Bringing peace.

Today’s issue of The (Glasgow) Herald reports on a
“£5m bid to bring peace between city gangs”
That aims to “… bring together hundreds of rival gang members …”

This sounds like a great initiative! Of course, some of us know that a similar work is already being accomplished, on a shoestring budget, by The Preshal Trust (“Preshal” is the Gaelic word for "precious") in Govan.

This work, headed up by May Nicholson, and sponsored by former Govan boy, Sir Alex Ferguson, is centred in an old, corrugated-roofed, single-storey building, supplemented by a shipping container, and is predominantly among people who are disadvantaged in many different ways - mental health problems; alcohol, and other drug, addiction; those in prison; people with literacy and numeracy problems; etc. The story of Preshal is too long to share on this blog, but is well worth checking out. (Try http://www2.stv.tv/info/newsWest_Central_Scotland/20080303/Sir_Alex_Ferguson_backing_a_Glasgow_char_2008030 for a taster - sorry, you will have to "copy and paste"!)

A recent move has been to reach out to some local gangs and now, on a Tuesday evening, upwards of 40 youngsters, out of a database of over 100, will be found playing pool, table-tennis and the like, instead of fighting over territorial claims, hanging out in closes or the local park, and generally being a nuisance! If everyone turned up at the same time, there simply wouldn’t be room for them all!
Of course, it's not just "play" as classes are provided in, e.g., healthy eating, computer work, and digital photography.

Wouldn’t it be good if some of the cash now being made available could be channelled towards Preshal as improved facilities are desperately needed for the expansion of this most worthwhile project - currently operated on a voluntary basis?