Glasgow City Council’s £250m regeneration project in Sighthill Glasgow comes on leaps and bounds and ClassForKids, in partnership with Morgan Sindall, is helping to fund kids classes. And what’s even better is that our very own Andy Giblin is teaching them!
Just 15 minutes walk from Glasgow city centre lies Sighthill, an area known for its heavy industrial past, and now being transformed through a Glasgow City Council £250 million regeneration project. When complete, the 50 hectres under development will include a new school campus, a footbridge across the main motorway the M8 - creating a ‘street in the sky’ - a new road bridge to link Sighthill and Port Dundas and more parkland for the whole area.
The project is being run by construction and infrastructure business Morgan Sindall who in partnership with ClassForKids are providing funding and support for local businesses running kids activity classes to deliver school taster sessions and after school clubs in the region.
Stephen O’Brien, Project Manager at Morgan Sindall Infrastructure spoke about the difference the company is making, “We take our commitments to community benefits really seriously - it’s a huge part of what we do on our projects. We have a unique opportunity to make a long-term difference at Sighthill for the community and working with ClassForKids to support and help set up sustainable small businesses that operate in the community, made this partnership an ideal fit.”
“WE RECENTLY TAUGHT SOME INSPIRING PUPILS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND SEEING THE DIFFERENCE THESE CLASSES MADE TO THEM WAS VERY HUMBLING NOT TO MENTION HUGELY REWARDING ."
Andy Giblin, ClassForKids
Local schools, St Stephen’s Primary and St Kevin’s Primary, both in Sighthill, are the first to benefit from the community partnership with the recent launch of a series of after school dance classes taking place on one of the school’s premises, run by ClassForKids’ Andy Giblin and his dance associate Amy Stevenson.
In addition to being a top Business Coach helping customers achieve the best from the ClassForKids system, Andy is also a trained ballet dancer, graduating from the Dance School of Scotland. Speaking of the experience reaching the children he recalled: “We recently taught some inspiring pupils with special needs and seeing the difference these classes made to them was very humbling not to mention hugely rewarding so we really want to deliver even more sessions in the future.”
Headteacher at St Stephen’s Primary School, Donna McKay is also very positive about the initiative and commented: “The children love the new dance classes. It facilitates the breaking down of barriers and promotes integration within the school too. Working together in such a social way really helps children in other curricular areas and it’s wonderful to see them support and encourage one another during the dance sessions. The possibility of adding other extra-curricular activities would be welcomed by our families.”
“THE CHILDREN LOVE THE NEW DANCE CLASSES. IT FACILITATES THE BREAKING DOWN OF BARRIERS AND PROMOTES INTEGRATION WITHIN THE SCHOOL TOO."
Donna McKay, Headteacher at St Stephen's Primary School
ClassForKids is also keen to work more closely with other schools and businesses to help roll out the available funding for after school clubs across the wider community. Co-Founder Nikki Th’ng explains, “We’re really proud to be working on such a meaningful project, something that is making a real difference to children in the area, plus it gives us greater insight and understanding of our own audience too. We plan to continue running dance classes at St Stephen’s Primary School when it changes premises next year and this will also provide great opportunities for those new residents that are set to move into the first completed housing on site.”
If you are looking to start a kids activity business in the Sighthill area and are interested in funding, get in touch.