Marzanna Antoniak is an ESOL teacher and former Community Connector in Govanhill. Here she reflects on teaching English in the community as well as chatting to community organisations about how they overcome language barriers in their work.

We’re so excited to share with you the latest issue of the magazine on ‘Community Action’ focused on how the community is responding to injustice in our community and beyond. We’ve started delivering the magazine but if you’d like a copy sent to you directly, become a member today from as little as £3 a month. For now, happy hunting, we hope you enjoy this issue.

On Saturday 27 April a group of community organisations, local businesses and volunteers took to the streets of Govanhill for an organised clean-up. The Govanhill Spring Clean was the first of many community-led litter-picks in the area. Their message: ‘we are the custodians of our own community.’

“With an intimate knowledge of groups, activities and resources available locally, community link workers play a crucial role in mapping local support systems – keeping individuals and GP practices up to speed with the services available.” - Lottie Hanwell on link workers, writing for our language issue.

In our regular feature ‘My Life Before Govanhill’ we find out from the diverse community of Govanhill what they got up to before settling around Victoria Road. In this edition, we meet Dana Czerepkova.

“Plants seem to have a language of their own, with which they communicate to us their medicinal properties. In turn, humans have developed various ways of transmitting plant lore, knowledge and medicinal uses of herbs and other plants.” - Beti Scott, Movement in Thyme.

City of Empire is a new community-led exhibition at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum that uncovers Glasgow’s deep-rooted links to empire and slavery. Zara Grew met up with the exhibition's Community Curator to find out more.

The Feel Good Women’s Group is a valued space for many South Asian residents grappling with isolation and mental health challenges. In this article we delve into its impact, exploring the stories of resilience and community that have become the cornerstone of its existence.

This year Greater Govanhill and The Ferret hosted the final Mind The Health Gap event as the year long project comes to a close. We summarised the key insights from the event below.

Shanine Gallagher’s latest film, No Single Track, is a powerful exploration of her mixed identity. At The Community Newsroom, we had an exclusive screening of the film where the filmmaker shared more about her journey.

Smart Works help women secure a job, through their clothing service, interview practices, CV workshops. We met with a representative in their Glasgow branch to find out more.

Two local writers shared their pen-scribbles on what the area means to them, in specially commissioned pieces for Greater Govanhill’s Arts, Culture & Subculture issue. This is Isaac Harris’ I Love Ramsays.

Govanhillian Chanderkiran Thakur writes about learning to let yourself go in some of the inclusive dance workshops offered in and around Govanhill.

Govanhill is full of clubs and social nights as diverse and vibrant as its residents. Many of these clubs, despite their tendency to fly under most people’s radar, run frequently and are quite popular among residents. We decided to head out and meet with some of these groups to find out more.

“If you’re the only one making this unusual thing then there is a draw; no one else seems to be doing what we’re doing. You know, I think there are only really a handful of people in Japan that can make this thing.” - Lewis Harvey, MIRRL.

Local groups like The Survivor Arts Community and The Cathkin Blazes have been running projects geared towards survivors, with the aim of providing a safe space to socialise, create and play.

We caught up with Simon Murphy, before the release of his first book, GOVANHILL. He gave us insight into how the project first developed and how he decided what photo would feature on the cover.

Something very exciting is happening with the young people in Romano Lav’s Community Catalyst programme. This short piece of writing is an attempt to capture something of it.

Benjamin Kritikos, exploring why there’s such a pressing need for local solutions powered by the people most affected by them, spoke with people from Community Renewal Trust Rom Romeha (‘For Roma, By Roma’), to find out how they are tackling health inequalities and improving the quality of life for the neighbourhoods Roma community.

Last Friday I hosted a live radio show with local people from the community. This is the story of how we managed to produce and present an hour long radio show together with the help of Greater Govanhill and Radio Buena Vida, and how it changed the way I feel about my performance anxiety.