IT IS 10 o’clock on a school holiday morning, and the rain is teeming down on Castlemilk’s Barlia pitches.
Already, however, around 50 children are mid-game, happily getting drenched as their coaches - in varying stages of sogginess – shout encouragement from the sidelines.
And its long-lease to be able to run the complex for the next 25 years has just been signed off by the council.“We still have a bit to go to secure the balance for the pavilion works, about £200k, but we are hopeful that some of the grants we are applying for at the moment will be successful." Its future was in doubt in March 2020, when the pandemic forced it to close. It was briefly used as a vaccination centre but after restrictions eased, the centre stayed shut.
“It was horrendous – weeds and broken glass everywhere outside, a mess inside…but so many people and companies from the community turned up to help, it was amazing.John adds: “We did a consultation and what people were saying was pretty clear – it’s got to be more than a football pitch.
Volunteer coach Tam Simpson is watching his son Alfie, eight, playing in the rain. His daughter, Tammin, 16, is already“This place is the lifeblood of this community,” says Tam, firmly. “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. When it shut, it was really tough. John has been the driving force in getting it open again.”
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