New Victoria Gardens is hosting an early summer plant sale this Sunday.

Accessed through a mysterious door in a wall on Glenapp St, off Albert Drive, the NVG allotments are a real hidden treasure of the Southside – a green oasis in the concrete jungle.

Open to the public only a couple of times a year, this is a rare opportunity to look around this secret garden and benefit from the horticultural expertise of plot holders, with the opportunity to purchase a wide variety of plants and produce and enjoy the legendary home baking in the NVG tearoom.

The sale is on from 2-4pm and it is free to enter.

The next Brighter Bungo community cleanup will take place on Sunday 12^th May from 11am to 1pm. We will be meeting at the corner of Nithsdale Road and Moray Place and Glasgow Council’s Clean Glasgow team will be providing gloves, litter pickers and high-visibility vests. Please join us and help keep the streets of Strathbungo clean and litter free.

The Shawlands Academy Lighting Project – part of the Shawlands Town Centre Action Plan – is being showcased at the Lighthouse, Scotland’s Centre for Architecture+Design. Shawlands students worked with lighting designers to create a project to allow students to digitally project artworks on to the school’s facade; reinforce Shawlands Academy as a key institution in the town centre; and brighten up one of the key gateways into Shawlands.

This animated film tells you all about it:  http://www.ads.org.uk/smarterplaces/news/shawlands-academy-on-the-noticed-board

Shawlands Academy Lighting Project was funded by Shawlands & Strathbungo Community Council.

The Spring, 2013 Strathbungo News has just gone to the printer’s. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed and to everyone who looked over the semi-final draft and caught errors and omissions! You can download a pdf of the newsletter by clicking the link below:

2013-4 newsletter web final

I’ve lived here for more than ten years. It’s a community I know and feel safe in but with the news of a gang rape in a lane off Pollokshaws Rd this weekend, I’ve been struggling to think of ways to show this is not a community that turns a blind eye to such acts – that this is not a place where people can commit crimes and expect to get away with it.

The Society will be writing to the local police to request increased patrols, particularly in the back lanes, and to our councillors to push for improved street lighting but the bottom line is:

This is OUR neighbourhood and we all need to make sure it is not a safe place for people to carry out vile criminal acts.

We need to be vigilant about what is happening outside our windows once the shutters are closed.

We need to take a stand, to call the police when we have concerns and to challenge those whose behaviour makes us feel insecure in our homes and on our streets.

What can we all do to make our community’s spirit visible? What can we do to demonstrate that this will not be tolerated?

Anyone with information about the attack on Saturday night should contact London Road Police Office on 0141 532 4600 or call the non-emergency Police Scotland number 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

On two occasions last night (14/4/13) at around 8pm, I noticed a suspicious cyclist hanging around the lanes between Nithsdale, Regent Park Square and Queens Square. At one point he was walking up RPS looking at houses, having left his bike (dark mountain bike) at the top of the street. He was wearing all dark clothing with his hood drawn almost completely over his face – only his eyes and nose were visable. I didn’t see him again after he realised that I was watching him.

As I didn’t see him doing anything untoward, I didn’t feel it worthy of calling the police however, bearing in mind the attack on a female on Saturday night and recent break-in, would ask that residents keep their eyes open.

Apologies for the short notice – I’ve just realised the next committee meeting is tomorrow night – blame the Easter holidays. As usual, we’ll be in Grianach from 7.30pm, everyone is welcome to attend and we should have the agenda available before the meeting. Safe to say there’ll be Bungo In The Back Lanes discussion and, crucially, we’ll be looking for an acting treasurer as our current treasurer is moving to Pakistan next month.