develop skills while being mentoredby Toonspeak staff.

New members are always welcome! If you’dlike more information on any of the SPIREprogramme or any Toonspeak projects,please visit www.toonspeak.co.uk or call us at0141 552 0234. You can always stay up todate on upcoming activities by signing up toour termly newsletter.

For further information please contact LydiaDuncan on 0141 552 0234 or emaillydia@toonspeak.co.uk

Calling all primary school children aged 5-11. Why

not come along to the Rainbow Hall from Monday

7 to Thursday 17 April. Morning sessions start at

10am prompt until 1pm and then from 2-4pm.

Play lots of games, sports arts and crafts ,cinema

trip plus an Easter Egg hunt.Plenty of other

activities being planned. See you there.

.

In these times it is not often you hear of jobs being

created, however Royston Youth Action is

bucking the trend.

RYA is starting 3 young people on Monday 10

March 2014 on 6 month contracts via funding

from the Scottish Government, Community Jobs

Scotland. They will be assisting full time sports

staff to deliver even more sports and outdoor

activities to promote the Commonwealth Games

coming to Glasgow

Tel :

Volunteer Youth Worker?RYA needs more local people to

volunteer to work with children,

young and older people so why not

contact Liz on 572 0986 if you can

spare some time, a few hours a week

would be great. In addition to

needing local parents to help out with

the Easter programme RYA also

needs local residents to help with

cycling training and requires

volunteer drivers to drive the new

minibus. Full training will be provided.

All budding musicians come along to our free Songwriting and Music ses-sions in Springburn and Sighthill - group for 11-17year olds is on every Wednesday at Flemington House beside Kelvin Col-lege. Also our group for 12years + meets in Sighthill everyThursday at the KATS centre - phone Kym on 0141 557 1123 for info

New Rythms for GlasgowIf you have an interest in music come along to our free and funmusic workshops. Be it singing , playing the keyboard or guitar;there is a group for you in the local area. Phone 0141 557 1123

to secure a place.

Tuesdays:“Way into music – song writing and performing for 12+ age group” .

Flemington House, 3.45-5.45pm:

“Beginners keyboard and music theory for adults”Flemington House Springburn 6-8pm:

Wednesdays:“Way into music – song writing and performing for 7-11 year olds”

Balgrayhill Community Centre, 3.30-5.30pm:

Beginners Guitar for adultsFlemington House, Springburn, 6-8pm:

Thursdays:“Local Vocals – community choir for adults “

Flemington House, Springburn, 6-8pm:

“You Name it! – music workshops for 12+ in wide range of music skills”KATS Centre, Sighthill, 7-8.30pm:

Fridays:Samba drumming for 12+ age group

Barmulloch Community Centre, 6-7.30pm:

Royston Walking GroupMeets every Wednesday @ Royston Library 10am

Glenconner Rugby U-18’sEvery Saturday Morning 10.30 - Glenconner Park, Royston

Baille Phil Greene (SNP)2nd Wednesday of the month 1pm Royston Library

1st Tuesday of the Month 10am Tesco St Rollox (in café)

Baille Allan Stewart (Lab)3rd Saturday of the Month 11am Royston Library

4th Tuesday of the Month 6.30-7.30 St Roch’s Primary School

North Glasgow Healthy Food Inititative

Get fit and learn how to grow your own fruit and veg at thesefree allotment sessions

Hamiltonhill Allotments - 11-1pm FridaysSpringburn Allotments - 10-1pm Mondays

Milton Allotments - 10-3pm Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Come along or phone Aileen on 0141 558 2500 for more info

The Conservation Volunteers

Interested in the Great Outdoors, conservation and learning new skills?If so you can volunteer as and when available on Mon, Tues, Wed,

Thurs 9.30-4pm. Phone the number below for more details and pick uptimes.

Tel 0141 552 5294, glasgow@btcv.org.uk 143 Charles St Unit 11

Young @ Heart Over 50’s Club

Every Thursday at the Rainbow Hall from 10am-4pm.“The Young at Heart 50 plus group”, supported by RYA are a local

group who always welcome new members, offering a cooked lunch andindoor games. Please contact Liz on 0141 572 0985 for info or come

along.

Over 50’s Lunch ClubCome along for a morning roll, tea and coffee join us later for a 3 courselunch in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere at a very reasonable prices.

Over 50’s and others welcome.

Every Monday @ the Charles St Flats Community Hall, 80 Charles St10.30 - 3pm.

North Glasgow Men’s GroupGame of pool, cup of tea, monthly talks, and trips.Come along to the North Glasgow Men’s Group

Every Thursday 2.00-4.30pm160 Club - 160 Charlles St, Royston (High Flats)

Monthly Coffee Morning - Royston Library1st Wednesday of the Month 11o’clock - All welcome

St Roch’s Lunch Club Every 2nd Thursday @St Roch’s Parish Hall

North Glasgow Advice Centre

Free advice and representation on money, benefits, employment,consumer and housing issues.

