New picnic benches in Queen's Park, gifted by the Roma community
By Sorana Horsia
Thanks to the work of local Roma group, Rom Romeha, Queen's Park has more spaces for friends and family to gather this summer.
The activists from the Roma community, with the support of Glasgow City Council, built picnic benches in the Queen's Park. The association Rom Romeha was created from the need to put Roma people at the heart of decision-making affecting their community. The idea of building picnic benches stemmed from exploring the needs of the Govanhill community through surveys and events. A recurring issue they observed was the lack of usable space in the neighbourhood.
Read more about Rom Romeha: Rom Romeha - For Roma, By Roma
Glasgow City Council welcomed the initiative. Stephen Egan, Head of Parks and Streetscene at Glasgow City said: “This is a great example of the community getting involved in the management of their local greenspace and helping to improve the amenities for their benefit."
Sona Balogova, a member of the community forum, is happy with the achievement of the association: "We progressed this after listening to what people in the area wanted, and we feel proud to have facilitated something good for the community of Govanhill.”
According to David Jones, Director of Grant Programmes from People’s Health Trust, the new benches are a step forward towards reducing prejudice against the Roma community: "As well as benefiting the local community, our hope is that the positive action taken by the group will challenge the negative stereotypes that are sometimes voiced about Roma people.”
The Community Renewal Trust has been supporting the local Roma community for over a decade. Building picnic benches in Queen's Park is part of their Rom Romeha and Local Conversation project, funded by People's Health Trust through money raised by Health Lottery Scotland.