In 2022, we had more than 150 people contribute to the magazine with writing, photography, illustrating and editing. Find out what our most-read articles were from the past year as well as our staff’s favourite articles.

Last year, we published more articles than ever before. Our ‘Class of 2022’ consists of 228 printed pages of our magazine and even more articles that are digital exclusives. We commissioned articles from all walks of life with the majority of our articles being written by first-time published writers.

We have continued publishing our regular features like Style Icon, Behind the Portrait, Like My Grandmother Used to Make and Your Govanhill as well as introducing new features such as Top 10… and My Life Before Govanhill.

One of our big ‘scoops’ of the year was our Young Voices team interviewing Nicola Sturgeon, they asked questions covering rent controls, Ukraine, witch trials and the future of Govanhill.

In November we published this article that explores how the energy crisis is affecting our health which marks the start of our year-long partnership with The Ferret exploring health inequalities in Scotland. We also published articles on some of the more serious issues affecting Govanhill like gentrification, integration and the asylum system.

As ever, our articles range was as diverse as Govanhill. We published articles on South Asian cooking, Queen's Park's archaeology, community ownership and the Southside's women and non-binary football club as well as publishing a diverse range of media including comic strips, photojournalism and illustrative pieces as well as publishing in different community languages.

While there are so many articles we’d love to highlight, we thought we would share our most read articles from the year plus our team members’ favourite articles from 2022.

Our most read article for 2022 was published in the Past, Present Future issue of our magazine. Staff writer Jack Howse and local train enthusiast Ben Cave delve into the Scottish Government’s second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) which includes plans to radically expand the Clyde Metro line and make Govanhill far more connected with the rest of the city. Ben and Jack explore in detail the proposals and also ask just how likely these plans will come to fruition.

Crosshill Quad: How one group of residents transformed their shared space

A real tale of community spirit and action; this community space in the heart of Govanhill was completely transformed to become a sanctuary for the 200 residents in the tenements that encircle it. It is heartening to see that this was our second most popular article considering the amount of negative press that Govanhill gets around rubbish and fly–tipping.

Mural Unveiled Today Celebrates Govanhill's Diverse Community

We covered the opening of a new mural for Govanhill back in March. From Middle Eastern tiles to a Romanian blouse and from Scottish tartan to tenement tiles. Each letter of the stunning new Govanhill mural represents a different aspect of our incredible local community. The mural, created by the Govanhill Open Museum stands as a colourful celebration of the community’s diversity. Inspired by old postcard designs, each letter of Govanhill features a pattern found by the local community.

Staff Picks

Being Mixed: In Search of Community

Becki’s favourite article for the year was written by one of our Young Voices team, Shanine Gallagher. This intimately personal essay sees Shanine in pursuit of her mixed Scottish-Filipino identity and charts the growing community in Glasgow that have supported her.

Becki says:

Shanine’s honest words about family relationships and trying to find a sense of belonging really resonated with me. The article is beautifully written and I'm really appreciative of her sharing such a personal and important message with us.

Govanhill: Dreams of the Future

In our Past, Present and Future of Govanhill Issue, we published Jack’s favourite article of the year which saw different Govanhillians sharing their perfect visions for Govanhill in 2032. Some future dreams included a Roma community centre, Victoria Road transformed into a cycle freeway, Becki’s vision of a feminist city and the ‘free state of Glasgow Southside’.

Jack says:

I loved putting together this article of our readership’s visions for the area. While so many of them may seem radical, all of them are so achievable and centre our values we hold dear at Greater Govanhill. I also loved the illustrations made by Laura Wade for the piece.

Fonds: Object Speak Louder than Words

Our founder and editor’s pick for the year was FONDS, a photography series and radio show we ran over the summer.

Rhiannon says:

One of the things I am most proud of this year was our FONDS: Objects Speak Louder Than Words project. This was an incredible collaboration between a number of different organisations, to tell the stories of Govanhill through the objects that mean most to people. Photographer Morwenna Kearsley captured the images of the objects in an 8 minute exposure in a darkened room, while journalism student Sorana Horsia interviewed participants.
Not only did it create a striking exhibition that we displayed around the neighbourhood, but we produced a gorgeous radio show that included intimate interviews with people as well as songs chosen by them that related to their objects. It's well worth a listen back, and we hope to turn it into a podcast this year.