Sadness as popular

AN award-winning social enterprise is being forced to close its shop front after a struggle to secure funding. The bright blue facade of Rags To Riches is a familiar sight to anyone who visits Victoria Road.

But bosses have announced the store will shut on February 1 – a real blow to the redevelopment of the South Side area.

Retail manager Clare Docherty said the move has come due to a mixture of issues, including the difficulty of finding funds and high rent.

Clare said: “We are a social enterprise so we rely on external funding and that has been very hard to come by in the past year.

“It is a real shame because we have not been here very long.

“What we do here is absolutely amazing but we can’t go on.

“We are all really sad about it as it is really nice to showcase so many local artists – we stock nearly 30 freelance designers and makers.”

Rags To Riches is part of Govanhill Baths Community Trust, a group in charge of refurbishing Govanhill Baths as a health and well-being centre.

The trust said it prefers to pay decent wages for staff, rather than rely on volunteer labour, but the cost of rent, utilities and salaries has become too much to cover.

The shop will now move online to the trust’s website.

But, until February 1, there will be a 20% off the sale of all Rags to Riches and Govanhill Baths Community Trust products.

And Rags to Riches Social Enterprise will be continuing with outreach activities and workshops at The Deep End on Nithsdale Street.

Clare said: “We will still be going ahead as usual in The Deep End