A sports hub hopes to get people out of their homes and bring the community together with a transformative project.

Hillwood Community Sports Hub, based in the Southside of the city, has collaborated with horticulture and floristry students at Glasgow Clyde College’s Langside campus, to turn a man-made and un-aesthetic hill into a sea of beautiful shrubs and trees.

The hub – which cost £1.8m - opened in October 2024 and comprises four changing rooms, a multi-purpose hall, a fully fitted kitchen, a synthetic pitch and a grass pitch, which is used by the 300 players of Hillwood Boys Club football team.

(Image: Willie Smith, pictured by Colin Mearns, Newsquest.) Willie Smith, founder of the Hillwood Boys Club football team and the sports hub, told the Glasgow Times: “People will now have a place to walk around which they will enjoy looking at, especially in the summer months.

“Let’s get people out of their houses and get them into this space.”

Willie added: “I was one of nine children, and I stayed up the road.

“I was the last one out of the house and when I used to go back to my mums, she would be waving to people out the window at the bus, because it was all she had.

“I told her I was going to change that, she never understood what I meant but I’m changing it now.”

(Image: Helen (far left) pictured by Colin Mearns, Newsquest.) Helen Corcoran, development manager at Hillwood Community Sports Hub added to the sentiment, saying she hoped the transformation would remind the public that the hub is not just a football ground.

She said: “This is not just football; we are looking after the whole area and that brings us a bit of pride to the rest of the community.

“There is this notion – though it has never been the case – that this is just a place for football and is not part of the community but doing things like this really brings us all together.”

(Image: Pictures taken by Colin Mearns, Newsquest.) The students were out measuring the space last Thursday and will begin drawing up their own plans in due course.

Designing will take about six to 10 weeks, and Willie will then pick his favourite which will become the inspiration for the new site.

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(Image: Michelle and Willie, pictured by Colin Mearns, Newsquest.) Michelle McGuire, curriculum manager for horticulture and floristry at Glasgow Clyde College Langside said: “I’m really impressed with what Willie has achieved.

“It is a great thing for the community and if we can pretty up the space a wee bit and make it feel a bit more welcoming, that would be wonderful.”

She added: “This is developing into a really nice partnership.”

(Image: Pictures by Colin Mearns, Newsquest.) Michelle went on to say that not only does the partnership benefit the community, but the students are also getting so much out it.

From gaining real-life work experience to getting out of their comfort zones, the partnership is transformational for the learners.

Michelle said: “This is a live project for the students.

“We can only do so much in the college grounds, so this is fantastic for them to be out and learn a real sense of what they may do when they leave college.

“With this project, if we can contribute to getting people out of the house and into the wider community, then that’s fantastic.”

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The students began working with the sports hub last year and planted 80kg of daffodils around the grounds.

For more information on the horticulture and floristry course at Glasgow Clyde College, click HERE

(Image: Pictures by Colin Mearns, Newsquest.) The hub was constructed with the help of funding from the Greater Pollok Barratt Community Development Trust, Land Trust, Sport Scotland, the Scottish Football Association, the Scottish Football Partnership, the Robertson Trust and the Clothworkers Foundation.

It was also supported by Glasgow City Council as part of their strategy to develop and increase the opportunities for local people to participate in sport, leisure and recreational activities.

For more information on the sports hub, visit them on Facebook.