About us

Who we are

We are a group of local residents who actively work to create a vibrant community in the heart of Pollokshields. This area of Glasgow is one of the most diverse areas of Glasgow! We are home to a wonderful mix of cultures, religions, ethnicities, and unique backgrounds. Bowling Green Together is a predominantly women of colour led organisation, who along with other marginalised groups, want to create a space where we can share our lives and the stories that bring us together. We acknowledge that there are few places like this that exist. A space where we feel we belong, where we can express ourselves freely and a place where we can thrive. The incredible success of the Bowling Green Together is due to our intersectional expertise and continuous work within the community. We have organised and hosted cultural events, community meals, interfaith ceremonies, and welcomed international guests. We are our actions and our words.

Our creation was a result of work done by the community for the community! We plan to continue this legacy of lived-experience leadership by taking on the administrative responsibilities involved in the day-to-day running of the bowling green. As a result of our organising and keen community expertise, we secured the lease of the bowling green space to continue delivering this incredible work to our community for many generations to come. Green space access is crucial to well-being, health, and community. We use our space to better our earth, place, community, and partnerships.

Purpose

Our mission is to collaborate with and enhance the lives of our diverse and often excluded communities within Pollokshields, especially those at greatest risk of multi-disadvantage. We wish to create an intentional space to promote the connection of and embrace intersections between people of colour and other marginalised aspects of one’s identity. We do this through carrying out events, creating experiences, and programmes that are intersectional, compassionate and lived-experience led to help people come together and learn new things and to build on existing skills.

Principles and Values

We are committed to creating a welcoming space for everyone. We know that inclusive spaces require dedication, vulnerability, and intentionality. We are committed to support and empower those among us who are systemically disadvantaged based on their race, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, disability, immigration status and all combined intersectional experiences. We aim to be governed based on the principles of justice, diversity, inclusion, compassion, empathy, and equity to create a safe space for everyone to thrive.

We value vulnerability, transparency, and intentionality. We value people and their lived-experience and expertise.

Our Aim

We aim to be a bridge that brings people together, we aim to social gatherings and opportunities for our community to learn, share, and participate in. We are open that we fully affirm the needs and voices of marginalised residents of Pollokshields. We understand the barriers that racial and ethnic minorities face and the challenging work of creating truly inclusive spaces that acknowledge and value the intersectional experiences of our community.

Our Plans

Our plans are inspired and rooted by the successful events we have run in the past as well as from the input of our community. We want to provide what our community needs, based on the expertise that our community holds. We will run events throughout the year. We plan to continue to grow vegetables and raise chickens, hold after-school activities, youth events, mindfulness sessions, yoga, welfare drop-ins, culturally affirming workshops, community meals and so much more! We want to dance together, make music, pray together, work out, and make art. We would like to offer youth peer support group sessions, storytelling events, and art therapy workshops.

Contact

If you'd like to know more about The Bowling Green Together, or get involved, feel free to get in touch!

Email: info@bowling-green-together.co.uk