Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours

Everybody needs good neighbours, as the song says, and Glaswegians, according to a world poll, are officially top residents when it comes to getting on with the people next door. Having lived in the East End of Glasgow for 36 years of my life I can attest to that from living in an 18th century tenement with six apartments to each building. Six families also shared a garden, so we had many a party in the summer. There were a few grumps over whose turn it was for the washing line and the cleaning of the ‘close’ (the staircase up to each flat) but in the main, our neighbourly relations were very good.

After a year, I am still getting to know the neighbours in my street. As life becomes busier, it’s becoming harder to make time to catch up for a natter over the fence. Nowadays it’s more important than ever to be kind to neighbours and the last couple of years has shown how much we need each other in a crisis.

It’s Neighbour’s Day this week. The libraries will have a display this week to celebrate Neighbour’s Day and the theme Kai Connections. Be sure to pop into our libraries and see Neighbourhood Support’s and HDC Community Engagement’s fantastic information display too. You can share a recipe or two and take home some delicious chai spice and plenty of information about how to make the best of our neighbourhood.

Sometimes the smallest things we can do for our neighbourhoods can have the biggest impact. Whether it’s picking up litter, sharing fruit from your lemon tree or making an effort to make more time for socialising, it takes only minutes a day.

I’m planning to introduce a Wee Free Library one day — a little post-box sized shelf containing free books for children and adults. People can read, return, or exchange books. A recent report by notfor-profit organisation The Education Hub found that by