Health and wellbeing of community ‘transformed’ a decade on from the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games

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The regeneration of the east end of Glasgow and Rutherglen as part of the legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games has delivered 4,000 new homes in the area.

More than 100 acres of greenspace has been added, the size of 50 football pitches, with new parkland at Cuningar Loop, Old Dalmarnock Road, Riverside Park in Dalmarnock and Malls Mire Woodland Park in Toryglen. Cuningar Loop, which transformed an area of derelict and inaccessible former landfill into green space, recently welcomed its 1,500,000th visitor.

The regeneration work has been spearheaded by Clyde Gateway, Scotland’s largest and most successful regeneration project, who have also revealed new figures showing that there has been almost a quarter of a million additional learning, health, sports and capacity building opportunities since it was set up prior to the Commonwealth Games.

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Participation in sport has been spurred on by a raft of international sporting events that have been attracted to the high-quality facilities in the area including the Emirates Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

The area has hosted the inaugural Cycling World Championships in 2023, the World Indoor Athletics Championships in 2024, the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup, as well as the 2018 European Championships.

A number of organisations have been supported as part of the legacy to encourage healthy living, including Healthy n Happy, Scottish Cycling and Baltic Street Adventure Playground.

Healthy n Happy is a community development trust which provides initiatives that encourages local wellbeing, encourages health screening uptake and also supports the local community radio station among other things.

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Scottish Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling. Their mission is to inspire and support everyone to enjoy riding a bike and have the opportunity to realise their full potential.

Cunningar Loop, Rutherglen.Cunningar Loop, Rutherglen.
Cunningar Loop, Rutherglen.

Baltic Street Adventure Playground is a charity which was established in response to the lack of play space and out of school provision. It is fully supervised and encourages children to take part in outdoor play, building resilience and teaching them how to manage risks. The charity is also home to a food hub, serving the community in Dalmarnock.

Niki Spence, Head of Sustainable Communities at Clyde Gateway, said:There has been a real physical transformation in Clyde Gateway since before the Commonwealth Games, but there has also been a huge amount of collaborative work by residents and organisations, including Clyde Gateway, to learn from the past and focus on what matters to locals and sometimes these aspects of regeneration are harder to see.

“More greenspaces and active travel links have helped improve the health and wellbeing of the community and building more than 4,000 homes has also greatly enhanced residents’ quality of life and encouraged communities to become more established and resilient in Bridgeton, Dalmarnock, and Rutherglen.”

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Jamie Taylor, Club Development Manager at Scottish Cycling added: The Commonwealth Games in 2014 was an incredible event which inspired people across Scotland to get involved with sport and fitness. But there is a real lasting legacy in the east end of Glasgow where there are world class sporting facilities right on the doorstep of local residents.

“Scotland has attracted some world class events that have really put Glasgow on the map. The inaugural Cycling World Championships last year was a great festival of sport that really showcased what the city has to offer. Without the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and the Emirates Arena we would not be able to attract such prestigious events.”

Robert Kennedy, Project Coordinator at Baltic Street Adventure Playground, said: “Our charity was set up in 2013 with funding from Clyde Gateway, Glasgow City Council and Creative Scotland and we have given hundreds of children the space to adventure play in a safe environment.

“We encourage our kids to get out of their comfort zone and explore new things which hugely aids their development. Without our facility, lots of children in our local community would not have the opportunity to play, and this alone is a fantastic lasting legacy as a direct result of the Games.”

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