Our Community Correspondent Peter Leckie hasn’t always told stories. He’s proud to have served as a soldier. Here he tells the bittersweet and, at times, funny story of how he became ” the newest member of the British army of the Rhine”.
Author Archive | editor

Read yourself well: 7 inspirational books about #recovery
A special feature from Laura Gulliver: a freelance health writer who has spent the last few years of her career writing and talking very openly about her own battles with mental health and addiction. Although there are many who think self-help books are something that should be given a wide berth, for many millions of […]
What have you learned from blogging? Tops tips from our Community Correspondents
We were invited to deliver a workshop on blogging at Glasgow Women’s Library @GWLkettle this week. The session went really well. It was great to meet everyone and hear their ideas. We might even see some of them pop up as Community Correspondents. Rather than get bogged down in the technical stuff, I asked our […]

What turns a bad day into a good day? We challenge you to watch this without smiling
We ran a workshop in Greenock with the Quarriers Go4it digital inclusion group based around one question: what makes a bad day into a good day? The group of people with profound and multiple disabilities made their first ever video slideshow in response and I challenge anyone to watch it to the end without smiling. […]

A free night out: fireworks displays around Glasgow and Clyde
Sometimes it feels like every occasion in the year is just a chance to make money, but at least so far, I’ve not seen any “Happy Fireworks Day” cards in the shop. It’s one of my favourite days of the year, because it still has a feeling of being communal and bringing people together. While […]

Autumn skinny dipping: a poem about mental health and seasons
At our latest Mind Waves meeting, Community Correspondent Derek read us his latest poem and in the usually lively room, there was silence. I think we all understood the feeling of dark times approaching and were moved by the sense of humour and hope in his words. Here they are. Autumn skinny dipping I’ve had […]

Meet our Community Correspondents: Derek Read
What’s your name and where do you come from? I’m Derek Read and I’m originally from the Wirral, near Liverpool. I came to Glasgow nearly 30 years ago to do my social work post-grad and I’ve been here ever since. Why are you interested in mental wellbeing? I’ve had periods of mental ill health throughout […]

Does someone you follow feel suicidal? Get alerts with #samaritansradar
A post from our Project Manager @rosiehopes There are few things that take more courage than admitting publicly that you feel suicidal. Imagine picking up your phone, writing and re-working a tweet over and over again and then pressing tweet to announce to your followers that you can’t cope. And then imagine… nothing. It’s […]

From child bride to #stillgame : my #blackhistorymonth hero is my mother, Shamshad Akhtar
Our Community Correspondent Sofia Ghani tells us her mother’s inspirational story My mother came to Glasgow at 14 as a new bride . She was born in Pakistan and had a close, caring family with four brothers and two sisters. She was devastated to leave her family and they were devastated to see her go. […]
Gone Girl
A review from our Community Correspondent Emily @caminosmem 5/5 General release, rating 18 I confess, I hadn’t read the book before seeing this film but having now seen it I’m glad I didn’t! The twists and turns within this film were gripping and I was excited that I didn’t know what was coming next. By […]