Season’s Greetings from Arts Manager Matt and all the team at Platform

October, November and December have been full of fun and activity for the organisation – both here at the venue and across northeast Glasgow. 

We planned and delivered 56 live events, engaging over 3,000 people of all ages in conversations about climate change and their hopes and fears for the future. This programme of activity was called Dear Green Place and you can read more about it here. I was hugely impressed by the artists involved and their ability to adapt, respond and deliver high-quality creative experiences. The programme featured writing workshops, live performances with talking whales, characters made of bottles, creative play sessions for nurseries and whole school climate conferences in playgrounds across the east end. 

Dear Green Place came to an end with two brilliant ceilidh events held in the Auditorium for the pupils, staff and families of St Benedict’s and Aultmore Park Primary. Although the programme was supported in the lead up to Glasgow hosting COP26, we hope to continue many of the conversations that took place during the project and find new ways to share and celebrate some of the beautiful work that was created.

Fuora Dance Project visited in the autumn and filmed their production Songs From The Other Side which was streamed online in November by the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. The film looked and sounded brilliant and the team behind the work plan to tour a live version next year.

Throughout the autumn and winter we continued to welcome groups and activities back to the building. The staff team worked tirelessly to ensure additional cleaning and preparation was in place, allowing workshops to take place safely at Platform. 

Away from the venue, our friends at the CCA hosted a screening of some short films created by local young filmmakers. These inventive and original films were produced as part of the Now & Next series by LUX Scotland, Platform and the BBC and will feature on their iPlayer at some stage in the new year.

We have been on the road for much of the winter so far, taking a brass band, balloon modeller and a few hundred selection boxes to celebrations at the Glenburn Centre, The Lochs Shopping Centre and Budhill Park.

We supported not one but two festive live music performances to tour into schools and community centres. A Very Bublé Christmas and Sprog Rock: Maximum Sparkle were a great hit with audiences in the days leading up to Christmas before arriving back at Platform for a series of socially distanced performances in the Auditorium.

As 2021 draws to a close, times remain deeply challenging, not just for art and culture but every sector, industry, community, family and individual. It continues to be a great privilege to work with such a broad range of partners across the community and witness the inspiring and vital work that they do. 

We look forward to further strengthening our existing partnerships in 2022 and making new friends too! We also look forward to hosting performances, gigs, exhibitions, workshops and events in the building and across the community. 

Huge thanks to all of the artists we have worked with over the last twelve months, whether it be leading weekly classes or working together to produce music, performance and visual art - we very much appreciate all that you bring to our organisation and the communities we serve.

And an equally huge thanks to every one of you that has supported us throughout 2021. Whether it be buying a ticket, agreeing to let us come and visit your playground or car park, turning up every week online and in-person to learn an instrument, make a show or share your artwork - we cannot thank you enough for your continued support.

Although access to the venue currently continues to be reduced from pre-pandemic levels, we are always open to hearing from you and so if you would like to learn more about Platform and the work that we do send an email to info@platform-online.co.uk   

On behalf of everyone at the organisation – we hope this message finds you well, stay safe, happy holidays and look forward to seeing you in the new year!