The future of a lifeline Glasgow community project that has run for 20 years is hanging in the balance after the council knocked back its application for £450,000 of crucial funding.
Drumchapel LIFE, which is housed within the Phoenix Neighbourhood Centre in Monymusk Place, discovered this week that it has been refused a share of a three-year £43 million cash pot.
The organisation runs a host of programmes and classes covering everything from wellbeing and mental health support to knife crime education and self-defence sessions for vulnerable women.
Its Living is for Everyone programme also addresses isolation and health inequalities and works to overcome significant barriers like low self-esteem and loneliness through four specially tailored programmes.
Leanne McBride, 41, Drumchapel Life operations manager, was recently invited to meet Queen Camilla in recognition of the project’s impact and achievements.
She says she was flabbergasted to learn the council had recommended its funding bid for the next three years ahead should be knocked back.
Leanne believes the decision could put lives on the line, adding: “As well as the programmes we run ourselves, we work in partnership with SAMH, mental health charities, all sorts of organisations that make life that bit easier for people in disadvantaged and underserved places like Drumchapel.
“I don’t do this job for money, I’m born and bred here and I have watched a lot of lives lost because of isolation and other social and economic factors. This decision will only add to that – it is going to put lives at risk. We are heartbroken.”
As part of their future plans, management also wanted to create a wellbeing room which would have been used to relieve pressure on the NHS, teaching people to take their own blood pressure, heart rate and other basic health checks.
After learning of the recommendation to refuse the funding application, bosses at the project sent an email to councillors, MPs and MSPs asking for their help to force a U-turn.
Leanne explained: “It went to everyone from First Minister John Swinney to Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken, but the only person who responded was our local councillor Paul Carey. He has been fantastic and was right down to the centre the next day to see what he could do.”
Bosses are now worried the organisation will have to close its doors.
She added: “Things look bleak, I don’t know how we go on without this support. We are in fear for our community because this isn’t just a building; it’s the heartbeat of the area. How the council can justify putting it all at risk just beggars belief.
“The Phoenix Centre is the last facility of its type in this area. A host of projects that are run from here or we are in partnership with are now in limbo. There are ones that tidy up green spaces, ones that provide peer support in the area and most importantly ones that protect health and wellbeing.
“We run karate classes, where a big part of that is education around knife crime. There are also self-defence sessions for women, which are vital for helping people feel safe. We also run yoga classes for £2 to help people come together and improve their wellbeing. Where else are they going to be able to access something like that for that kind of fee?”
More than £43 million of grant funding will be distributed across Glasgow, targeting citizens and communities most in need.
The three-year (2026 – 2029) Glasgow Communities Fund package was agreed on Thursday by elected members at the City Administration Committee. A total of 193 awards were granted to third sector groups and organisations from 463 applications, with Drumchapel LIFE among those to miss out.
A total of 463 applications were received totalling almost £150m – applying for over 70% more money than the value of the grant funding available.
Councillor Carey says he is extremely concerned by the decision.
He added: “This is a project which has operated in the area for over 20 years. As well as having delivered a range of benefits to Drumchapel, it has managed the Phoenix Hall, a well known and long-standing facility used by local groups for a range of activities.
“I very much hope that a way can be found to maintain elements of the work of Drumchapel LIFE and I hope that the council and its local partners will do everything they can to assist.
“This project has been highly praised and I believe it is extremely short-sighted to make this move.”
Bailie Anne McTaggart, City Convener for Communities and Equalities, said difficult decisions had to be made.
She added: “This has been a comprehensive, robust, open, collaborative and transparent process.
“We know that organisations who have not been recommended for grant funding will be disappointed, and officers will be offering feedback and meaningful support.
“Unfortunately, we have a limited pot of money, and we need to use the resources of the council – especially during these challenging, financial times – in the most supportive and effective way to meet the needs of Glaswegians and our communities.”
