South Glasgow Heritage and Environment Trust and Tram Direct are presenting “To Serve is to Resist,” a new play by Ian Morland, on the last weekend of March at Queen’s Park Church. The artistic director is Isobel Marrett.
The play is based on the life of Jane Haining, a Scottish Missionary and Queen’s Park Church parishioner who was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. Jane was born in in Dunscone near Dumfries in 1897 and later moved to Glasgow, where she was employed for ten years at a threadmaker’s in Paisley. She volunteered as a missionary and was sent to a Church of Scotland mission in Budapest in 1932.
In Budapest, Jane served as a school mistress and was in charge of 400 orphans and poor children, mostly Jewish, who attended the Scottish Missionary School. The Church tried to recall her to Scotland when the Nazis invaded Hungary, but she refused to leave the children. ‘If these children need me in the days of sunshine’, she said, ‘how much more do they need me in the days of darkness?’
In 1944, she was arrested by the Nazis for helping Jews and for “espionage” and sent to Auschwitz to be killed.
One of her former students recalled ‘I still feel the tears in my eyes and hear in my ears the siren of the Gestapo motor car. I see the smile on her face while she bade me farewell. I never saw Miss Haining again, and when I went to the Scottish Mission to ask the minister about her, I was told she had died. I did not want to believe it, nor to understand, but a long time later I realised that she had died for me, and for others. The body of Miss Haining is dead, but she is not alone, because her smile, voice and face are still in my heart.’
There are two stained glass windows in Queen’s Park Church commemorating her heroism and she has been included in the Avenue of Righteous Gentiles in Jerusalem. You can find out more about Jane Haining at Wikipedia, at the East Renfrewshire Council’s Holocaust Memorial Day site, and at ‘The Holocaust: Crimes, Heroes and Villians.’
There will be three performances at Queen’s Park Church (170 Queen’s Drive):
Tickets cost £7 (concessions £6).
For more information, telephone 0141 423 6037, email manager@tramdirect.com or visit www.tramdirect.com. Ticket can be bought in advance, and any remaining tickets will be sold at the door.
A small exhibition will be on display during the production. Tea and coffee will be served, but I would advise attendees to bring their own supplies of kleenexes.
Is there a plant you associate with Strathbungo?
What grows well in your garden or a neighbour’s?
Which plants do you notice as the seasons change?
The holly trees that punctuate the green streetscape of Pollokshields relate to its motto “Do good while the holly is green”. There are holly trees on nearly every street and this got the Society thinking – is there a plant for Strathbungo?
We know the area was known for growing flowers as crops in the past and we’re researching this but we’d like you to nominate a plant for Strathbungo with the aim of finding one we can all be encouraged to grow in pots, window boxes, back greens or gardens.
We’re hoping to combine this with a community planting project at Bungo In The Back Lanes and distribute seedlings.
We’ve already had one suggestion for Eryngium Alpinum (pictured), described as “A really lovely plant; it is strong, tough and really represents the spirit of the Strathbungo Community.”
The third Monday of the month has come around fast! The committee meeting takes place this Monday at 7.30pm in The Bungo Bar & Kitchen on Nithsdale Road. We always like to see new faces, so do come along if you can.
We’ve all been busy bees with Spring Fling so we haven’t got the agenda and previous minute online yet (apologies).
In the meantime, to give you a flavour of what we’ll be talking about, here’s what the Society has been working on this month:
It could be a late one!
The first letters have landed on doormats with the Council’s response to the Strathbungo Society Back Lanes Reinstatement Consultation Report.
The Council is funding the community’s preferred option based on the consultation results, that is uplifting and relaying the existing cobbles (where necessary), clearing and repairing drains and removing built up silt and vegetation.
From the letters sent it would appear the plan is to work on the lane between Regent Park and Queen first. We will be contacting the Council to confirm this and when the other lanes will be done.
Residents who have concerns or objections are asked to contact the Development and Regeneration Services department on 287 8555. It is still Brain Parr and Donald Linn who are the contacts in the department and have been dealing with the works in this area since the start.
After decades of back lanes difficulties it will be really satisfying to see them repaired at last and it was great to get the news on the same day as our last community event before we tread the gleaming cobbles at Bungo In The Back Lanes!
This Saturday 17th March
10.30am-2.00pm
Queens Park Parish Church, 170 Queens Drive
Come and enjoy:
Free entry – see you there!
All the fun of a multi-cultural fair. Come and experience henna handpainting (as well as kids face painting), ethnic (and other) foods – including local coffee and bakehouse Tapa – vibes by local station Radio Awaz – and two bouncy castles! Come and celebrate the South Side’s diversity. Shawlands Mela (pronounced mee-la) is brought to you by Shawlands Academy PTC and is being held in Scotland’s most international school: yes, Shawlands Academy!
Now that Spring’s almost here, do you fancy something different, something that celebrates the South Side’s cultural diversity – well Shawlands Mela is just the place for you – and yours. Organised by Shawlands Academy PTC, this first-ever Shawlands Mela has all the fun of the fair: from henna hand-painting to bouncy castles, from Asian (and other) food stalls to live entertainment and lots else besides including local coffee and bakehouse, Tapa. So why don’t you come along to Shawlands Academy for a fun day “in”.Entrance is £1 per adult and 50p per child, open: 10 am to 3 pm.
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The surveys have been returned, the numbers totted up, checked and double-checked and the report to the Council has been sent.
The response from residents was overwhelmingly in favour of option 2 – uplifting and resetting the existing cobbles. Just under 23% of surveys were returned.
You can read the full report sent to the Council here: Strathbungo Society Back Lanes Reinstatement Consultation Report
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