Now delighted housing providers in the community say the money will be put to work helping people at grassroots level with particular emphasis on the vulnerable and isolated.

Housing associations Linthouse, Govan and Elderpark along with Govan Thriving Places and supported by local councillors from the Govan council ward successfully secured the funding from the Scottish Government’s £30 million emergency funding to help communities.

The partners in what is called Govan’s ‘COVID-19 Funding Temporary Emergency Funding Group’ was quickly set up to apply for the money. The group will now set about working out how the funding should be spent.

The elected members are: Councillor Richard Bell, Ballie John Kane, Councillor Allan Young and Councillor Stephen Dornan.

The three housing associations are already hard at work supporting their communities with an unprecedented level of engagement. Shopping is being delivered, prescriptions collected and free hot meals prepared and distributed.

The health emergency has galvanised many volunteers who are generously providing a helping hand in the community such as the charity Aberlour.

Irene Campbell, chief executive of Linthouse Housing Association, said: “This money is hugely-welcome as it will turbo-charge our efforts to help our tenants and the wider community. We are immensely grateful for it. As is so often the case, local people look to their housing associations – given our vital community role - for help and leadership in times of crisis.”

Fiona McTaggart, chief executive of Govan Housing Association, added: “Govan Housing Association is delighted to be working in collaboration with the TEFG to assist in addressing the ever-changing community priorities recognised throughout this pandemic.

“This joined-up approach will ensure that our tenants and those in most need within our community receive the support and assistance they require.  The new funds will able housing associations and third sector organisations to deliver new services and enhance and extend services already being delivered.”

Gary Dalziel, chief executive of Elderpark Housing, said: “This funding will inevitably help us to extend the reach of our work during this crisis. We will now get to work on how this money should be spent making sure it is used to assist people who really need our help. The key objective is to support people whose lives have been deeply affected by the health crisis.”

Councillor Richard Bell of Govan Thriving Places, added: “We are extremely delighted by this announcement. This is an example of the local community working together with our colleagues in the housing association sector for the betterment of all of Govan. We hope this might be the first of many such collaborative projects in Govan.” 

The group has pledged to keep local people informed of how the money is helping through a variety of means such as social media, publicity on partner organisations websites and wider publicity in the mainstream media with a firm emphasis on transparency. Details of the first amount of money being spent to help people will be announced shortly.

• Read all of our articles relating to COVID-19 here.