Woman praises warm hub in Glasgow that 'saved her life'

Peggy Connell volunteers at and also uses the facility, located within Barmulloch Community Development Company (BCDC).

She said: “When I got paid off from my job, I was lost. I didn’t know what to do and I came down here to volunteer.

“This has kept me going. I would have killed myself, I think, if I didn’t have this place to come to and meet people.

“I was so down. But people are lovely here, I have made a lot of friends, so this has kept me going.

“This has been about two and a half years."

The Barmulloch resident is grateful for the space, which, other than a warm room, provides food, activities, classes and an opportunity to meet people.

She added: “It’s great, just a pity that more people don’t use it.

“I come here at least two or three times a year. I have met so many people, folk come in for interviews upstairs and we sit here, blethering.

“My grandkids also go to a lot of the clubs here.

“It’s a lifesaver, for me anyway."

The warm room has been running since last October and has been a great asset to the community. Workers within the organisation are pleased to see the space well-used.

Brian Land, development manager at BCDC, said: “Glasgow City Council helped to launch it, so we were open pre-Christmas and we hope to stay open until March because we don’t know what the weather is going to be like.

“There is funding at the moment, from Glasgow City Council, for warm rooms and there is funding from other donors as well, so we will hopefully be able to keep it open as long as we can to support the community.

“It has been successful both in terms of people dropping in and using it to save energy in their own homes and there are other groups who are using it as well.

“People who maybe come in and use the facilities for activities.

"For example, parents who sit outside in their cars while they wait for their child and now what they do is they park their car and sit in the warm room, saving fuel.

“So, we thought this room was only about saving energy, but some of them were going home, heating their house up, using fuel, and now, we are seeing them using the room.

"The feedback we got is that they feel more comfortable coming in and sitting in and also, inadvertently, they are saving on fuel and energy."

The space is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am. Anyone from the area is welcome to come by and have a snack, watch some TV, read, knit or have a conversation with others.

More than a warm space, BCDC supports locals in any way they can.

Land said: "People keep coming in and we are fortunate enough to have support from local shops, who send food which we put out.

“That again saves money on the weekly purchase of messages.

“All the food we get goes out and every single item that people take from the foyer, linked in with the warm space, is going to save them money and therefore, they don’t have to worry about the heat or eat scenario.

“If they know they are getting some food, they can put all their money towards the energy."

The main issue the establishment is facing is getting the word out there about the services they provide.

Brian Land, development manager at BCDC (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest)

He added: "A lot of people don’t have social media. We do share a lot of information on Facebook.

“Word of mouth does help. We do get calls from social work. Recently, we had a call about a gentleman who needed help.

“But sadly, if social workers don’t know about it, he wouldn’t have known that we are here.

“It’s really difficult, without chapping their doors.

“But I think it’s really important to keep getting it out there that there are organisations in the communities, who are helping people, not just with warm hubs but socially as well."

The organisation is located at Barmulloch Residents Centre at 54 Quarrywood Road, Glasgow.