Drop in sessionsMondays 2-4pm

Tuesday 2-4pm (Housing, Eviction, Mortgage)Wednesdays 10-12 and 2-4pm Money / benefits employment sessions

Friday 10-12pm - General enquiries

1169 Royston Rd, Tel 0141 770 7869

Job ClubMonday 11-1 , Friday 12-2 Possilpoint Community Centre phone

Rosemount Lifelong Learning for details,St Rollox building, 130 Springburn Rd

Help with CV’s, Interview Techniques, and Job Searches

Alcohol - Glasgow North Community Alcohol SupportSrvice

If you have issues with alcohol phone this number for free advice,support, and info on group sessions.

Tel 0141 558 3230

Stress - Lifelink - RoystonFree and professional advice on dealing with stress, and relatedproblems from qulaified counsellors (funded by the NHS) phone 0141

0141 552 4434 for services.

North Glasgow Credit UnionSave and get loans in a safe, fair, and ethical way.

Your Credit Union is run by local volunteersMon, Tues, Thurs 10-2pm

Saturday 10-12noonCredit Union is beside the Royston Pharmacy

Youth Club @ Royston LibraryCome along to our drop in session at the library - we watch films, play

games and organise activities with and for you.Thursday Evenings 6.30 - 7.45 (Suitable for ages 10-13)

Royston Youth ActionRoyston Youth ActionYouth ClubOpen every night from

6pm till 9pm (apart from Sunday)1st year aged and up…allwelcome.Pop in and see what projects and activities are

running each day/night.

Royston Youth ActionEaster Holiday ProgrammeMonday7th April until Thursday 17th AprilTrips, Sports, Workshops

and many other events.Pop in and see any of the youthwork team to get further details and information.

Young Leader Drama TrainingAt the Toonspeak Studio (221 Millburn Street G212HL)Every day for 3 days 10am-4pmFree taxis can be providedApril 14 - 16Anyone ages 14+ who’s taken part in drama beforeContact 0141 552 0234 or visitwww.toonspeak.co.uk/events

I’m OK, You’re OKAt St. Roch’s and Whitehill SecondariesEvery week during Activity Time/Options TimeDuring the school termPupils from the two schoolsSign up at schoolFor information on courses out-with schools, contact0141 552 0234

ShineAt Toonspeak Studio (221 Millburn Street G21 2HL)One evening every week for six weeksMay (exact dates and times to be confirmed)Confidence-boosting course for anyone ages 14+Contact 0141 552 0234 or visitwww.toonspeak.co.uk/events

Toonspeak TuesdaysAt Toonspeak Studio (221 Millburn Street G21 2HL)Every Tuesday 4:30-6:30pm (excluding Easter Holi-days)Anyone ages 11+Contact 0141 552 0234 or visit

www.toonspeak.co.uk/events

For all the above sessions contact0141 552 0234 or visit

www.toonspeak.co.uk/events

EASTER ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The Garngad food exchange islooking for donations of tinnedvegetables, pasta, tinned stews tohelp people in these difficult times

Pease drop any donations at St .Roch’s church between 9.15am and3 pm daily.R

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Letters, Fun and FilmLetters, Fun and Film

Euro Quiz1. Which European country has the largest population ?

2. In which two European cities does the European parliament meet?

3. What is the capital city of Sweden?

4. What country did the ancient philosopher Socrates come from?

5. Can you name the in the picture above

6.. What is the name of the highest mountain in the Alps?

7. Can you name these European flags? Answers below

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I was thrilled to review this new film!Lego movie is the first movie that has been based on atoy and not the other way round. I’m not going to spoilthe movie for you I’m just going to give you 3 reasonswhy you should watch it

The first is that Lego Movie is not just for kids if youthink it’s just for kids you’re wrong. As people say don’tjudge a book by its cover so why judge a movie by itstitle.My second reason is well it isn’t my reason, this iswhat someone posted on the internet. “

My third reason is I just want to repeat this again soyou understand why you should watch it.This is not justa movie for children who want to watch a bunch of

‘The Lego Movie’Mohamed Hassan- Juniour Reporter

plastic toys battle for theiruniverse.

Of course, it contains all ofthe great components of afilm: adventure, catchymusic and amazing visualeffects…every single inch ofthe Lego world, down to theroaring ocean, has beenmanipulated to appear‘Lego-fied’. Everythingabout this new world makesus feel like we have beenskyrocketed into a child'simagination. .

Sport Royston Rag SportsIn association with your company

Contact roystonrag@gmail.com for details

On Friday 28th February 22 hardy pupilsfrom St Roch’s Secondary made theirway to the Netherpollock Park in PollokPark for the Glasgow Schools CrossCountry Championships. This was ahuge event with 2,400 pupils taking partfrom across Glasgow primary and sec-ondary schools. It was the first crosscountry race for many of our first yearsbut it was also our first race with our newvests sponsored by Rosemount Trust.

After the success of the running club lastyear - with pupils finishing 2nd and 3rd inthe senior boys’ race – Rosemount do-nated £1000 to sponsor new kit and thedevelopment of the club in the school.The new vests were designed by pupilsand use the school colours. They weremanufactured by R & D Miller in Bish-opbriggs and they felt great. This meantthat our teachers could spot us amongthe crowds and cheer us on.

