I’m proud to represent an area where, in all the neighbourhoods that make up the ward, you can see a sense of community at their heart.

I am inspired when I see our community come together to support others. When people move into the area for the first time, there is a group ready to welcome them to our community. Or when someone is having difficulty with their mental health, there is a network to offer support.

These local people do incredible work to break stigmas, offer a helping hand, a hand up and friendship.

These groups are held in community-run facilities where we have seen local leaders be empowered to take charge in their local area. Local people, running centres in the areas they know and love.

Sadly, we too often take community run facilities for granted – we believe that no matter what happens they will be there forever. But with funding and grants becoming harder to obtain we are sadly beginning to see centres under threat.

Knightswood’s British Legion Club – the last of its kind in Glasgow – and the brilliant Heart of Scotstoun Community Centre are two facilities which are vital to our local communities but are now seeing the reality of what the lack of funding/grant opportunities mean.

These places are much more than simply buildings, they offer support, a place for local people to go, to meet friends and to use services. It would be a travesty if these disappeared.

I’m all for community empowerment. I want to see local facilities run by and for local people but when they need support to keep doing their fantastic work, we need to stand up and fight their case.

These facilities mean too much to too many people for them to be lost.