It was a tough race. The recent rainmeant that the ground was very muddy.The primary races took place in themorning which meant by the time thesecondary schools raced the ground was

really muddy and heavy. Graham Taylorfell twenty times during the race but fin-ished despite the difficult conditions. Allthe races (except for the senior boys)had to run 2 laps which meant 2 miles ofrunning. The senior boys had to run 3laps which was just under 3 miles. It wasreally hard.

The first races were the 1st years andChloe Mitchell had a great race finishingwell up the field. It was really difficult tokeep going in the mud. There were six1st year boys making up a strong teamwith Idris Esiemot first finished. Idriswas closely followed by Daniel Bonnar,Mohamed Muscud, Michael Callanan,Morena Makosi and Graham Taylor. Inthe 2nd year boys race Matthew Campbellmade a huge improvement from the pre-vious year by finishing in 30th place outof 130 runners and he was well support-ed by Jordan Kemoe who had his picturein The Herald on Saturday running inthe race.

Another strong school team was our 3rd

year boys’ team which was very deter-

mined. Nicholas Gilbride had a greatrun to finish 18th overall. When he wasin first year Nicholas was 120th, lastyear he was 70th and this year in thetop 20 which shows how much he hasimproved. He was closely followed byMartin Russell and Lee Orr who bothhad a big battle to the finish line.There were other great runs fromJoshua Donnelly and Daniel Haggertywho are both regulars with the run-ning club and have competed in everyevent since S1. Stephen Bulman in hisfirst cross country race really surprisedus all with a great run and seemed toenjoy the mud!!

In our final race of the day we had astrong team with Murady Bachu andDaniel Black finishing well up the fieldand well supported by Kieran McLeanwho had a great run and is clearly veryfit - along with Richard McKenna whoalthough finding conditions toughmanaged to finish really strongly. Ste-ven Sinet, Jonathon Gilbride and PaulCallahan all had courageous runs de-spite finding conditions difficult.

Despite the tough conditions we allhad a great time and proved we havedetermination. As well as that it wasgreat to have our own school vests andthis meant that we had lots of cheersfrom the crowds. From May onwardsthere will be a weekly parkrun atSpringburn Park staring at 9.30. Thiswill be free to enter and many of usare looking forward to taking part inthat to help improve our fitness. Fordetails on this event visit the parkrunwebsite.

By Daniel Haggerty S3 and ChloeMitchell S1

Muddy MarvellousYoungsters shine at Cross country Championships

Sports Stories Wanted Roystonrag@gmail .com

Sport

Haveyou ever thought

about starting to jog, butfound it hard to get other people

to come running or to keep your motivationup? Well hopefully the Springburn Parkrunstarting on Saturday mornings can help youout.

Parkruns have been going for 10 yearsthroughout the UK and are a fun and infor-mal way to start jogging and improve yourfitness. Above all they are absolutely FREE!The most popular weekly event in Glasgowat Pollok park attracts up to 400 runners aweek – who receive a free text later in theday telling them of their time for a 5 kilome-tre jog.

The Parkrun in Springburn hopes to followthis success and encourage new runners.People sign up for free on a computer, theirphone, or at a library and get a printed bar-code. Volunteers scan this at the end of therace and you are texted your time.

The events are friendly and the main aim is toget people into and enjoying a jog.

Liz Corbett who is launching the event said:

John Owens from Springburn Harriers wasequally enthusiastic about the Parkrun:

If you are interested in volunteering or taking partin the Springburn event feel free to emailglasgowoffice@parkrun.com or phone Liz on0141 427 7914 for more info on the run or vol-unteering.

Parkrun

Get your trainers on!

School WinsTop Sports

AwardAs the Commonwealth

Games approach it’s abig congratulations toSt Roch’s SecondarySchool who have beenselected as one of thetop 3 sports secondaryschools in Glasgow.

This is the 3rd year in arow that the schoolhave been recognisedat an awards ceremonyat the City Chambers.

Royston Pharmacy119 Royston Rd, Glasgow, G21 2QN0141 552 4116

Ask for Sandra or MargaretPrescriptions picked up fromyour local surgery as required

Royston Dental Practice●●●●● freshfaced.com

0141 552 8898

BBALL

To be honest, if football no longer existed some of us here atthe Rock would not know what to do!!!

However there are other sports out there and we have dippedour toes into these strange waters to find out more.

If you wish to do the same, the last two home games of theGlasgow Rocks are on:

Sunday 13th April and Sunday 20th April both 5pmTickets £4.80 -£25 glasgowrocks.co.uk

Basket Ball at theEmirates Arena.

BBALL

Neil Lennon is to be congratu-lated for speaking up aboutmental health in football in anew film produced with thecharity SAMH - released on the24th March.

In this film he tackles the issueof mental health head on andshows that even those at the topof their game can be affected.Visit SAMH.org.uk for details.